Procrastination is like the dirty underwear in the gym locker room that nobody want to acknowledge. Everyone will see it, know that something has to be done, but no timely action will be taken.
Procrastination is like waking up on a beautiful Saturday knowing you have a ton of laundry to do because you have nothing to wear. But opt to wear dirty clothes instead.
Procrastination is like getting up to go to your 9 to 5 every Monday…on time. But late the rest of the week.
OK, enough with the procrastination roasts. But hopefully you get where I am going with this article. We all procrastinate. Some people far more than others (raises hand). Procrastination can or will turn into a negative habit. One that severely cripples productivity. I know because I’ve been there. I am still currently there. Albeit in recovery and finally able to see the light of day.
Why Yearly Goals List Fail
Have you every made a goals list in your journal on the first of January? Only to revisit them on December 31st to see that you have accomplished nothing? Yea, me too. That was my life every year for the last decade. Back in 2018 I remember flipping through my old journal and seeing a goal to “Complete the Niantic Bay Triathlon”. I really wanted to accomplish this goal. But didn’t have a strong WHY . It was just something that I wanted to do.
I wrote that goal down in 2009. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t even came close to completing it. So I vowed to join a triathlon training group and signed up for the 2018 race. To make a long story short, I trained but never made it. I struggled with my swim conditioning and ultimately told myself that I couldn’t do it. So instead of booking more sessions with my swim trainer (justified action) I did the opposite. I stopped swimming all together. My mind told me I couldn’t do it and I believed it.
I became complacent with my lackadaisical nature. Eventually I stopped running, biking, and going to the gym. And how you do one thing, is how you do everything.
Never A Triathlete
The mind can be a terrible enemy if you don’t know how to control it. Now, I am not going to regurgitate different statistics or quotes from notable studies or books about productivity or procrastination. I can only share my own experience on overcoming it. I failed to complete a triathlon for many years because I had no plan. But once I had said plan I failed because of lack of self belief and a weak mindset.
Looking back its easy to say “Oh well, you should have just worked harder with a trainer.” Yes, this is true. But no training program could break the shackles I had created in my in mind. That work needed to be done on my own. After reading just about every self help book out there and listening to various podcasts on habits of successful people, nothing worked. Why? Because I was just a consumer. There was no inspired or justified action.
Focus on changing one thing. I started with my diet. I love meal prepping but became lazy and uninspired with all the foods I was eating. It just became easier to stop at Whole Foods hot bar or Chick-Fil-A after work. But I loved cooking. So I made a plan to try new recipes. I purchased the Skinny Taste cookbook and it literally sat untouched. I tried again. I’ve followed Fitmencook for years but never tried a recipe. They look very easy and tasty so I started there. I wrote down everything I planned to eat that week and shopped accordingly. I did a simple meal prep of salmon quinoa and veggies. The week of eating was successful and I felt very accomplished at sticking with it. I even lost one pound.
Modestly Magnificent Mindset
My mind began to change when I realized I was in control. This feeling became stronger once I started practicing meditation. I read Hal Elrod’s first book and started practicing his technique right away. I found that meditation, while difficult in the moment, has great benefits throughout the day. It became easier to focus my energy on doing meaningful tasks. And it allowed me to answer creative questions because my mind felt more calm.
Before mediation, my thoughts raged around like a runaway ball on the highway. It sounds so clique to suggest meditation for creating a stronger mindset but it really works. The trick is to do it consistently. I struggled with this for years. But once I started noticing the results in my day to day, I was excited to keep practicing. The main reason for writing this blog is to inspire dreamers who want to take action in their life. Procrastination is the number one reason why we fail. Adopting a modestly magnificent mindset is one that pushes you into action by doing the following:
- Practice meditation everyday
- Ask yourself “Is this action helping me to achieve my dreams?” —>Justified action!
- Work consistently on ONE THING that you like and try to master it. Like me with meal prepping.
Justified Action
I’ve mentioned this twice already in this article. You are probably wondering, “What on earth is Justified Action?” Well, it is action that you will complete only if it is valid or legitimate in helping to accomplish your goal or dream. For example, let’s say you are at home on Saturday and the weather is nice out. You have the goal to complete the Marine Corps marathon this year. Your friends invite you out for a picnic. But you still have not gone out for your daily training. Do you:
- Say yes to your friends because you want to enjoy the nice weather and have fun, or
- Go out for your run and let your friends know you will catch up later if time permits?
I would choose option two. Because you can get your training done and enjoy nice weather at the same time. Afterwards go hang out with your friends. That is taking justified action. Always think about what the Greatest Version of Yourself would do before making a decision.
Practice
Practicing the act of choosing justified action has really changed my life and the way I maneuver in this world on a daily basis. Asking myself “is this justified action” may seem silly but it helped with building a stronger, confident mindset. I realized I was now acting on opportunities and habits that would benefit me in the future.
I’m a little embarrassed to share this but I know it might help someone.
One of my big goals is to move to Singapore for at least a year. In the last three years I have gained a total of 20 lbs while living in D.C. I don’t want to carry this dead weight with me to Singapore. So this is one of my WHYs for being consistent with meal prepping. When I walk pass Chick-Fil-A now I just ask myself “is it worth it?” or “is eating a crispy chicken sandwich with waffles fries justified?” Nah, I’ll pass!
Procrastination is a Habit
This may scare you to learn but did you know procrastination is a habit? Yikes! I remember back in undergrad I use to procrastinate on writing my papers until the last minute. I told myself I write better under pressure. HA! I remember getting B’s and maybe even C’s. Imagine if I had a modestly magnificent mindset and practiced justified action back then. Only A’s baby!
I know better now. I think about the life the greatest version of myself wants to life and work towards that everyday, with unwavering faith. No more procrastination.
Procrastination is like looking at the life you want in a movie and not realizing you can have everything your heart desires.
Give up on procrastination now!
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