What if I told you procrastination is the difference between you being poor and rich, you being sad and happy?
This challenge of procrastination came up in my free group – Life Strategies with Nat for the Entrepreneurial Woman where we are all about improving our wellness, wealth and life fulfillment using success habits along with holistic and business strategies.
So, you want to achieve next level success?
As an entrepreneur and business owner, I’ve overcome a lot to achieve the success and happiness I have today.
I couldn’t have gotten to where I am now without my coaches and mentors, that’s for sure, and I’ve worked with the best of the best – Michelle Stonhill, Tony Robbins, Dean Graziosi, Billy Gene, Denise Duffield-Thomas in her book Chillpreneur, oh my goodness!
I learn from the best so I can give the best of me not just from a wellness coach perspective, but also from a business perspective.
At one point we are all chief everything officers, but we have to get to a point where we are chief executive officers.
CEOs controlling what we can and letting go of what we can not.
We can absolutely control our procrastination, even though sometimes it doesn’t feel like that.
Procrastination – how is it costing you?
I know you know what procrastination means.
Procrastination means that you’re not owning your time.
It’s when you say things like…
- I can do that tomorrow
- I don’t have enough time right now
- It’s too hard
- When I finish this, then I’ll get started on that
- I’m too tired, angry, busy, sad, stressed…
So how does procrastination cost you money and happiness?
- you’re fearful that you don’t have the expertise to complete a goal, and you put it off so that you’re not found incapable.
- you’re fearful of being judged so you wait for everything to be perfect before you press GO
- you feel guilty and down on yourself for not being where you thought you would be by now
…and how does procrastination cost you money?
- you pay your credit card bills late, which turns into worry and unnecessary payment interest
- you buy last minute – you throw your whole schedule potentially interrupting some key income producing tasks because you need that gift for your best friend’s wedding.
- you plan last minute – flight costs, unnecessary stress
- you sit on a job application or delay writing out your business plan or vision
Overcoming the bad habit of procrastination…
So how do we overcome this bad habit? This is one of the hardest habits to break my friends.
I was reading 7 Procrastination Excuses and How to Defeat Them by By Jayson DeMers in Inc.
Let me highlight the ones that I resonated with and teach to my clients – click the article above to read further.
Habit Changer #1 – Change the way you look at things.
“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today”
Procrastination boils down to a battle between the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex.
The limbic system is your pleasure center, your emotions, while the prefrontal cortex controls planning and decision making.
The prefrontal cortex is less developed and weaker, so often times the limbic system wins out, leading to procrastination.
One thing you can do is use essential oils because the limbic system also controls our sense of smell and physiological responses. Another thing you can do is develop a reward system.
This will motivate you to get the task done, and overcome the tendency to put things off until tomorrow.
Never underestimate the power of rewards, even if you’re only rewarding yourself.
Habit Changer #2 – Change your mindset.
If you’re always feeling scattered, on the go, never hitting the end of your to-do list, working way more than you thought you would by now, coming in early and staying late every night, it’s natural to think you simply don’t have time for that task looming in the background.
NO! This thinking is flawed and we need to reframe!
You make time for what you prioritize, and you prioritize what you make time for.
Planning is a key success habit, and one that I teach in Module 3 of my Success System.
Habit Changer #3 Break it Down
When you have a big project or what seems like a huge workload, all you see is one massive mountain of work.
It’s natural to want to avoid it for as long as possible.
This is where planning and visualizing your workload into smaller, bite sized chunks is going to make it easier and less monstrous.
Split each project into smaller, digestible chunks of work – milestones and tasks.
Use the end date to plan backwards and slot in these milestones with buffer time so you can handle whatever life or business throws at you.
Habit Changer #4 Focus on one thing at a time
When you have lots on the go, it is easy to get distracted, or to do a bit of everything and yet accomplish nothing.
This is the blessing and curse of entrepreneurship – we LOVE to create.
Have a space in your planner or a running document where you can park your ideas and always go back to the main objective when you feel yourself getting distracted.
Habit Changer #5 Check in with your mood
When you say things like I’m too tired, I’m too angry, I’m too sad, or I’m too stressed… you may want to check in with your emotions and what’s really going on.
Are you in a negative mood, where all you want to do is stop working and start doing something else (whether that’s relaxing at home, going out for a drink, starting a new exciting project, etc.).
This is where you need to stop and do something that fills you with joy and lets you come alive again.
Journal about what’s going on in your life and you may be surprised at what gets downloaded onto paper – I guarantee this will make you feel better!
I talked about this in my interview on Costa Women TV the other day – You can’t do anything from an empty cup.
Wrapping it up!
So, in summary, when you are procrastinating, it is costing you money and happiness.
How can you overcome that nasty habit of procrastination? We talked about 5 effective things you can do right now!
- Change the way you look at things
- Change your mindset
- Break it down
- Focus on one thing at a time
- Check in with your mood
If you got value from this please like, comment or share.
If you need help with kicking your bad habits so you can make the life you want a reality, apply for a FREE strategy session where it’s you and me talking about your biggest challenge as an entrepreneur or business owner and the habits and steps you need to make it happen, but do me a favour and only reach out if you’re serious in investing in yourself and premium level mentorship.
Lots of love!
Nat
PS You can watch the YouTube video of this episode HERE – don’t forget to subscribe!
