Procrastination is the art of wasting away precious time by doing useless things! Yup, I will stick to this definition because procrastination is what I precisely used to do before I got fed up and decided to use my time efficiently. However, remember that what worked for me may not work for you. Today I am going to share personal tips to overcome procrastination and achieve success.
Figure out what works for you and stick to it.
According to Ubersuggest, people search for ways to combat procrastination roughly 135,000 times a month. There are thousands of people out there just like you ready to start building their best lives but save the hard work until the last minute.
So here is my question to you.
How do you know when the best time to start achieving your goal? The second you desire to be better. 19th- century American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson put it best, “You wouldn’t have the desire if you didn’t have the ability within you to achieve it.”
The best way to overcome procrastination is to understand why you procrastinate in the first place and learn how to recognize the signs.
I. Change the Mindset to Overcome Procrastination
1.What is a mindset, and why is it important to overcome procrastination
Simply said, a mindset is a set of beliefs that you have accepted to be your reality. We are not born with a conditioned mind.
However, when we are growing up, our parents, teachers, friends, and anyone we expose ourselves to present us an idea about who we are and what we are capable of. The minute we accept someone else’s opinion about us, it becomes our new reality, and we operate from that mindset. Let me give you an example to make this point clear for you to understand.
Let’s suppose a parent names his/her child “stupid.” Now that child is addressed stupid probably many times a day because that is the child’s name. As a child, he/she may not know the meaning of the “stupid,” but you can imagine as that child is growing up what it does to the child’s psyche. The child accepts the idea of being stupid (more so because parents themselves gave that name).
At a conscious level, the child may reject the idea of being stupid, but at a subconscious level, his mind is so conditioned that he/she thinks and act stupid.
So, what does this example means to procrastination? If we peeled all the layers of our being and get to the nitty-gritty of understanding why we procrastinate, we soon realize that there are certain beliefs we have accepted as true for ourselves that are holding us back. Procrastination is not superficial (laziness, lack of time, lack of education,…); it is much deeper than that.
2. Take an inventory of your conditioned mind and reasons for procrastination
So how do we exactly move from having an idea inside our head to putting it into action? We do that by taking an inventory of our conditioned minds. Because if we do not work on our inner self and try to achieve a goal by mere willpower, then the result will be temporary.
We must figure out if the problem is superficial or deeply rooted for any change to be permanent. Figure out if you keep putting stuff off because of pure laziness, lack of time, and resources. Or is it your conditioned mind that is holding you back by constantly whispering that doubtful nagging voice inside your head you “you are not good enough,” “you are not smart enough.”
Think of something you want to do. Now think how you feel when you think of doing that thing. If you want to achieve something and there is that doubtful nagging voice, we get past negative voices and begin our change by taking a baby step. Remember the quote, “Rome was not built in a day!”
3. Replace old, conditioned mind/thoughts to move past procrastination
Congratulations for sticking with me so far!!
So now that we have figured out conditioned mind/thoughts, it is time for us to replace those thoughts with permanently life-changing thoughts.
You may have heard other motivational speakers talk about these methods, but my personal favorites are affirmations and visualization. For example, when you have a thought in your mind saying, “you are not good enough,” replace that thought instantly and quickly with, “I am more than enough.”
You will notice that eventually, as you keep doing this multiple times, it will become your new reality without you even realizing it (just like you previously accepted other false ideas about you and made it your reality).
Try your best and guard your thoughts and inner conversations, and do not allow any negative thoughts to slip by you. You become “the guardian” of your mind just like a parent is the guardian/protector of the child. If, as a parent, you would not let any harm come to your child, then why would you allow negative thoughts and negative inner conversation to destroy yourself being?
There is only one you and you are priceless!!
II. Know Your Vision to Overcome Procrastination
1. Know why you want what you want to move past procrastination
It may be obvious, but you have to know why you want to achieve anything.
Now the drive of wanting something may come from a place of pain, or it may come from pure desire. However, when I read about the most successful people, I noticed that the pain was the defining factor for them to reach the level of success in life.
I am not saying “the pain” is the prerequisite to achieve your goals, but it will keep you more focused and more motivated.
Jim Rohn once said, “We must all suffer from two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.”
For me, the pain of regret far more than the pain of discipline. Time does not discriminate among anyone. Everybody gets 24 hours in a day to spend. How we spend 24 hours defines our present and our future.
2. Know what is going to be the outcome when procrastination is overcome
Now nobody is a perfect human being (not even me). Only you are the one to decide the outcome of achieving/not achieving your goal.
The result of your present actions determines your future reality. There can be either sense of achievement or a sense of regrets.
I have been on both sides of the spectrum, and trust me, with the sense of regrets comes lots of pain, guilt, resentment, self-doubt, and worst of all, it chips away from your self-confidence and self-confidence.
Not only these negative emotions take you two steps back, but it further confirms your “false reality” and what do you do as a result? You confirm that “false reality” and make it permanent unless you are not afraid to fail time and time again, pick yourself up, and start again.
The opposite is valid with the sense of achievement. When you set a goal and achieve it by taking a small step every day, it gives an adrenaline rush. It builds your confidence, self-esteem and transforms your “false reality” into a new “identity.”
3. Figure out a plan to reach the outcome without procrastination
Just like we need a plan when we travel from one part of the country to the other part of the country, we need to figure out a plan to reach the desired outcome. Because let’s accept the fact that not everything is going to be rainbow and sunshine, not everyone in your close circle will accept your idea and support you every step of the way. When you start achieving your goals, you may soon realize that the people with whom you hang out may not be vibrating at the higher frequency as you.
Figure out a plan to reach the outcome. How are you going to get from point A to B? For example, if your goal is to lose weight, how about starting with a baby step? How about when there is a commercial on TV, you commit yourself to do ten squats. If you did that for ten commercial breaks, then there are your 100 squats for the day. Of course, a squat is just an example. You don’t need to do squat if you have a weak knee or plain ol’ hate squats.
Once this becomes a habit, then you can add another exercise. And please do not expect results in a couple of months because bad habits did not take a couple of months to creep in. The persistence of negative thinking and negatively doing things for months, probably years, built those negative habits.
It is up to you to reverse the gear and be persistent in thinking and positively doing things in the present and future.
