back to school, start your business or to start investing
money in the future. But you can always do it tomorrow
right? But then tomorrow comes, and you don't feel like
doing it again...and so goes the sad saga of
procrastination.
When does it end? If you've been wondering about this,
here are seven causes of procrastination and seven cures
that will help you put an end to procrastination today.
Cause #1: No Written Plan You've probably already
heard that failing to plan for something is pretty much
planning to fail. This is because if you don't have a
written plan to guide you step-by-step through something,
you'll be paralyzed by uncertainty. The writer Mark Twain
once said: "The best way to do something great is to
start now, and the best way to start now is to make a
written plan, break it into small steps and start on the
first step now."
Not bad advice, and this is the first cure for the
disease of procrastination: follow Mark Twain's advice.
Cause #2: Buying Your Own Baloney
Every time you tell yourself you're going to do
something that you don't end up doing, you're lying to
yourself. But that's not the main problem...the problem
is that most procrastinators really do believe that they
ARE going to take action....just not now. So they rest
assured that if they don't take action now, there's
always tomorrow.
The cure for this is to stop believing yourself when
you say: "I'll do it____," and to instead work on a plan
for starting right now to fulfill your commitment.
Cause #3: Approval Addiction Many times, the
problem with procrastination has nothing to do with not
following through. Instead, the problem is with making a
commitment that you don't really want to fulfill just so
that you can please someone else. It might feel very good
to tell someone yes, a very bad to tell them no. But if
you end up going back on your commitment later, you'll
eventually burn your bridges with that person.
The cure for approval addiction is to exercise your
"no" muscle. Practice saying no to things that you know
you won't follow through with. Don't say "I'll think
about it" or "I'll get back to you," because this is just
verbal procrastination. Instead, get comfortable with
saying no...and when you do, your "yes" will be much more
valuable.
Cause #4: Perfectionism
This is without a doubt the leading cause of
procrastination, and the hardest one to overcome.
Perfectionism causes you to delay taking action or to
take forever to complete something because of constant
revisions and excessive planning. This kind of
procrastination is based on fear that if something you do
is not good enough, that YOU aren't good enough.
The cure for this is to separate your identity and
sense of self confidence from your performance, even when
you do something well. This will take the edge off of
perfectionism and keep it from paralyzing you.
Cause #5: Too Many Options
You might have heard the saying: "if you chase after
two rabbits you lose them both." If you're someone who has
diverse interests, you'll struggle with procrastination
until you learn to make and cultivate a certain degree of
selective ignorance in your life. Too many options can
cause you to get stuck in analysis paralysis and never
get around to focusing on one thing only.
The cure for this is to sit down and write down all
the things that are most important to you, and to start
focusing your attention only on the things which you have
time and energy for. Chances are, if you do this and get
to work, you'll have time to the less important things
later. If not, at least you'll have done something
instead of being paralyzed by too many options.
Cause #6: Indecisiveness
If you're in the habit of saying: "let me think about
it." Or of doing hours and hours of opinion seeking
before coming to your own decision about something, you've
fallen into the habit of indecisiveness and it's time to
get rid of it before it takes your dreams from you. One
of the most common character traits of highly effective
people is that they are decisive and not influenced by
the opinions of others.
The cure for this procrastination is to develop a
state or set of criteria by which you can make all your
decisions: decisions about your health, career,
relationships and your finances. Having a long-term
vision will help you to build decisiveness by asking
yourself the question: "Which will be the best decision
for helping me reach my long-term goal?"
Cause #7: Sheer Habit
Too many people buy into the myth that procrastination
is character trait which is somehow "in your blood." In
reality, procrastination is nothing more than a habit
-like any other habits that can be broken through
consistent repetition of more preferable behaviors. If
you've fallen into the habit of procrastination, it's
likely that there are patterns in your life with this
habit.
The cure for this is to develop all of the following
habits: always have a written plan for something you want
to achieve, acknowledge that now is the only time you can
ever live in, get rid of perfectionism and accept that
failure is a natural part of the learning process, focus
on a few key goals and trust in your own wisdom instead
of being swayed by the opinions of others.
Now you know what you need to do...don't think about
it... ...just get started.
Get yourself re-wired and back on track to success
today with the "Prosperity Blueprint":
:)sayangi diri anda...salam sayang..sayang selalu....Shikin berkongsi bukan untuk dinilai atau dikeji...ikhlas luahan hati Sayang Shikin
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