Dee's Daily Dose: Overcoming Procrastination
If you are anything like me, you’ve probably started numerous things - a business, a blog, a clothing line ….. and if you’re REALLY anything like me, you’ve never finished them or waited until the last minute to do so. I call this, procrastination. With procrastination comes a price: stress (if we weren't stressed to begin with). This is very common. As millennials in this digital age, we are distracted easily - especially by social media. Next thing you know, we are pushing our dreams and aspirations to the side; telling ourselves "I'll get to it later" and never do.
What causes procrastination? Fear, lack of consistency and excuses top the list. If I counted every time I allowed fear to take over my life, I’d probably be in the trillions. Fear is like that annoying friend that always shows up un-announced and you allow him/her to stay because you don't know life without them. Scary huh? Fear has a way of making itself at home, so comfy it becomes an innate reaction.
Ever heard of, “Faith without works is dead”? One of my favorite quotes from my Father’s word. A lack of consistency causes concentration to decrease. If we don't wire ourselves to be consistent in order to achieve the goal, we may never reach that goal. Faith + work = success. Have faith that you'll arrive to the end goal and just get started. For example: if you're writing a book, set a daily goal to draft a page daily. A daily practice will bring you closer to your dreams. Develop a consistent plan with daily actionable items, to re-wire your brain into thinking your goal is more than achievable. Set specific times to do certain things and if social media is distracting you, take a break. Learn to prioritize and find your flow - if you prefer to knock out the easy things first, do so!
Excuses, yeah, I've got a lot of them. I once read somewhere that excuses are just comfort zones. “Oh, I was late because…” “I couldn’t make it because…” “It’s not my fault but…” Excuses. Excuses. Excuses. Constantly developing a new excuse pushes us further away from the finish line. Once we start holding ourselves accountable, we are forced to make changes.
Sometimes our dreams are so big it scares us. Feel the fear and do it anyway. You'll be way more compelled to get it done on time, if not, earlier. Read the book Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers for extra inspiration. Create a plan and execute it daily, whether it be for 30 minutes to an hour. Discipline your mind. Dividing our big dream into little goals helps our mind digest the process. It may be tough, there will be times where we fall short or feel defeated but one thing is for sure - you will conquer your fears and achieve those dreams. A wise woman by the name of Aaliyah once said: "If at first you don't succeed, dust yourself off and try again."