Is your calendar jam-packed with obligations, activities and plans that make your days seem to flow into each other like a series of waves?
Does daily life feel like a non-stop rhythmic cascade that rarely allows the opportunity to absorb even one day’s experience fully and completely, not to mention find time to rest and restore before the next day arrives?
If that’s the case then it’s no wonder those wonderful dreams and goals you have for your life seem impossible to achieve!
And it’s no wonder you might put off even getting started on goals dearest and nearest to your heart!
Prime Productivity Power Is ALREADY Within You
Well, here I am to the rescue; and I come to you not as someone who has never struggled with procrastination and perfection but rather as someone who is a bit of an expert in both! In particular I had to face down these two bug-a-boos so I could step into my life purpose as a spiritual writer, teacher and intuitive.
Whether you work independently or for someone else, the ability to harness your productivity power is vital to achieving your career goals and success.
“Power is the capacity to translate intention into reality and then sustain it.”
~Author and Leadership guru Warren Bennis
I know what you’re thinking – here comes the Law of Attraction again!
I would like to tell you that we can skip this part but we can’t. Whatever you want in life begins with intention and comes into being once you can get your vibration set to call in what you want. And using your productivity power is a great way to shift your vibration into manifesting mode.
Perhaps you think you know all your reasons for procrastination but here’s something that I bet you haven’t considered. Your brain is working funny! Yes, that’s right. A lot of procrastination has to do with the way you think:
You believe you’ll be more motivated at some point in the future.
You believe you’ll feel like working on your goal in the future.
You believe you need specific accoutrements and tools to even get started on your goal.
You believe you’ll be able to meet your deadlines even though you haven’t planned for them or organized your time to do so.
You be wrong!!!
Your 2 Biggest Gremlins
So what gets in the way when you get excited about your dreams and goals and are all a-glow with the energy of moving forward?
Two mischievous gremlins I know well just love, love, love to get you off track and back on their agenda of no risk, no reward. You know these two also – you’ve invited them in – had a cup of tea – allowed yourself to be lured by the happy-go-lucky siren’s song of procrastination and the unending sternness of the inner critic of perfection.
They’re a good cop, bad cop – one/two punch of disempowerment that can have you wondering where your goal went and leave you quoting Scarlet O’Hara as you mop your brow and say with a sigh, “I’ll think about it tomorrow.” And just like Scarlet, once these two get their grips on you, your goals and dreams for your life will be gone with the wind.
So, roll up those sleeves, you are about to do battle with two mighty foes – the fact that they live inside you gives them that insidious capability to sneak up on you when you least expect it. But, now you know they’re there and you can call them forth on your terms.
Oh, how they hate it when you take charge!!
“Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.”
~ Napoleon Hill
In case you are not familiar with Napoleon Hill, he wrote some books that continue to be best sellers today. Most known for his Think and Grow Rich, the precursor to all of today’s books on the Law of Attraction and money, Napoleon Hill was part of what was termed the “New Thought” movement in the early part of the twentieth century. In particular he focused on what he termed the Laws of Success and positive thinking, having interviewed over 500 successful business magnates of his time to find the secret to achieving your dreams.
I love this particular quote about procrastination – it really gives you that dizzying feeling of circling backwards to move forwards – and missing the opportunity for action in the present. It’s the essence of New Year’s Eve Syndrome that has you setting intentions and goals for change that peter out usually within a few weeks, if not days or hours.
Action is the only sure-fire cure for procrastination so let’s figure out how you can make delaying on your goals a thing of your past once and for all!
To do that you have to address the really big reason you might just be procrastinating on your precious goals.
RELATED: 4 Questions That Will Transform Your Life & Career!
Dealing With F E A R!
Fear of failure; fear of making a mistake; fear of being compared; fear of not being good enough; fear of changing your life; fear of loss of your old identity; fear of disapproval; fear you will let someone down; fear you won’t be doing it exactly the right way; fear you’re too fat, thin, lumpy, bumpy, tall, short, loud, quiet – you’re just too; fear that you’ll succeed and won’t know what to do; fear – fear – fear!
Fear is where the gremlin of perfection takes hold. Perfection is that state of mind that has you holding yourself up to impossible standards that you are destined not to meet. Oh, you may get there in brief spurts when you see yourself doing everything “right” but that never lasts.
The real Achilles heel of the perfectionist is that enough is never enough for long.
So what can you do to step into your productivity power?
You can follow these five simple steps that will allow you to win the battle with those clever dual demons of procrastination and perfection:
1. Confront your fears and realize they are illusionary
If necessary play with your fears and imagine the worst outcome possible. If you are worried about finances, really go there and see yourself pushing your home in a shopping cart down the street while your family is interviewed on reality TV about how they don’t know what happened to you. If that makes you laugh, you are getting the idea. All fears can be overcome and managed by realizing that any movement forward is a series of steps that can be adjusted and planned for along the way. Fear has you moving to an ultimate outcome as a way of never getting started on your dreams and goals.
2. Keep the Past where it belongs.
If your fears are based on events in your past that you fear happening again, then it’s time to put the past in the past and let it be. You can’t move forward while looking backwards. It’s time to integrate those experiences, trust you’ve learned those lessons and work towards your present day goals. The past only has power if you let it. When your mind heads in that direction, remind yourself that all your power is in the present and use that power to commit again to your vision for your future and what you are creating.
3. Organize Yourself and Your Schedule to Incorporate Your Goal.
Take time to lay out your calendar and work backwards from the end and see if you have organized your life and your schedule to accommodate your goal. Make a schedule if you haven’t done that already. Block out time in your calendar each day for the activities around your goal.
4. Do Something Every Day Rather than ALL or NOTHING!
Every goal consists of a series of steps. The problem with being in the grip of those gremlins of perfection and procrastination is that you may be overwhelmed by the ALL of your goal and find yourself doing NOTHING. So, break your goal down into a series of steps, activities, or tasks and make sure that the activities are small enough that they are doable even on your worst day. Nothing permits you that feeling of success like accomplishment!
5. Learn to Embrace “and” Rather than “either/or.”
You may be limiting your possibilities because you believe in the “either/or” view of life. You can either be a great writer or you can earn a good living but not both. Start opening up to the idea that you don’t have to limit your choices. Start saying “I want to be a great writer and earn a fabulous income.” This gets your subconscious going in an expanded way, allowing your mind to open and getting you out of the perfection/ procrastination trap.
“Realize that now, in this moment of time, you are creating. You are creating your next moment. That is what’s real.”
~ Sara Paddison, CEO Heartmath
Make all those beautiful moments be ones that bring you the joy and happiness you deserve!
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Now it’s your time to share! What’s one of your career goals? Let us know in the comments below!
