It’s a shadow that lurks in our corners.
It creeps up and convinces us to just watch one more show before going to bed. Or reminds us to check our email one more time before we start that big project.
Most of us call it procrastination, but Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art calls it Resistance. Whatever you call it… it’s a problem for all of us.
Since this problem is experienced by virtually everyone at some time, let’s explore the four most common reasons for procrastination or inaction and illuminate the roads that lead out of them.
1) Fear
Fear of success, fear of failure, fear of discomfort, fear of change, whatever it is that you fear, this is the most common and persistent cause of procrastination.
It happens in our own minds. We convince ourselves that taking action will have dire consequences. Our biology was programmed to help us avoid danger, and so we look for danger around every possible corner.
However, we also admire and prize those who take action in the face of fear. The heroes both fictional and real who face the dangers and take action anyway. We celebrate them. We admire their courage. We set them apart from ourselves. However, the real heroes will tell you that they aren’t special. They’re humans with fear just like us.
The problem is that fear makes a lousy motivator because it will either hold us in thrall exactly where we are (our comfort zone) or only motivate our action to move us far enough away from that which we fear (debt, death, loneliness, failure, etc).
That’s why the greatest antidote to fear is action. It is the true heroism to act with courage in spite of your fear. The challenge is that you must daily recommit and continue to take action.
As Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
However, once you become ready to face your fear and take action, then the next possible challenges set in…
2) Unclear Next Actions
OK, you’ve chosen courage. You want to take action and make things happen in your life… but what action do you take?
How do you get started? Even if fear was never the issue… many people get stuck because they struggle to figure out how to get started. The outcome sounds wonderful, but the road to get there seems baffling and unclear.
In this case, you have two options:
a) Brainstorm a Plan – In other words, your first action is thinking. Brainstorm on paper (or a white board, chalkboard, digital mind-mapping tool) all the possible steps or actions that you might want to take on the road to achieving your outcome. Figure out all the potential milestones along the way, then ask yourself, “What’s the specific next task I could do today to get started?”
b) Ask an Expert – Find someone who’s done what you want to do and ask them how they got started. Pick their brain and uncover their plan. Read or research how others have solved this problem. Or hire an expert who’s done it before to guide your steps and walk you through the process. Use their experience to motivate you and steer you around potholes. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes the courageous choice is to ask for help!
Essentially, if you feel unclear about your next action, then either pause to brainstorm a plan or find someone who knows the road and get their guidance. Try one of these two options… that’s your next step.
3) Lack of an Effective System
Once you’ve gotten started, then the challenge becomes: keeping moving. Procrastination and Resistance can loom their ugly heads at many different turns in our lives.
That’s when having a system for tracking and taking action can help. If you haven’t yet downloaded our Start Your Master List eGuide and joined the Mastering Task Management mini-course, then that’s your next step!
If we don’t have a specific system that allows us to track our projects, plans, and next actions, then we live at the mercy of whatever pops into our minds.
We spend most of our time in reaction mode putting out fires rather than proactively investing time in the projects that are important to us.
However, when we build both a system that keeps us focused on our tasks and the habits to choose our actions intentionally each day, then we set ourselves up for dramatically greater success. Thus, we conquer procrastination through clear and consistent daily actions toward the goals that matter most to us.
4) Unclear WHY
The final major cause of procrastination and inaction comes from feeling unclear about our WHY. Beyond just a desire to move away from fear, we need a compelling vision of what we want to create for our lives.
What outcome are we moving towards? What do we desire to create for ourselves or for others?
Many times we can get ourselves started on taking action simply to avoid our fear of an undesirable outcome, but once we’ve moved far enough away to diminish that fear we lose our motivation and inaction sets in again.
That’s when we need to shift motivation strategies and connect with what we desire to move toward, the outcome that compels and calls to us. That desire which if we hold it deeply in our heart and remind ourselves daily of its potential it can keep pulling us forward past the yawning maw of procrastination.
That’s when we need to practice our Vivid Future Accomplishments daily. Bring your WHY close to your heart. Make it vivid, powerful, and clear, then take action.
What Have You Been Procrastinating?
And now is the time for some truth… have you been procrastinating something important in your life? Are you ready to stop that cycle now?
Have you realized that it’s time to get some help? Then, ask for what you need.
If you haven’t started your Master List yet, then scroll up and get the Start Your Master List eGuide.
However, if you know that your procrastination tendencies are holding you in thrall, then ASK FOR HELP! Perhaps some expertise and accountability can get you unstuck and moving forward again.
