The Kings & Queens of Procrastination

Yes, you heard me right.

You see procrastination isn't something we do because we are lazy. It's actually a coping mechanism

Wow, noone ever put it that way before. "I always thought I was lazy".

Did that thought cross your mind just now?

Procrastination isn't something we do because we are bored or lazy.

Most of us don't even try to find the underlying reasons for the same.

Where does it come from and why do we do it?

What habits and thoughts can you change to not fall prey to it?

Honestly like you, I thought the only reason we all avoided stuff was because we were scared, lazy or worse still not worth it?

What are the reasons for us to put something for tomorrow and not today?

• I feel overwhelmed
• I am sometimes unable to effectively manage time or plan ahead
• I feel fear of failure (or success)
• I am sometimes indecisive or insecure
• I feel I don’t have the skills to complete a specific task or project
• I feel bored or lack interest
• I lack motivation

How many did you check?

As I started to understand from where it was rooted, I changed my habits to match my thoughts and thereby my behaviors.

Did you know the famous procrastinators?

One of the most recognized men in the world, the Dalai Lama, a great spiritual leader who travels the world was anything but punctual; however, at one point in his life, he was well known for his inability to get things moving.

Despite whom he is now, the Dalai Lama was like many, not always been quite so motivated to get to work, and in his student days, it was said that he was quite the slacker. Sounds familiar. He has even come out himself to say that only when things got really hard would he begin to put the work into his studies, leaving everything until the last minute.

But that being said he has since learned his lesson and used habits, behaviours, and his experience to motivate others and be who he is today.

If you ever tried to beat procrastination and failed, it’s probably because you didn’t know where procrastination was rooted and how to work on it.

To eliminate procrastination once and for all, you need to understand your WHY and then follow a system that works specifically for you!

Join me as I embark on this journey to crush procrastination?

This will help us better understand our reasons for why we procrastinate.

What are your top reasons to work on yourself today? I've marked mine in bold. You see we are not alone, even successful people procrastinate!

• To feel better about myself
• To improve my health
• To set and achieve goals
• To be more like someone who I admire
• To excel at work
• To get rid of anxiety and depression
• To have an awesome relationship

Here's another question for you and me

What do we need to live a procrastination-free life?

• More focus
• More strength
• More calm
• More energy
• More willpower

How?

THE GOLDEN KEY TO FIX PROCASTINATION

Build new habits and change our habits for the long term, and from the inside out.

1. Eliminate procrastination by changing our brain’s neurological pathways
2. Improve productivity by improving our focus
3. Take our relationships, social life and career to the next level starting with ourself.

In order to stop procrastinating,

Set Intentional Goals

We first need to set goals, and then identify what prevent us from achieving them.

Next, we need to create a plan of action based on this information and build habits that allow you to implement this plan, while making sure to refine it as you go along with someone to hold you accountable for the same.

Make sure that those goals are achievable, and purpose driven:

Achievable meaning realistic not something like "I want to move the mountains", well, wait they say faith in God can move mountains ??

Anyways you get the message!

And ‘Purpose Driven’ means that our goals should have an emotional attachment to it, a purpose “Why do I want this goal so badly?”

It must be important enough that it lead us to make a notable progress. Yes, you heard me right.

You see procrastination isn't something we do because we are lazy. It's actually a coping mechanism to avoid getting to the next phase of our life.

Break it down

Now, if we want to successfully solve our procrastination problem, we must understand the exact nature of the problem we are dealing with!

Questions to ask

When do I procrastinate?

An example question would be: Do I struggle to finish tasks after I’ve started them, or do I struggle to get started in the first place? (I fall in category 2 what about you?)

How do I procrastinate?

What am I doing when I procrastinate?

What do I substitute the action, task or habit for?  

For example: Do I work out every day for 15 minutes to reduce my cholesterol or do I sit another extra 15 minutes with friends saying that I am spending quality time with friends?

What holds more weightage?

Of course, my health but why am I not taking care of myself?

Am I waiting for a heart attack to finally love and adore this gift of life or am I waiting to put my loved ones in pain.

Questions like this will help you see reason and alter your habits.

We must understand that procrastination is not about willpower, we wrongly believing that next time we will be able to exert more willpower and change our behavior, despite the evidence to the contrary. Like new year goals for example!

The golden nugget of understanding here is to clearly identify the nature of your procrastination problem, and then figure out a valid way to deal with it.

Implement habits & routines (Create a plan of action)

We must figure out what habits you must develop & build to replace our procrastination.

Take Intentional Steps To Transform Your Career & Life

INTENTIONALITY MEANS CHARACTERISTICS OF AN INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS THAT HAS GOALS, DESIRES AND STANDARDS AND SELECT BEHAVIORS THAT ARE IN SERVICE OF ATTAINING THE GOAL. A CONSCIOUS CALLING INTO AWARENESS!

In Medieval Philosophy. ‘Intentionality’ Derives From The Latin Verb ‘Intendere’, Which Means “To Point To” Or “To Aim At” - Franz Brentano

1. Pro action step 1: Instill positive behaviors and avoid negative ones. Set goals that are aligned to your highest values. Let’s break large tasks into smaller ones and remove distractions from our work & personal environment. There must be a balance of both.
2. Pro action step 2: Modify our thoughts - Focusing on who we wish to become, not what we want to achieve. We must visualize our future self and focusing on our goals instead of on our tasks.
3. Pro action step 3: Find your state of flow. A flow state is a mental state where you become completely immersed in the activity that you’re engaged in. This state is referred to as “being in the zone”. When are you at your peak level of performance?

A peak experience is an altered state of consciousness characterized by euphoria, often achieved by self-actualizing individuals.[1] The concept was originally developed by Abraham Maslow in 1964 ( Wikipedia)

In Abraham Maslow's famous hierarchy of needs, self-actualization is located at the very top of the pyramid, representing the need to fulfill one's individual potential. According to Maslow, peak experiences play an important role in self-actualization"

Self-actualization is Intentionality at its peak: The complete realization of one's potential, and the full development of one's abilities and appreciation for life. (“Self-Actualization | Simply Psychology”)

Maslow suggests that one of the best ways to think of peak experiences is to think of the most wonderful experiences of our life—those moments of ecstasy and complete and utter happiness. Being in love is an example of a peak experience!

A common effect of the peak experience is to make life feel meaningful, or to reveal the "meaning of life."

“Our identity comes from our view of our future, but also our identity is solidified by our behavior” – Dr. Benjamin Hardy

When we build and plan actions towards our future self when we are actually acting like our future self by taking steps along that path that will takes us toward our future self.

That behavior then solidifies our identity!

Behaviours are the key!

We judge ourselves based on our behaviors.

For example: If I'm a person who wakes up in the morning, I must be a morning person. So then if there was something crucial for our future self that required us to stay awake and complete a task it will be an effort from our end, because we have already decided that it’s a difficult task.

We have literally given instructions to our brains that we don’t function well apart from morning and hence evenings can’t be productive!

When we train our mindset based on the habits we must build and execute to become our future self we upgrade our subconscious.

Most of what we do is unconscious, science say about 95% of our behavior is unconscious, the rest of it we have to focus on we have to actually consciously think about it.

So then, if we upgrade our subconscious with habits that we automatically starting exhibiting behaviors that will get us closer to the person we are truly meant to.

So where do we stand?

• Normal average behavior = normal day to day life! (95% of the population)
• Upgraded Intentional behavior = Exceptional day to day life (Top 5% of the population)

What can we do now?

Think, act and behave like the person we are truly meant to be. It’s feeling the emotion first that creates the experience we seek. (Dr. Joe Dispenza)

So, if we have to feel the feeling before the experience, we can build the thoughts, habits and actions that will eventually help us become that person.

In the next 24 hours and then the next 30 days that would reflect some pretty cool peak experiences that we all could have.

For example, take up the challenge of achieving a life gaining goal or as simple as listening to a motivational speech every day!

For me I would choose these two favourites Denzel Washington’s: “Put God First” and “The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale”

What will you do?

Comment below and let me know or listen to the “The strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale” with me for the next 30 days nonstop.

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Fatima Williams

What I'd love for us to do now - Next Steps 

Thank you for reading this article. Welcome your comments. I follow some amazing people from whom I draw my inspiration to write. If you find this article very useful or interesting, please share it with other members of your social networks.

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Time posted:09.30 pm GST