How to Stop Procrastinating

Have you ever needed to do something?  Something that you had a conviction about.  One of those things that you have been putting off.  How many times have you spoken the words “I need to ….”?  As a personal trainer I get “need to” all the time.  Apparently, just my being a personal trainer is conviction enough for folks to start confessing to me what they need to do.

It happened last week in the grocery store.  I noticed a lady staring at me like she knew me.  I smiled and said “hello.”  Then she said, ” You are The Pink Physique lady (the name of my training center), and a personal trainer.  I watch you on tv all the time.  I need to be in there working out with you.”  Then she went on to tell me how out of shape and overweight she was.  She had recently been to see her doctor and was having health problems related to being overweight and out of shape.  She used to be more active and 50 lbs lighter.  She told me how miserable she was with her body and how much she hated the way she felt with the extra weight.  Being overweight was leading to problems with her blood pressure, joints, sleep, confidence, and energy.

I then invited her to come in for a free consultation with me since she expressed how much she “needed” to come and get started with me.  Can you guess what happened next?  She immediately began giving me all the reasons why now wasn’t a good time.  Life was just too busy but she was going to get around to it one day.  She then seemed to be in a hurry to get back to her shopping and get away from me.  All of a sudden when faced head on with a way to no longer “need to” she shut me out and ran the other way.

Isn’t this what we all do everyday?  We need to do things but find reasons to procrastinate, reasons to wait one more day, and reasons to continue “needing to.”  We run the other way by filling our day with things we don’t need to do like checking emails multiple times a day, Facebook, Instagram, texting, playing games, watching TV, Pinterest, surfing the internet and reading gossip magazines.

Then what happens?  Our needs get left undone and we get buried under a mountain of guilt.  That mountain is built by all those “need to’s” that keep piling higher as we put them off one more day.  The higher the mountain the tougher it is to dig our way out.  Until we take action.

In his brand new book The Perfect Day Formula, my friend and fabulous coach Craig Ballantyne (pictured to the right) writes:

“Compare what you say you want against what you actually do.  Do they match?  If not, it’s time to change and figure our what really matters.  Once you do, line up your priority with the actions you need to achieve it, and then embrace the pain, pay the price, and earn the prize.”

Maybe that is it – we are afraid of embracing the pain and paying the price.  Maybe we find it is easier to swim in our guilt.

What is one thing that you know you need to do but have been putting off for too long?  For me one thing was writing this blog post!  Blogging takes time, energy and vulnerability to pour myself out there.  Those are the pains I was avoiding.  Last night I set my alarm to get up early and get this blog written and out to you.  Now it is done and hopefully it will be helpful to someone reading it.  It definitely wasn’t helping anyone when it was just stuck in my head.  Now I get to live a guilt-free day without thinking about the fact that I needed to do it but left it undone for one more day.

Craig  says:  “Action is the simplest way to avoid procrastination. Get up and throw yourself into the battle.”

Here is to wishing you a day of action in the battle!

Before you go – Check out this Extra Resource:  Craig Ballantyne writes regularly for Men’s Health and several other fitness related publications.  He is also the Editor of Early to Rise – a blog devoted to health, wealth, and a life well-lived.  Don’t procrastinate – go check it out by clicking here: www.earlytorise.com