The 4 Causes of Procrastination (they aren’t what you think)

by Joan Harrington Network Marketer/Coach/Full-time Blogger

Here’s the deal about procrastination…

 

It’s not your fault.

It is your responsibility to do something about it, BUT if you procrastinate, that doesn’t make you a bad person or lazy or a failure – there are just some things you need to know so that you can prevail over procrastination and not the other way around.

Typically procrastination shows up when your comfort zone is being pushed and change is on the horizon, but it’s important for you to know that you can handle it in fact, the good news is that you can break through and master it.

There are 4 main causes for procrastination rearing it’s ugly little head:

1. Fear of Change
2. Lack of Clarity
3. Fear of Failure
4. Fear of Success

Let’s go through all 4 of these now…

 

1. FEAR of CHANGE

If you are human, you will resist change just because it is change…

Change is hard, but change is essential – all you have to do is be ok with the fact that change is hard. Once you accept that,  you can go from there.

Even when you are excited about change in concept, when it becomes real it’s scary and that’s ok,  accept how inevitable and essential change is and the freedom from procrastination has begun.

 

2. LACK of CLARITY

When you aren’t clear, you get stuck in INACTION and Procrastination.

Some people can get completely active and proactive for OTHER people but when it comes to their own lives they get stuck.

Now remember, there is a difference between inspired action (moves you forward) and forced action (gives the illusion that you are pushing past procrastination when they are really just doing a bunch of things to make you feel like they are moving forward).

You need to get clear – what do you want?

How do you want to FEEL?

What kind of person do you want to be?

Get clear and you can always get back on track.

 

3.  FEAR of FAILURE

“I’m going to be so ready soon.”

How many times have you thought or said those words or something like that?

How long have you been getting everything ‘just right’ so that you would finally be ready?

The truth is that there is a point when preparation becomes procrastination. The fact of the matter is perfection doesn’t exist.  And the highest level of anything (a product, your job, you as a person etc.) is only achieved with a certain level of feedback.

It is the world that gives us the feedback we need (after a certain point) to continue to improve ourselves and everything we bring into the world.

So if you want to live your best version of your life, you need to do some preparation, and then you need to get feedback by getting out there.

We are like heat seeking missiles.

We achieve greatness through heading down the wrong path and then self correcting and then heading down the wrong path and self correcting again. And if you continue along this path, there is no failure, there is just the need for correction.

And I know I said you can’t be perfect…but you can be great…you can be extraordinary!

 

4.  FEAR of SUCCESS

Most people can’t even fathom why they would ever be scared of success so they write it off.

I think this is the biggest fear most of us have.

We all think about success, we imagine it, we get excited by it, but if there is any part of you that is scared that with that success there will be a big sacrifice, then you will continue to procrastinate and place blame and point fingers.

FEAR of what following through and succeeding will cause – what chain of events it will cause – who you will have to be, how you will have to spend your time, how your loved ones will react, how much tax you’ll have to pay – fear of success is the source of so much procrastination!

Fear of success isn’t fear of the success itself, it’s fear of what sacrifices you will have to make to get and live that success.

Listen, you can win out over this fear, and to do so, you have to make your whole life fit what you want.

Be honest about what you are scared your success will cause, and then get creative about how you can make it work without that being the result.

The second you put yourself in a solution mindset – you are powerful!

 

It’s about designing your whole life and when you remember that, you will be on track!

I promise you, there are so many ways to achieve your goals, more ways than you could ever imagine, but it all has to fit or you will dig in your heels and procrastinate!

 

Here’s a great exercise to help you figure out what you might be scared of:

*Look at whatever success you are focused on achieving in your life right now and ask yourself this:

*If this works, what will the benefits be? 

*Write down everything GREAT that will come of it.

Then ask yourself this:

*If this works, what sacrifices will I have to make? Or what might I lose if I have this success?

Once you are armed with the truth of what you are really scared of, then you can shift to a solutions mindset and finally win the battle with procrastination!

 

My favorite ‘Procrastination Busting’ exercise is this – every day, ask yourself:

**”What one thing can I do today – that will push my comfort zone and move me closer to my goal of _______?” and then DO IT!

The feeling of accomplishment when you start to put your vision first and push your comfort zone and take inspired action is amazing and something I know you will feel!

Created on Nov 17th 2011 16:20. Viewed 206 times.

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