How to beat procrastination and achieve the life you really want
“I’m gonna do it tomorrow. No big deal. Right?” Says everyone who wants to beat procrastination but keeps making excuses.
Only tomorrow drags into the day after, the week after, the month after.
And suddenly, you can’t even focus on the present, because your mental space is so bogged down by the things you know you should be doing.
My dear soul-sister, what aren’t you achieving, Dreaming, living…because you keep putting it off?
Today, I want you to take a hard look at procrastination. What it is, what it isn’t, and, most of all, how can YOU fight it like a WARRIOR.
So how’s this definition?
Procrastination is…death. In slow motion.
Building a business? It’s the death of your business in slow motion. Writing a novel? It’s the death of your story in slow motion. Trying to be more healthy? It’s the death of your health in slow motion. Procrastination is the ultimate killer of your potential.
So why do we all do it? Why, instead of facing the things we NEED to face, are we turning on Netflix, adding items we really don’t need to our carts, and getting sucked into the rabbit hole of other people’s lives on social media?
Here’s why.
What you SAY you want…THINK you want…and REALLY want, truly, deep down…is totally out of your comfort zone.
And that’s okay.
If your goals were inside your comfort zone, they wouldn’t be “stretch goals” to begin with. As humans, we use procrastination as a form of escapism to avoid discomfort. However, just because you have things left on your to-do list for a week, a month, a year, a decade, doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re procrastinating those things.
Whaaaat?
There will ALWAYS be some things that go undone for high achievers. Nevertheless, you need to make sure the important things are getting done, not the unimportant things. It’s a matter of prioritization, not procrastination.
Procrastination―as opposed to prioritization―is a form of self sabotage, which delays things that we don’t like, that make us cringe, that totally. Freak. Us. Out. And, it’s these very things―outside of the safe and comfortable―that stand in our way of our achievements. It is imperative to beat procrastination.
You have to ask yourself, “Am I resisting and putting this off just because it’s uncomfortable? Or is it truly something that’s not a priority?”
What keeps getting bumped from week to week? Are there goals you always TALK about but never execute? Moreover, which patterns do you carry for months or years that you really, really hate.
And most importantly, is it something you should do because you want to? Or is it something you think you should do because you’ve allowed yourself to be influenced by external expectations and people?
do you want to Beat procrastination with me?
Ok, I’m going to use a dirty word. Brace yourselves. Clutch your pearls. Here it is:
“Discipline.”
You can go ahead and uncover your ears now.
We grew up hating the word “discipline,” because we associate it with punishment. But there’s a difference between self-discipline and punishment. Clearly, as entrepreneurs, we must learn to be disciplined with ourselves. Otherwise, we’re going to be disciplined by the world.
And it will be so much more painful.
However, you can BEAT procrastination before it crushes you.
My go-to for busting procrastination pitfalls is War Week. It is my annual excellence week, where I wage war on mediocrity. Many of you have been with me on the frontlines of this ultimate procrastination buster, so you know how powerful it can be.
If you haven’t joined me, or you’re waiting for next War Week, here are some quick battle-ready hacks for taking action right now.
Separate priorities from self-sabotage.
What do you want to accomplish? Who do you want to become?
If answering this is difficult, check out my 8 Lanes of Long Term Life Vision here. It’s an excellent tool to help you determine what matters to you and where you want to go.
Start by making a list of ALL the things you’ve been procrastinating and why. Then, make a pile of things needing some extra care. Separate them from other tasks you’ve neglected, because you’ve been lazy, or disorganized, or lacked support―the surface-level fixes.
Show some respect. To YOURSELF.
Make appointments with yourself to either
1. Address the self-sabotage with a professional who can actually help.
2. Rip off the band-aid and tackle the surface level fixes yourself.
Do it the same way you’d schedule a meeting with any other co-worker or client on the planet.
For instance, set clear times and organize yourself so that NOTHING will interrupt you during that meeting. Claim this time for YOU. The sad truth is, as women, we often respect other people more than we respect ourselves.
We need to start honoring and respecting ourselves and our own businesses and dreams, just as much as we respect others.
If you treat your business like a business, it’ll pay you like a business. On the other hand, if you treat it like a charity or hobby, it’ll pay you like a charity or hobby. And we ALL know hobbies cost you money!
Isn’t it time to stop giving yourself away?
Keep the meeting focused by giving yourself 15 minutes at the end to recap, summarize, and review. Conclude by making sure you are clear on your next steps. Do you need another meeting to get it done? If so, schedule another one.
It really is just that simple.
That doesn’t mean it’s easy, because being able to beat procrastination pitfalls is not an “easy” thing to do. If it were, everybody would be doing it! Don’t beat yourself up. There is no need for self judgment. We all have past programming and unhealthy belief systems we’ve absorbed that are not serving us well.
There’s nothing shameful in admitting, “Hey, these things are a little big for me to untangle on my own, I need help to work through them.”
The only problem is living in denial. Choosing not to work through it. Walking away from rising to your purpose.
Your dreams are worth more than that!
YOU are worth more than that.
How are you tackling procrastination, my friend? Leave your tips or questions in the comments.
I learn something marvelous from anyone open to sharing, and I’d love to hear your personal trials and successes with crushing procrastination
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