The Silent Killer of Dreams: Procrastination

The pain of procrastination is one of those things that affect us all at one time or another. We are presented with an overwhelming amount of choices each day. Some choices are simply more appealing than others, in the moment. It’s human nature to want to put that annoying task aside for one more day.

We need to get honest about how much this habitual tendency stops us from creating new results in our life and is hindering our happiness and fulfillment.

Sometimes, procrastination is a good thing and serves an intuitive response guiding us toward a better time for taking action. Most of the time though, procrastination is a fear response, holding us back from getting the things we really desire. If left unchecked, procrastination turns into self-sabotage and we never make true progress towards our biggest aspirations.

Change Starts with Self-Awareness

Everybody wants to achieve their goals but few are willing to push past the discomfort to get there. Personal growth requires that we step into what is possible. One important aspect is to understand if you are motivated toward or away from things. Are you motivated to achieve a desired outcome or remove the pain of the current situation? When you know this, it’s easier to focus on the tools that will motivate you to take action and overcome both procrastination and self-sabotage. Self-awareness is at the heart of real change. It takes emotional intelligence and self-honesty to admit limiting behaviours and create a new future. This is the source of authentic change. If you’re failing to make progress in areas of your life, chances are, you haven’t done one of these three things:

→ Made a clear, concise decision to make change happen
→ Defined and emotionally connected to your goal
→ Defined your purpose for why you want this change

Burn Your Bridges

The Latin root of the word “decision” means to “cut off.” When you make an absolute decision, you commit to a course of action and cut off all other options. That sounds daunting but really, it’s clarifying. Cutting off all other options powerfully reorders your thinking, your choices and your behaviour toward achieving that goal.

That’s not to say accomplishing goals is easy. You may need to endure long periods of feeling uncomfortable to reach the next level. But the only way to get there is to make a firm decision and dare to burn the bridges and decide that there’s no way back. If you aren’t absolutely clear on your vision, if you haven’t emotionally connected to it, it’s going to be tough to stay on track over the long haul.

Think of someone you love. You’d do just about anything for this person, right? Move heaven and earth for them. But you might not do anything for an acquaintance. That’s why your goal needs to be your love, not merely an acquaintance! It’s this kind of passion that helps you keep the pressure on when the going gets tough. Without authentically and deeply connecting to your goal, you’re more prone to procrastination, self-sabotage and ultimately, failure.

→ What decision will you make today? What bridges will you burn?
→ What is the goal you would most love to achieve?
→ What is your purpose for wanting your goal?

Procrastination is something we all live with to varying degrees. By making bold and firm decisions, you can learn to push past it and get you closer to your ideal life. Don’t forget to celebrate your wins along the way.

Big changes happen when you take small actions consistently over time.