Procrastinating

The definition of procrastination is ‘the action of delaying or postponing something’. Taking this one stage further,I believe the action of delaying or postponing can be applied to starting something, or even stopping something, so let me explain more.

Procrastination is choosing not to starttaking action on something that you know you should be doing, or that could be beneficial or good for you. For example, you need to finish that project, make that decision, look at the numbers for your business, contact that client and secure their business, or ask for payment.

Procrastination is also about choosing not to stopdoing something that you know you should. Just think wasting time on social media, working with toxic and demanding clients, wasting money on things you don’t need.

With both of these, you constantly put off starting or stopping something and come up with a variety of excuses or reasons as to why you can’t, or shouldn’t take action.

Procrastination is a total waste of your energy and can take up so much of your headspace. I call these things energy drains or leaks, because they literally drain you of energy as you constantly think about them. It takes energy to keep coming up with excuses, especially ones that you can believe yourself. These things constantly nag at you and you’re always trying to defend your choices, mostly in your own mind.

Are you starting to think about the things you have procrastinated on? Well, let’s have a look at what I hear (and I’ve also used) the most:

• I’m too tired
• I don’t have the energy for it
• I don’t know where to start
• I feel overwhelmed
• I don’t have time
• I can’t do it
• I don’t feel like it
• Now’s not the right time for me
• There are too many other things going on right now
• I don’t have clarity and so I don’t want to make a bad decision or go off down the wrong path
• I can’t think clearly or focus
• I just need to do some more mindset work or inner healing
• I just have to do this first, then I can do that

The crazy thing here is that by getting the task done or even taking baby steps towards your goal, you potentially achieve success, more money and happiness – the very things you say you want! Plus you wouldn’t have to deal with all the guilt and shame you place on yourself, for not taking any action and for actually buying into the excuses you tell yourself.

It sounds crazy, but people will even put off doing the things that they know are good for them and could help them massively in their work or business.Simple easy things, that would help to change their life, their health and their mood, all of which impact our ability to make money. For example:

• Ensuring you get enough sleep
• Drinking water
• Eating a balanced diet
• Reducing the time you spend with toxic people
• Going to the gym
• Taking a break and having down time

For many people, there can be a great deal of fear in actually having everything you desire, because we have no idea what that would look like for us. We don’t know what like will look like, who we’ll have to become, what will be expected of us, or even how people will react towards us. We’re scared and so we procrastinate and keep success and abundance at arms length. This is a form of self-sabotage, which we’ll be looking at more in future sections. 

Then we have blame and we all know people who are experts at the blame game! They simply can’t take responsibility for their choices and actions (or lack of) and so they blame people and situations outside of themselves:

• Children – for demanding all their time and attention
• Husband or partner – for not supporting them
• The economy – for a lack of personal spending power and this is also why people aren’t buying from you
• Your competitors are taking all the business or clients
• Your boss for not valuing you, or supporting you
• Situations in your life are causing you to have a lack of clarity, focus and motivation. While I totally appreciate that some life transitions and events will of course take you away from your business and feeling 100%, you need to be honest with yourself in terms of how much you’re letting it impact you and for how long

Every day we make decisions in our life and business. If you’re choosing to procrastinate because you’re scared of making the wrong decision, you’re still making a decision – you’re deciding to do nothing and that has consequences! If you choose not to make any decisions in your business and take action, you’ll never be able to move forward and create your dream life.

We all see so many other people who appear to have it all together. They look amazing, they’re smart, they’re out there crushing it with their business and their purpose, they’re owning their gifts and talents 100% and they’re making a difference in other peoples lives everyday. We KNOW we could be out there helping people as well, but we’re too caught up in our stories of…. I’m not good enough, I’m not special enough, I couldn’t do that!

I’m here to tell you that you always have been, and always will be enough. You just need to remember who you are and start believing in yourself again.

Questions to consider: 

1. Where are you procrastinating in life generally? Reflect on the things you’re not starting and the things you’re not stopping. Behaviours in one area of your life, rarely stays contained to that one area, so it’s likely to be seeping into everything.
2. Can you identify what this is really about? For example, is there fear or limiting beliefs you need to deal with?
3. Can you see how procrastination is impacting you from having the life you desire and deserve?
4. What are you willing to act on and commit to immediately?

How to move through procrastination in your life:

1. Be honest and clear about what you’re doing and why – make sure you answer the questions above, because self-awareness is key.
2. Ensure your vision or dream is powerful enough for you. If you aren’t bothered either way about it happening, then why are you wasting your energy on it? Never focus on someone else’s definition of success or happiness, this is about you and what you want from life.
3. Create an action plan for the next week, month, quarter or year? If you don’t know what you’re working towards, how can you achieve it. Maybe you want to take the family away for a holiday, or buy a new home…. once you know you’re goal you can break it down into actionable steps, for example saving a little every month, researching locations etc
4. Have an accountability buddy, which could be a friend, trainer or life coach. When you’re accountable to someone, we’re much more likely to take action.