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If your life isn’t where you want it to be, you may, like my father, have erroneous expectations. As an employer, I love hiring young people, because I enjoy their enthusiasm and energy, but I prefer to get them after they’ve been seasoned by at least one other job experience. Otherwise, their expectations lean toward a naive vision of being an employee, and they become dissatisfied. A lot of people get into a “perfect” marriage or career position only to find it’s not what they thought they ordered.

At 19, when she was not yet a famous dancer, Alicia was diagnosed with a detached retina. Her condition required three successive operations and left her with partial sight but no peripheral vision. After surgery Alicia was instructed to lie in bed, perfectly still, for a year. But Alicia’s flame would not be extinguished by mere physical limitation. During her year of enforced bed rest she danced in her mind and with her toes to keep her feet, memory and passion alive. She taught herself to dance Giselle, a difficult ballet that demands the ballerina’s full dramatic range.

Procrastination leads to worry and anxiety, which is mind clutter. You’re anxious about the upcoming meeting because the report due is still rough at best. You worry about overdrafting your bank account because you’ve put off balancing your checkbook. Instead, just put off procrastination. Eliminate one area of procrastination each week. Schedule it in your calendar, as you would any important appointment, and when that time arrives, do what needs to be done. Your mind will feel refreshingly alert and uncluttered.