Destination Procrastination

Procrastination Makes You Fat
 
Actually it doesn’t, but think about how bloated and uncomfortable you feel when you are weighted down with all those things you need to finish. Procrastination is the greatest barrier to achieving goals and getting things accomplished. If every time you procrastinated, you gained a pound, how often would you procrastinate?  Time is a hot commodity. Procrastination is a 72 oz. tub of Crisco. You decide.
 
            The Fear Factor
 
Fear this: “If I actually do it, I might actually suck at it.” This unfortunately is true-you might? Then again you might not.  Fear debilitates us and keeps us stuck in the same comfortable place that we have always been.  It’s easy in that place.  It doesn’t take any guts to stay there.  What does take guts is pushing through that fear no matter what. Recently a friend was asking whether or not she should apply for her dream position.  She was stuck in her “fear of rejection.”  I asked her, “what’s the worst that could happen?”  She responded, “I don’t get the job.”  To which I said, “well you don’t have it now, so what would change?”  Hhhhmmmmm-in her case her fear was preventing her from reaching for something that even if she didn’t get it, her life would remain as is, however, if she never tried, she would never know and of course undoubtedly carry the regret.(regret, by the way weighs a ton)
 

• When we fail to act - we lose no matter what.

 
Perfection Is Boring
 
I am pretty sure that even Heidi Klum has a zit or a wrinkle somewhere.  So perfection is a fallacy.  It is actually the imperfections that make life more interesting.  Personally I think Michael Jackson and Renee Zellweger did a great disservice to themselves trying to perfect their so-called “imperfections”.  The need for perfection will head you straight down the one-way, dead end road of procrastination.
 

• If you wait for the perfect time to start, it will never come. Start the unpleasant task immediately. Momentum builds momentum and soon your sense of action will become habit.

 
Self Discipline Does Not Always Require…well, Corporal Discipline
 
There is a scene in the film,  American Beauty where the actress, Annette Bening repeatedly smacks herself in the face for losing a real estate sale, based on a preconceived notion of her own inadequacies.  For me it is one of the funniest and saddest moments in cinema.  She verbally demeans herself, reduces herself to pathetic tears and then, using a well manicured finger to wipe a perfectly mascaraed eye, she brushes down her flawlessly fitted pencil skirt and exits the scene.
 

• Learning to discipline one’s self does not require punishment.  It requires understanding why we do the things we do, or in procrastination’s case, the things we don’t do.
• Self-discipline helps us create and develop new habits in order to overcome procrastination.

 
Successful? Who, Me?
 
Oh great, now I have to live up to all these expectations.  Many of us avoid moving up or succeeding in our lives because of the fear we have about how others might construe our success.  Those crazy little voices from childhood start to scream in our heads, “who do you think you are?”  “No you will never be able to do that, stick to what you know”  There are variations on the theme, but they all serve the same purpose, and that is keeping us from reaching our true potential.
 
Success does carry with it some responsibilities, especially in your personal life.  Success can seem burdensome because of the new higher expectations people have of you.  This can lead to procrastination.  Don’t let it!  You created your success and therefore you are not in debt to anyone.
 

• Embrace Personal Success
• Don’t Downplay Your Success - You Earned It!
  
  

I wish I knew the guy/gal who said this but unfortunately he or she remains anonymous.
 
“Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried”
Author Unknown
​

---