Five Steps To Stop Procrastinating And Achieve Your Goals Today

The two rules of procrastination: 1) Do it today. 2) Tomorrow will be today tomorrow. Vincent T. Foss

Susan Daley was a successful entrepreneur selling promotional products. She enjoyed making decent money while having the flexibility to work at home. Susan recently took over a colleague’s account, a huge growth opportunity. So why did she spend her mornings playing solitaire in her messy office rather than making phone calls to prospects?

To procrastinate is “to put off doing something”, or “to postpone or delay needlessly”. Sometimes we avoid doing the tasks that must be done because they are unpleasant or boring, or because we have poor time management skills or are lazy. And yet, often it is the tasks we most want to do that we put off, resulting in much internal pressure.

In Susan’s case, she loved building relationships with potential clients, helping them to better serve their customers and employees, and making a good paycheck to support her family.

So what was going on?

Awareness is the first step. Think about your excuses for not accomplishing your goals. Everyone has his or her own pattern of procrastinating. Here are eight examples:

- Fear of change, rejection or failure
- Need to be perfect (I can’t do it perfectly so I won’t start)
- Lack of time
- Too much stress, pressure or anxiety which leads to paralysis
- Overwhelm on how to start (task is too big, don’t know how to do it, etc.)
- Self-doubt or lack of confidence
- Disorganization, indecision
- Other priorities, big (work/family crisis) and little (need to check email first!)

Do these excuses sound reasonable and logical? That’s often the case. The problem is that if you buy into the excuses, you don’t follow-through on the steps needed to achieve your goals. Procrastination can feel good in the moment, but then creates stress. This becomes a vicious cycle.

Overcoming Procrastination

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Walt Disney

Getting into action alleviates the stress of procrastination almost instantaneously.

Here are the five simple steps:

1. Identify the task to be done
2. Identify the first or next step to accomplish the task
3. Commit to a time when you will begin the first step
4. Be aware of your pattern of excuses
5. BUT begin the first step in collaboration with the excuses

Susan outlined the steps needed to organize her files and her office to have ready access to client information. She set daily and weekly goals for contacting prospects and clients. Working with a coach provided the structure and accountability to stay in action on these tasks. She developed strategies to counteract the fear of rejection that was fueling some of the procrastination.

Don’t worry about eliminating all the excuses, or analyzing too much why you are procrastinating. Getting into action actually reduces the grip of the inertia and overwhelm of procrastination. As Susan found, it can be helpful to have partners and strategies to keep the excuses at bay.

You’ll feel more confident and relaxed as you experience the success of reaching your goals. You gain momentum and if you begin the task again and again, you WILL ultimately achieve it.

Your Voice Print

Mountains are built one pebble at a time and climbed one step at a time." This is a quote of mine that I personally put into practice each day as I progress towards fulfilling my WHY in life.

The word pebble in this quote means that each action you take needs to be productive toward building your mountain of success. As I was retrieving a message today from someone who called me, I had to play the message 5 times to finally understand the phone number he left for me to call him back. We have always heard the smallest things – the pebbles - in life are the most important. Well, this week's tip from me is the importance of the quality of your phone messages, which I call your voiceprint.

When you leave a voicemail message for someone, it is your "voiceprint." It may sound a little crazy that my motivating tip for the week is "How to Leave a Message”, but I'll bet that numerous people right now can relate to this. Everyone has had someone who called him or her and prior to calling them back they had a pre-determined feeling about the person before they even spoke to them live. The key is to have positive energy and confident words. Words are your #1 tool that God has given you to produce a super abundant life. Energy means to speak with conviction and confidence in your tone when you leave your message. You need to picture the person retrieving your message and ask yourself,”Will your message make them listen or just press fast forward?”

The following tip alone will earn you a million dollars! When you leave your phone number, speak in 2 second increments leave the area code first, pause 2 seconds, then the next 3 numbers pause 2 seconds and finally the last 4 numbers. You need to practice this! I guarantee that you will see results right away when you put this tip into action. They will remember you as the person who actually spoke clearly and slowly enough that they were able to write down your message the first time they played it. As a person who receives numerous calls daily, I can tell you that I cannot understand the message or phone number in 8 out of 10 messages, nor can I determine WHO THE CALLER IS!

Remember this "pebble of action" is one of the most important. Due to technology, your "voiceprint" is becoming the first introduction you have to many people. Also, do not assume that the person you are calling knows it is you. Always state your name and the best number for the receiver to return your call. You need to leave a clear, precise message, which reflects who you are...a person who knows their WHY in LIFE!

Find your WHY & FLY!

John Di Lemme
www.FindYourWhy.com