Yesterday, I went to the dentist. For the first time in ten years! Yes, I know, naughty, naughty Kojo. The truth is I consider a trip to the teeth mongers to be one of life's least enjoyable experiences.

So naturally, I put it off for as long as humanly possible, until yesterday, when I finally got dragged kicking and screaming into the dentist's chair. 

And it turned out I had really shot myself in the foot, because, by staying away for so long, I had developed all kinds of issues that required attention, and gave my unnecessarily enthusiastic gum-jockey a lot more work to do.

Making the whole unpleasant exercise last longer, and cost more as well.

Later, at home, while I waited for the anaesthetic to wear off so I could feel my tongue again, I started thinking about procrastination, the thief of time, man's most scarce resource.

The Nike brand comes with the now famous slogan: ‘Just do it’.

We all have that not-so-pleasant chore that we have been putting off for so long. We all have those bad but comfortable habits we have been struggling to change.

And I’m the first to admit, it's not easy to take that first step. But the reality is that the only guarantee of failure in life is not getting started.

How long have you been standing in the mirror prodding your pot belly and saying, "I mor start do sit-ups o!"? Mate, just do it!

Every month, your salary comes in, you look at the wage slip and say, "we will manage this for the month and start saving next month". My friend, just do it.

Your assignment isn't due for two weeks, so you've put the laptop somewhere and are watching some telenovella. Please, just do it.

Stop making excuses. A friend of mine used to say, "I like to leave my work until the last minute, because by then, I will be older and wiser". Waa look.

One of my all time favourite writers is Mark Twain. He said, "If your job is to eat a frog, it's best to eat it first thing in the morning. And if it's your job to eat frogs, it’s best to eat the bigger frog first."

My people, it's time we stopped making excuses for why we can't get it done, and start giving ourselves reasons why we must make it happen.

After all, if we say we’re waiting until we're ready, we will be waiting for the rest of our lives. Stop waiting. No more excuses. Just do it.

My name is Kojo Yankson, and I'm going to stop talking now, because I've got some doing to do.