The single KEY to OVERCOMING Procrastination

Why is it that we put off doing things? Even those things that we really want? Let’s say you want to lose twenty pounds….perfect topic before the holidays leading up to a new year.  In the beginning, this passion for losing weight is so powerful that a person goes all out to do his or her best to get the pounds off. The problem with passionate, big life goals is that the goal is large enough and the process is long enough that there’s rarely enough immediate gratification to keep us going. In this example of weight loss, you lose five pounds right away but then, you gain three pounds back after a long, lazy weekend, and your passion dwindles, you start feeling frustrated, and you feel as though you haven’t gotten anywhere with your goal. It feels like it is going to take too long and be too hard. You may even feel like you’ve actually failed. The next time you think about losing weight, you don’t try again with the same effort, and soon you’re putting off losing weight altogether even though it’s something you really want. So why does this happen? Understanding how procrastination works and the reasons we procrastinate might shed some light and nudge us towards getting past this problem. Procrastination involves an inner conflict between something we want or need to accomplish and a resistance to actually doing it. Even though procrastination inevitably shows up in each of our lives, we can’t take its presence lightly. In today’s fast-paced world, it is even more important to manage our time efficiently and limit procrastination as much as possible. Here are the top five reasons we procrastinate are:

1. Fear of failing
2. Lacking motivation
3. Lacking focus
4. Feeling overwhelmed
5. Task unpleasant

The single key to understanding overcoming procrastination is to embrace the fact that most things that are important in life (usually what we want to accomplish) are like a marathon and not a sprint.  In order to get good at something such as losing weight, becoming a master at your job, or building a successful business, it’s important to realize that you’ve got to move toward your goal little by little, every day.  What you’re doing is building a foundation beneath you, and that foundation needs to be strong to handle your growing persistence and ultimate success. All good things take time, commitment and persistence. To overcome your procrastination, build a mental picture of what you want to accomplish, determine the price you will have to pay to get what you want, commit to paying the price, develop a plan or road map and then stick to it and little by little you will get what you want. All good things come through a marathon, not a sprint.