Procrastination

Good Tuesday morning to you all. I wanted to touch on the subject of how we build our habits of putting things off till the last minute.  But even I have that bad habit myself and so I’ve put off writing on this subject while I addressed it in my own life. This year I have gone to the ideas of writing themes for a week. When I started this concept this year I was putting my posts together a few days ahead of time then had my partner edit them. That way they were ready a few days ahead of time.

Well the good habits are the ones that you must keep working on. When we let things slip, it is a matter of time before you let things get truly behind. Over the past few weeks I have waited until the last minute to write most of these posts. Every time I have a good excuse. Take today. You are reading what I was writing last night at 11 pm. I had a long day ending with a meeting with a group of people that I had wanted to visit with again for a long time.

So as our year will be half over this week, how many of you have put your goals for this year off until now? Now think of those who wait till they are older to get started on the goals, or purpose in their life. When I was in my early 30s I was still searching for purpose in my life. My uncle mentioned to me something that stuck in my mind until the day I turned 40. He said you have time, most people never realize what they were meant to do until they were 40.

So this year I will be 45 and I know what my purpose is. I feel charged up each day because I get to write something, coach someone, speak to a group of people. It’s great to look and see how many books have sold, who is interested in coaching programs. When I get to meet with someone for the first time, that free life purpose coaching session is the one that brings more joy to me than most.

But now I have my purpose, and yet I still have days of getting up late. No energy, putting off what I need to get done. Well I have to work hard to keep myself working towards the goals I have set for my life. So here are the things I need to do to keep myself on time, always working towards the goals, trying to stop putting the hard stuff off till the last minute.

1.  Set yourself up for success. You do this by always planning ahead. If you plan ahead, you will save yourself from the hassle of having to rush at the last minute. I like being in a place where things are done ahead of time. Planning ahead is always great. But it’s not always simple so to help with that we move to our next point.

2.  Have something to hold you accountable.  I personally have committed to a system of posting a blog each day. So if I do not have it planned ahead of time, I have to write it at the last minute. So I work to stay ahead of the game. Make commitments to keep your goals. Then when you get behind, assign yourself the task of getting to it earlier.

3.  Never make excuses. No matter what it is that made you put something off focus right now on getting the task at hand started. Always accept the blame. You are the reason you are here. In your own personal goal process it’s your choices that helps you reach the goal; it’s also your reason that you have failed. Stop and accept the blame for it. Learn from it. Get up and move forward towards the process you started.

This life is too short to always feel like you are running behind. Instead, focus on keeping yourself working towards your goals. If you have fallen behind today, increase your steps tomorrow. When you plan out the next project plan to do a little less each day. That way you have space to work extra to get ahead, or catch up when you get behind.

 I’m Tim Gillette the Rocker Life Coach. It’s time for you to live the life you dreamed of. Love what you do and those you spend your life with. How can we help you become the RockStar in your world?