5 Reasons to STOP Procrastinating
Hi Everyone, How are you all going with your resolve for 2018? Are you still on track or are you already looking for distractions and finding ‘reasons’ to not keep going in whatever aim you set for yourself?… Whether you’ve completely veered off, whether you’re starting to falter or whether your intentions are still clear – lets look at 5 reasons to STOP procrastinating – to give ourselves a decent chance this year. Remember, 2018 equals 11 – a Master number and a Spiritual number – it’s a number to help us keep moving forward in a calmer and more powerful manner 🙂
When we are not clear on where we are heading – our goals, our aims, our intention – it’s easy to ‘fall off the wagon’ and return to our old habits of self-sabotage. Not having a clear focus (a reference point to return to again and again) sabotage will undermine our every move. We not only look for distractions but we find many ‘reasons’ to procrastinate – keeping us spinning like a top while these excuses become more and more real for us. Meanwhile, we sink deeper into our own stuck-ness… So before we look at the 5 reasons to stop procrastinating lets first address a 4-step pattern many of us unconsciously repeat, as we lose our motivation and enthusiasm.
Step 1: Excitement – when we have a new goal or aim we create an upward mentality which gives us energy to get us out of our comfort zone and get us moving.
Step 2: Avoidance Behaviour – once the excitement wears of (and inevitably it does) we start avoiding the actions we know we must take in order to succeed in our outcome. In other words – we procrastinate!
Step 3: Excuses – when we procrastinate we look for any ‘reason’ why we can’t continue – too hot; too cold; too poor; too tired; too busy; I can’t because…
Step 4: Blame – when we search for excuses we will always find a source outside ourselves to blame. Excuses always result in blame. Worst still, we justify our reasoning to the end – convincing ourselves that it’s not our fault, that if only……..
Then we start all over again at step one, not stopping to see what we are doing ourselves – and certainly not changing our behaviour. Just going round and round in a never-ending pattern of many excited starts and very few finishes… “What’s the point, there will always be someone or something that gets in the way” – becomes our battle-cry. When in fact, we are stopping (sabotaging) ourselves – which keeps our disempowering beliefs alive and thriving. Albert Einstein says “stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and over, yet expecting a different result’. If we truly want to succeed, we must be prepared to think and do – different.
5 Reasons to STOP Procrastinating. CHANGE our attitude. And START living NOW.
Reason 1: Life is short – make the most of it – don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Over the years I’ve listened to many stories of regret – one of the saddest ones was a lovely man who went on a trip around Canada – he said it was one of the loneliest times of his life. You see, his wife kept at him about going on this trip for many years – till it was too late. She died before he took her. He lived with so many regrets, but none bigger than not taking his beloved wife on this trip. He said, it wasn’t for the lack of money, simply the lack of interest due to ‘familiarity’… Often we are kinder to strangers than to our own loved ones because we get too comfortable… Sound familiar?
Reason 2: Procrastinating is self destructive – it defeats our resolve by feeding our own negative thought processes – keeping our old soul-destroying beliefs alive. Breaking these patterns through changing the way we think is essential or we will keep repeating it and will pass this self-defeating pattern on to our children. Not a great legacy is it?
Reason 3: Time to stop making excuses and time to start making a difference. The world is in a complete state of discordance, the only way we can truly change it is to take personal accountability for our own energy output. You know, so often I hear comments like “one person won’t make a difference”… When did we become so self-limiting? One person can absolutely make a difference so lets stop convincing ourselves otherwise. One person’s energy field WILL and CAN affect their environment – they can uplift or weigh down. Have you ever walked into a room where you could ‘cut the air with a knife’… That is negative and angry energy, put out by one or more individuals!
Reason 4: We are each responsible for our own life-stories, so lets make our stories count. Lets not allow others to crush our dreams or interfere with our enthusiasm – we can’t blame them if we allow them to negatively impact our resolve. Others may be able to influence our thoughts but no-one can create them for us – we create them all on our own. Give yourself creative choices in life by creating positive thoughts. Happy thoughts create a happy life 🙂
Reason 5: Life is amazing – grab it with both hands… Another comment I often hear is “I feel like I’m missing out”… Then I have to ask the questions – missing out on what? And – what are you doing about it? To which I often get a blank look. So first, we must figure out what we want out of life then go out there and grab it. Life is what it is – I’ve met many amazing souls who changed extreme adversity into victory, creating amazing stories with their learnt acceptance and wisdom. They didn’t blame others or use their situation as an excuse to stay stuck. No use feeling sorry for ourselves, we must grab life by the reins and make some positive changes today. Life is wonderful when we consciously live it. We must stop victimising ourselves and just get on with it – life really is quite beautiful – when we give ourselves permission to enjoy it 🙂
We can imagine only being victorious and move towards that image (on the screen of our mind) no matter how dark life may appear at the time. When we practice that each and every day, we simply can’t fail!! You see, it’s not in the wishing or the hoping or the dreaming. It’s in the doing! The doing creates the power to achieve our individual outcome…
So now that you have the same information as me – what are you waiting for? Today is as good a day as any to start your new way of expressing yourself – and of living your life 🙂
Question: How many unfinished projects do I have?
Consideration: Why might I procrastinate, find excuses and put blame elsewhere for not finishing what I’ve started?
Action: For the month of February, Don’t play the defeatist game. Instead, check your thoughts and if they’re negative, change them into positive – and only then put them into action. This is where transformation takes place. Do something each and every day to stretch yourself out of your comfort zone – it’s the only time we grow, enabling us to finish what we start… And remember to have fun with this.
Have a happy, harmonious, fun-filled year and may you finish at least one of your aims this year – no matter how small. Each finish is a success story 🙂
Lots of love, Annemarie 🙂