We have covered some different forms of inspiration. We definitely know what words to avoid after the great column by Robert Pagliarini. We still have some work to do because there is still a monster in the closet who we will all have to get rid of.
One of the greatest criminals who steals our dreams and stops progression is the infamous procrastination. A beast similar to someday, procrastination is the king of the jungle. There is an amazing Spanish proverb that says “Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.†We are all guilty of procrastination at one time or another. So let’s discuss some methods to get past one of life’s greatest hurdle.
For a little assistance I turned to Henrik Edberg and his website The Positivity Blog. In particular his article How to Stop Procrastinating: 7 Timeless Tips. Once again I plead for you to click on the link and read the article. It has some great tips.
I can tell you that I, like everyone else, sometimes procrastinate. But luckily I also have always naturally employed one of the methods to defeat procrastination. I always do the hardest work first. I love getting the hard stuff out of the way so the rest of the work is much simpler. For instance when moving, I always want to move the fridge and stove right away. I want the heaviest obstacles taken care of. Whenever you have something to do, tackle the hardest part first so the rest of the job is downhill.
Another great solution that Henrik discusses is maybe the most important. Face your fear. We are all terrified to look like an idiot, unless you sign up to compete on Wipeout at which point you are guaranteed to look like an idiot. No one wants to fail. The easiest way to not fail is what? Exactly, don’t try in the first place. Continue thinking “Someday†and all will be fine. But it won’t. Take your fears head on. Let them challenge you. I was terrified of doing Improv because of what might happen. That maybe I would freeze or blank out. So I went to an open improv night and got on stage the first chance I got. Okay maybe after a little liquid courage but we’re not perfect. What I can tell you is the feeling after going on stage and facing my fear was bliss. I felt so good about what I had just accomplished. Facing your fear may be difficult but I promise once you have done it, you will want to do it again because there is no better self-satisfying feeling than accomplishing something you would not have believed possible.
I am not going to steal Henrik’s thunder. His column on conquering procrastination is a must read. We all put things off. Hell, just look at the invention of the snooze button!
I leave you with a great quote by M. Scott Peck “Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”
