S2-E51 - Are You A Procrastinator? Stop the Fears That Cause It

"If you want to make an easy job seem might hard, just keep putting it off."
~ Olin Miller

 

 

 

Are you a procrastinator? I saw this quote today on an article on Huffington Post by Romi Grossberg. I've put a link to her article in the show notes.

As a contributor on Huffington Post, I like to follow and read great writers on there. If you have been listening to the show lately you know that I have been focusing on procrastination the last few episodes.

Why, you ask? Well, a couple of reasons.

1. I have a coaching client that has been dealing with it in his life and I want him to know that it is something that many people encounter and it can be overcome.
2. I have been dealing with it over the last few months. Yes, me. If you've listened to the show you know that I had stopped posting episodes for a while. I went from posting the Quote of the Day 6 days a week to 3 shows, then to one, then to zero for a few months.

Procrastination is most frequently, in my experience and studies, the result of dealing with Fears. I've talked about the different fears that people face. One of my favorite books by Napoleon Hill is Outwitting the Devil. This book is about the six fears the Devil uses to keep people from achieving their dreams.

6 Fears Cause Procrastination

• Fear of Criticism
• Fear of Ill Health
• Fear of Loss of Love
• Fear of Old Age
• Fear of Death
• Fear of Poverty

Have you been suffering from any of these?

In his book, Hill talks about the Devil saying his favorite of these is the Fear of Poverty. This is especially useful in his fight against those with entrepreneurial spirit. The person that wants to better their life, to try something new, to get out of their comfort zone is often afflicted with this fear, whether they realize it our not.

This is the one that has hit me on a couple specific occasions. It struck hard in 2008-2010 when I was in the lending industry as a Loan Officer and the market crashed. I was married at the time and had a daughter in college. The thought of not being able to provide for them weighed heavily on me. We lost pretty much everything at that time.

I have been going through the same fear lately. I have specific legal financial commitments now and it has impacted my thought processes. The fear of not being able to meet those commitments has affected me mentally.

The key to overcoming this fear, and any fear, is to recognize it for what it is, a fear. When you put a name to that fear and know that it isn't you, but the fear, you can then overcome it.

When you recognize this as fear, the key is to take action. If you've created an action plan to achieve your goals, start taking action, now. By taking action, your fear will dissipate. The more action you take each day, the easier it will be to achieve your goals.

The farther behind you get in your goal, the harder it seems to become. The more you put off, it seems so much more difficult to get to where you want to be.

Romi's article on Huffington Post talks about the 5 Minute Rule. I like this rule. Ask yourself if you have 5 minutes. Trust me, you do. Tell yourself and then do something on your action plan for 5 minutes.

If you are writing a book, sit down and write for 5 minutes.

If you are getting in better shape, do sit ups for 5 minutes.

If your goal is to spend more time on self improvement, turn off that TV for 5 minutes and read a chapter out of that book for 5 minutes.

Take Action! Do what you need to do to move forward in your goal.  Don't be a procrastinator. Start small and get back into the rhythm of the plan. That's what I have been doing. I started writing, recording and publishing episodes again.

You can take action