The biggest obstacles in your life are the one's your mind creates. Think for a second about where you would be right now in life if you had stopped procrastinating, on big or little things you have been wanting to do. Maybe it's to lead a healthier and more fit lifestyle. Maybe it's getting or finishing a degree in something, learning another language, writing a book, asking that person you really like out, going on your first skydive....we all have things we really want to do with our lives. Yet we let our lives go by and get a day closer to death every single day...and we don't do them.
1. Waiting for the Perfect Moment
"I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions." –Stephen Covey
Here's a hint: There is and probably will never be a "perfect"moment for you to do whatever it is you want. There will always be some circumstance that could be a bit better, or make things easier. Waiting for the perfect circumstances is one of the main excuses people tell themselves that enables procrastination...because it shows you have the best intentions of doing something. The best intentions in the world don't mean anything if there is no action.
Good is better than perfect...and starting right now is better than waiting your whole life for circumstances that may or may not ever come. Take control of your own life and goal. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got on procrastination was "Create a To-Do list. If there is anything that can be done now - do it." Sounds so simple, but it helped me a lot. Once you have what you need to do written down in front of you, at that point it's kind of like "Well why not just get it over with already?"
2. One more day won't be a big deal
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. –Chinese Proverb
We all don't even know if we are going to be here tomorrow. After a particularly scary incident on the last hike I went on, I was close to not being here anymore myself. Way too close for comfort. It puts things into perspective. Even though that is a bit extreme the point I'm making is that one day DOES matter. Once you get comfortable with talking yourself into "Doing it tomorrow" next thing you know you have 50 pounds to lose instead of 5...because you kept pushing off starting your healthy diet and lifestyle to "tomorrow"...which will always and forever be tomorrow. Especially if you are someone who easily gets distracted or has a lot going on, you will find yourself getting much more done if you just replace the word "tomorrow" with a date. What's the date today? Okay so instead of tomorrow, commit to doing what you supposedly will do tomorrow to doing it on that date instead. Congratulations, you just took a dream and turned it into a goal.
3. I Can't Decide Exactly What To Do
I have been guilty of this a lot. I will want to do something (I will use exercise as an example again) like do more cardio, or try yoga. But then feel flooded with options...what kind of cardio? Pilates? Zumba? Should I just run?...What kind of yoga? Should I take a class? Do videos at home? How long?...I sit there weighing my options, with the intention of actuaslly doing something....then realize an hour has gone by, then a day has gone by, and I haven't done anything to get closer that my goal. Sound familiar?
Especially in today's age of information being right at our fingertips, it is really easy to get sucked into researching as much information that you can get to weigh all of your options and make an educated choice. This is a trap that a lot of intellectual people can easy fall into....and then end up never getting anything useful actual done. Well, as Thomas Edison said "Knowledge without application is meaningless." The best way to get over this information overload is to realize that this is indeed a form of procrastination and isn't getting you anywhere if you keep putting off taking action. Give yourself a deadline to have a decision. You want to do more cardio, cool tomorrow at 8am do more cardio...you have until then to figure out what kind, but at 8am tomorrow your ass will be sweating in some kind of way. Be strict on the time deadlines you give yourself to start whatever you are weighing your options for. You will be amazed at how much you get done.
4. I'm not in the mood/ Have no motivation
"Either you run the day, or the day runs you." –Jim Rohn
Do you think you are adding anything good to your mood by putting off more things that you should / want to be doing? I used to use this excuse a lot when I didn't feel like exercising. Maybe I had a really crappy day at work or school, maybe I'm hungover from going way too hard at a party the night before. Doesn't matter...one thing that was true each and every time I skipped my workout was that I ended up feeling worse for the rest of the day. Not only feeling bad about what was bothering me in the first place, but on top of that I would have that cloud of regret tossed on top of the pile of bad feels.
Don't add to the pile of crap if you are already feeling under pressure. Take some action. Commit to doing just a bit, 10 minutes. You will probably find yourself motivated to do more once you have finished with that. Usually just a few minutes of action saves hours or even days of regret.
5. It's Overwhelming / Hard and I Don't Have the Energy to Complete it
"Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life." - Theodore Roosevelt
A lot of big goals and things we want to accomplish are indeed not easy...so we don't do them. While it is true that some things are extremely overwhelming (this is how I felt about learning programming for a long time) you will never get anywhere if you don't start. So instead of letting yourself get pressured by how long/ much effort it will take to COMPLETE, instead just take one little step at a time. Focus on the step, finish the step, then move on to another step. Once something is started the steps to complete it come naturally, starting really is the most difficult part. Also, if you want to achieve great things in life your first mistake is expecting it to be easy. Mediocrity is easy. Greatness is not.
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