End Procrastination and Start to Achieve NOW
Putting things off until tomorrow or next week will almost always turn into another tomorrow or another week—or worse yet, never.
Procrastination becomes a habitual and conditioned behavior that will destroy any chance of real achievement.
There are several ways to procrastinate:
- You can put things off by never choosing to do anything
- You can also put things off by choosing to do something, but never starting it.
- You can put things off by starting something, but not continuing it.
- You can continue, continue, continue, something, but never finish it!
Those four approaches to achievement require no time-line or accountability, and offer very little in the form of reward or success.
The fifth approach—start, continue, and finish—does require you to set a time-line, hold yourself accountable, and take massive and consistent action. In the achievement process, it is vital, even though the task may eventually get done, that you do not put off until tomorrow something that you could have done today. Doing so sends a message to your unconscious mind and the universe that “maybe you’re not really that serious about your objective. Maybe there are more important things, like e-mail, TV, or hanging with your friends.” Is that the message you want to send, or are you serious about achieving your desired outcome?
There is a caveat, however: If you find at any point in the pursuit of your goal that you’re just not falling in love with the idea of achieving it, then maybe what you’re pursuing just isn’t what you really want after all. If your goal was to learn how to play golf and it turns out you hate the game, why continue? Call the goal completed, and move on to something you are passionate about. It is not a failure –only feedback. If you continue to pursue it just because you feel like you have to finish what you start – your likely hood of procrastination will go up 10 fold. And you will ultimately feel like you actually did fail –and with good reason.
The number one way to end procrastination forever is to do only what you are passionate about and love doing. If your goal is to lose weight but you hate going to the gym, you will continue to put off going to the gym until you wind up not going at all. If your final desired outcome is to look and feel great, and losing 20 pounds will help you achieve it, find a way to achieve your sub-goal that does not involve having to go to the gym or doing something you hate.
One of my coaching clients had just that very dilemma. He absolutely hated having to work out, especially indoors when the weather outside was beautiful. We tossed around some ideas, and he finally remembered that he loved to play volleyball as a kid. I suggested that he seek out opportunities in his community to play the game for fun or sport. As it happened, there was an outdoor volleyball court in the nearby park, and a group of people would get together to play three times each week. He watched for a couple of games and then asked if there was a chance for him to join in. Sure enough, he wound up playing three days per week for almost 90 minutes each day for the next three months. Not only was he able to lose the weight and gain the energy he wanted, but he made some really great new friends along the way.
Forcing yourself to do something you don’t enjoy or flat-out hate will almost assuredly lead to procrastination and failure.
Remember: Procrastination kills achievement.
Tom I hear you. Help me if it sounds like I’m making excuses. I have a hard timeworking on the goal because of all the life things that come up. The working late that I’m asked to do regularly, the laundry that needs done, the cleaning (and I’m not a clean freak I just can’t deal with an inch of dust), the lawn needs mowed, the car needs serviced, the friend who needs help or stops by unexpectedly, the phone calls, and on and on . It drives me crazy. I want to spend more time on my goal related activities but life itself seems to keep pulling me away and if feels like if I don’t address the other things for very long at all I’m drowning in everythign that needs done that isn’t related to achievingmy goal. It’s very frustrating. Any thoughts?
Rob, You have very articulately expressed one of the two greatest challenges we face when pursuing a goal or desired outcome. The other is our own limiting beliefs about our selves and what we are capable of or even deserve to experience – and believe it or not in most cases they are more than a little related. All the daily stuff you described that likes to get in the way of your spending time working on or pursuing what you really want can be listed under the heading of “resistance.” Resistance can also show up in variety of other forms “I’m Tired, I don’t feel well”, bored, frustrated, and so on. Anything the keeps you from the work or achieving is resistance and the harder you try, the harder you push the more resistance shows up. Here is the plus side Rob… there would be no resistance if what you are pursuing was not the direction you are supposed to be moving. Resistance is an indicator that you are on the right track or feedback that you have allowed yourself to fall into the habit of being easily distracted and lack focus. This knowledge can be very Empowering.
I said a moment ago that all the distractions and our own limiting beliefs are more than a little related. You see it has been my experience that we ourselves put the resistance in our own way because we are either deathly afraid that we my actually succeed at achieving our goal and what that might mean to who we have become comfortable with being- or that we may fail miserably after trying -proving the misguided beliefs that we are indeed losers. Better to have gotten distracted or busy or even sick then face the frightening alternative or success or failure.
Rob, if you are truly passionate about your goal and it is within reasonable reach than you must learn to recognize the “resistance” when and how it shows up then like a warrior who goes into battle even though he may be feeling a little week or tired or may even be injured you must learn to overcome the resistance. Start small by not taking that phone call, or letting the dust build to one and a quarter inch before cleaning, or telling a friend you are in the middle of something very important right now and will call him later. This exercising of the will strengthens the emotional muscle you will ultimately need to experience the life you want and deserve.
Hey Tom,
The 4 ways of procrastinating all reveal allot about the how we achieve our goals. I know for one, my challenge has always been finishing, Because I’m a great starter and rarely procrastinate unless – my energy is low, I don’t have enough information, or it turns out to be something I really don’t want to do – I never quite looked at not finishing also also a form of procrastination.
Of course it is, I just never looked at it that way and this is good because I don’t like to procrastinate!
Being a performance lifestyle coach, I look at underlying causes and one of the biggest for allot of achievers is running out of energy because they have so much going on they are barely hanging on as overwhelm, and mild fatigue set in.
So, it’s no surprise to me that finishing, which takes the most amount of energy and adds new responsibility, which takes more energy, would be one of the biggest areas of procrastination.
“Start, continue and finish”, requires we know how to manage our personal energy, including the quality of the food we eat and our activity levels really well so that we don’t hit the wall and divert from our course.
Great points Tom,