Some Tips for Dealing with Procrastination
By · CommentsDoes procrastination stop you from creating your kick-ass dream life?
You made the choice to go for your dream and you took some initial steps forward, but now you seem to have hit a wall and you find yourself standing still. In your mind, you think you know exactly what needs to happen, but you can’t seem to do it. There are 100 other things that are more important.
All this procrastinating is wearing you down, and you are starting to mentally beat yourself up for not taking action. You are feeling bad about yourself and starting to doubt your ability to pull this thing off. After all, you know exactly what needs to be done, so why aren’t you doing it?
That is a good question!
Why aren’t you doing it?
Let’s take a minute to explore what procrastination is.
Procrastination is a form of resistance. There is something that is not in alignment. Somewhere inside of your subconscious, a voice is saying “don’t do it.”
The question you want to ask is “why not?”
I think that there are two potential answers.
The first being, it is not the right time to take action.
I find that this happens a lot around writing and other creative activities. You think you know exactly what needs to be done, but the idea really needs to percolate a bit before it is ready to come out into being. There is something that you still are unsure about. Forcing the issue does not help at all.
The best solution is to stop beating yourself up for not doing it right now and create the space for it to show up when it is ready.
The second answer is a bit more complex.
The voice in your subconscious is saying “don’t do it” because you are afraid of what is going to happen when you do.
Taking action to create your kick-ass dream life means moving outside of your comfort zone and that can feel downright scary!
When you ask yourself the question “Why Not?” the answer is: I am afraid of_________________( failing, being standing out, being laughed at, making a mistake)
The best thing to do is deal with your fear head on. In most cases, when you shine the light of awareness on it, it stops seeming so scary.
Next time you find yourself procrastinating, try these tips to move you through it.
Take a few minutes to acknowledge that you are procrastinating.
Stop beating yourself up and making yourself wrong for being in this place. Allow yourself to see what it is trying to show you.
Do a bit of self exploration to identify what is in the way. Ask; “Why am I not taking action?”, “Is now the right time to do this?”, “How does it serve me to not take action”, “What am I afraid will happen if I do this thing.”
If you find that you are not taking action because you’re unsure and not ready, lovingly give yourself some time to work it out.
If you find that fear is in the way, then explore that fear and meet it head on. Shine the light of awareness on it and determine if it is really a good reason not to go forward.
I would love to hear how these tips work for you. Give them a try and then let me know how they work in the comments below.
The Power of Asking What and Why
By · CommentsI love this thought from Abraham-Hicks
When you talk about what you want and why you want it, there’s usually less resistance within you than when you talk about what you want and how you’re going to get it. When you pose questions you don’t have answers for, like how, where, when, who, it sets up a contradictory vibration that slows everything down.
— Abraham
Can you notice the difference in how it feels when you think about the WHAT and the WHY of your dream vs. when you think about the details of how it is going to happen?
Try it out and see what you notice.
Share what you discover below in the comments.
I think we have it backwards…..
By · CommentsWhat if creating your kick-ass dream life is more about how you want to feel in your life than the things that you want to have?
When I talk to people about their kick-ass dream life, they tend to go right into describing what it will look like to them and all the things that are in it. They tell me about the cool career that they will have, and the awesome house and all the things that they will do. Once they have all these things THEN their life will feel totally kick-ass!
I think that this approach is backwards. It is extremely limiting and gives way too much power to the material things in your life.
If you are honest with yourself, the reason why you want these things; be it a job, house, or car, is because you think that you will feel a certain way once you have it.
And it might be true that all those things will make your life kick-ass, but I imagine that there are all kinds of things yet to be discovered that would work for you too.
What if you started off with being really clear on how you want to feel in your life, and create from there?
If you commit to looking for the things in your life that feel really good to you, then you can more easily build your kick-ass life around you.
I find that when you are tapped into how you want to feel, and you look for the things that allow you to feel that way, the possibilities expand and it becomes much easier to start living your kick-ass life right now.
What does your kick-ass dream life feel like to you?
I am curious, do you ever create space in your day to just sit quietly and connect to your inner self?
Yesterday we were discussing the importance of going within on Defy the Box radio with Dr. Jennifer Howard, and it reminded me just how difficult this used to be for me.
Back in the day, I was scared to death of listening to what my inner–self had to say. I always kept myself busy. I avoided any situations where I would have nothing to do and be stuck sitting there alone with my thoughts.
If I was home alone, I would have the TV on or music playing while I was using my computer, or talking on the phone. I would watch TV until I would fall asleep. I hated lying awake in bed with my thoughts swirling around.
My inner-self had all kinds of things to say that I did not want to hear!
In my head I would be looking back at the day and analyzing every interaction that I had, and all the things I did. I thought about all the things I did not like and wanted to be different. I had a long list of things that were not working for me.
I felt trapped in my life, and did not think that I had many options. Thinking about it made me uncomfortable and anxious. I did not know exactly what I wanted or how to make the change.
I just knew that I wanted more.
This desire to do more with my life was not something that would sit quietly! It showed up in all my frustration, anxiety and disappointment. Nothing satisfied me, and my life suffered as a result.
And then a funny thing happened.
The Universe forced me to sit still for a while. I broke my foot and severely sprained my ankle. I had six weeks of doing nothing. I could only watch so much TV, and finally I was prompted to read a book that had been on my shelf for a long time. It was the Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. This book got me to slow down and take a look inside of my own head.
I let go of all my bus-i-ness for a while and began to create some places for stillness in my life.
At first it was scary. There was so much anger and frustration inside of me; it was hard to get past it.
Eventually I did.
I was able to connect with the part of me that wanted more meaning in my life. The more I created the quiet space to sit down and listen to that voice, the clearer my path became.
Sometimes I find myself still avoiding the quiet places, and I ask myself what are you avoiding hearing right now?
There is always an answer for me if I sit down and listen.
The Price of Impatience
By · CommentsI thought it was a good idea at the time.
I was so excited to make things happen and create some big changes so that I could make a giant leap forward and step more firmly into my kick-ass dream life.
What I didn’t consider was that the three programs I signed up for to help me do just that were all going on at the same time.
I realized that I had made myself crazy busy and I started to spiral into overwhelm.
I have put myself into full time SUMMER SCHOOL!
What was I thinking?
I can tell you what I was thinking: I want my kick-ass dream life to show up RIGHT NOW !
I was getting impatient and feeling like things were not happening fast enough.
How many of you can relate to that ?
So, I decided to take some action that I felt would rocket me forward.
The problem is that I didn’t take the time to create a structure to support me in doing this. I did not step back and imagine what it would be like to be in these programs, and the time commitment and the workload. I didn’t focus on the outcome that I was looking for and create space for it to happen. I didn’t clear away the things in my life that were not in alignment with my stepping up in this big new way.
I didn’t set myself up for success in anyway and now I am paying the price.
Overwhelm!
Funny, Abraham-Hicks sent out a quote the other day that fits perfectly.
“Overwhelment is about you not being up to speed with what you told the Universe that you want. The Universe is yielding to you. You’re just not ready to receive it right now.”
These words ring true for me. I was not ready to receive what I had asked for.
I ask myself: “What needs to be released, or brought in to support you in stepping into your dream?”
One thing that needs to be brought in is a newly defined commitment to do this work, and to make it my #1 priority.
The next thing I did was re-evaluate how I was spending my time and decide if there were any things that are not serving me. There are a few groups and projects that I have decided to let go of because they are not really going anywhere. I also had to redefine my relationship with Plants vs. Zombies, (Sorry guys…I will only be coming around every now and then.) and my TV.
I did make the commitment to keep some space for fun, and not to burn myself out working 12 hour days. That just does not feel good and is so NOT part of my kick-ass dream life!
So we will see what happens.
The Overwhelm has left the building and I am beginning to feel the juicy goodness of everything expanding around me.
Oh yeah… that feels nice!
