Mindset Shift: Stop Procrastinating. Do You Have The Guts Ep. 13

Today we are talking mindset shifts – and specific exercises to shift how you’re thinking and the behavior that’s causing how you are thinking. I promise you’ll have insight into mindset roadblocks today, and we are kicking off with everyone’s favorite topic – procrastination.

Do you have the guts to shift your mindset into action?

To see the world around you differently? That is all it takes, believe it or not, a shift in perception will change how you see the world.  AND – how you perceive your procrastination with regards to your shift.  What are you procrastinating about?

Procrastination: the action of delaying or postponing something.

Psychology today goes on to say the causes of procrastination are…

What are the causes of procrastination?

• Psychologists have identified various drivers of procrastination, from low self-confidence to anxiety, a lack of structure, and, simply, an inability to motivate oneself to complete unpleasant tasks. Research has also shown that procrastination is closely linked to rumination, or becoming fixated on negative thoughts.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/procrastination

So let’s give this a think.  What are you still procrastinating about? We are going to dive deep into procrastination and how it ties into our self belief in a sec. But first tell me, what are you procrastinating about?

Hows your nutrition?  Have you added in some good, whole foods lately?  Have you cut out the fries in the drive through or let go of a few drive through habits?  Have you let go of diet or regular sodas?

How’s your movement? Have you found a tiny step starting place?  Are you building up to something bigger?  Are you taking the steps at the office?

How’s your calendar?  Are you consciously planning your day, what you let into your brain as you wake and get going for the day? Or is email and social media running your morning by planting thoughts that fester through the day? 

Have you cleaned up your influences?  The people, tv shows, newscasts, and general information that through their behaviors and choices influence yours?

Is there something you want to do or learn that you haven’t made the time for?

What are you still procrastinating about? Procrastination does something very specific to our dreams and desires that you will not like…more on that in a sec.

There is a lot I am still procrastinating about so you are not alone.  Actually, this message is as much for me as anyone!

Let me ask you a little differently and see if we can’t see procrastination through new eyes…

How do you benefit by delaying your dreams?

Are you so buried in easy choices now that only offer immediate gratification that you cannot begin to make a hard choice now that would benefit you later?  Isn’t that a paradox?  The instant feeling we are seeking happens in the indulgent choice right now – saying no to the instant feeling we want right now is hard.  The long-term desire we seek happens in the delayed gratification of a hard choice right now.

Hard choices like

• Don’t eat the cookie

• Skip the happy hour for the gym

• Get up and do it anyway

• Save the dollar

• Meal prepping and planning instead of living on the fly

• Getting used to a fun podcast while getting housework done and not letting it pile up…(ME)

What are you doing instead of getting your shift together? 

What are you CHOOSING instead of getting your shift together.  Are you choosing YOU? Let’s stop delaying our dreams!

I have a dream of being really fit and toned.  I stopped delaying it in 2019.  It’s taken FOUR years to define these muscles so clearly!  I started in my mid 40’s.  If i can do this after being pudgy for 45 or so years, anyone can!

Whatever you are doing INSTEAD of choosing your dream … tell me this…what feeling are you working to avoid with that choice…not choosing you over the muffin or whatever? 

-          I was avoiding failure mostly

-          Fear of failure

-          Being wrong that I could do it (aka failure)

-          Disappointment of not succeeding (aka failure)

Actions demonstrate our results in life and they are driven by our emotions.

My emotions (feelings) were so blah.  The thoughts that were driving them were completely negative about myself. For years I was acting from a place of dreariness and doubt.  I did not believe I could change much less transform. My thoughts were negative, my feelings were fearful, and my actions were born from this place.  I saw no progress for years.   So if you are not taking action on something you clearly want for yourself, what feeling are you avoiding?

Let me ask you this.  Do you think you procrastinate because you have no belief in you?

Now let’s remember way back to episodes 1 and 2.  I spoke often about what a belief is.  A belief is a thought you’ve thought over and over and over.  Sometimes it’s true.  Sometimes it is not.  But we’ve thought it so often and for so long, we believe it.

• Where is your belief in you on the belief scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest belief?

• Or how about this…what are your thoughts about yourself?   Have you shined  a light on that inner critic yet to get down to your negative thought loops and limiting beliefs?

Where does your belief in you land on that scale?  You can tell from my examples before about failure that there was a time that I had little or no belief in myself and I procrastinated terribly about getting into an exercise that fit my lifestyle and better nutrition habits. I was too tired, in too much pain, I knew I’d hurt myself…or I simply couldn’t think straight for about 6 or so years.  (Gut health plug)

Now there is a process to believing in yourself…

and we will cover that in a minute. There is also a process to each and every idea we have or journey we go on, it is never a straight line to success.  Brick walls abound and we hit them over and over.  This happens to everyone!

The difference is, some of us know there is a brick wall and some of us don’t.  If we expect the brick wall, we work to find a way around it, through it or over it.  If we don’t know about it, we just hit it and quit it.

Are you at a brick wall?  Here’s a quick overview of getting past a brick wall of frustration.

The first thing to do is take a step back and stop obsessing.  Let it go.  Let your expectation go.  Get curious so you are not judging or being mean to yourself about hitting this brick wall.

Next up there are a few strategies you can use to get past the wall. 

• There’s the intellectual strategy where you brainstorm and make lists of pros and cons, things you need to make it happen. 

• A second strategy is to get physical.  Exercise.  Exercise tends to relax our mind…we eventually have to focus on breathing!  Our minds wander away from the constant inner critic and we create a little room for new ideas – on how to get through that brick wall. 

• A third strategy is to get spiritual.  Meditate, listen to your dreams, journal, visualize and in the middle of journaling or meditating as the critic is quieted and our mind relaxes – BAM.  You see the answer so clearly.

  But you gotta take time to listen to you. Not the world.  Not the constant noise and chatter all around. 

  You.  You know your body and your mind and you know what will help you move forward.

Once you get past your first wall, it’s such a HUGE win and vote of confidence in yourself. 

Let’s tie this all back to procrastination.

First of all, what do you really want?  Have you let yourself think about this and explore what it looks like? OR have you simply silenced yourself and any new idea over and over with that inner critic that says “I have no time…I could never do that…I might fail…

Side note: We create time for what we want. I teach an entire class around this concept in my signature mindset course that is coming this spring if you are interested.  More on that later!  We create time for what we believe in.  We have absolute power in taking our time into our own hands.  The way you do this might be quite different from how I might do it, but we all have the power. 

So take a minute or 30 to really explore what you want and what it looks like to have it.  What does this shift you want require of you? What kind of time does it require? What kind of mindset? What kind of budget?  How will you begin?  What will you say to yourself when you want to quit?  Define under what circumstances you are allowed to quit…

My next question is, why don’t you believe you can have what you want?  If you believe you can have what you want, why don’t you have it already?  Why aren’t you doing it already?

Your inner critic/thoughts / beliefs have built a wall between you and what you want – your dream!   (Kind of like a brick wall of frustration!!!) This wall generates constant and continual doubt.  Constant doubt also creates decision fatigue. And we push the idea of what we want away.

Lastly, the doubts…the critical thoughts that hold you back.  Do you think that these beliefs or thoughts are true?

You can choose a new thought and practice thinking it. 

You might need little changes in thought at first because you want to BELIEVE your new thought. (Example: Hating body. Appreciating body for how it continues to work for you. Then to how it can change…eventually to I like…to I love my body.)

However, regardless of how you get to your new belief, it is YOUR choice to do so. 

You do not have to continue doubting yourself and growing the wall of separation between you and what you want. This is what procrastination is doing for you.  It is building the wall.  Every time you put off your dream or desire for what you want, you are telling your brain that it – this goal, today’s walk or run, or that dream of __________________ is not important and you set another brick in the wall between you and what you want for you.

So that is the exercise for finding belief in yourself. It’s all tied into taking action and making procrastination a habit of the past.  Here it is in a nutshell.

Insightful Questions to Remove Procrastination from your life!

1.      Define what you want. 

2.      Shine a light on what you are procrastinating about. Ask yourself why.

3.      Understand there will be a brick wall sooner or later.  Know there is a way around it. You might be at it already.

4.      Key Question #1 Why don’t you believe you can have what you want? (This is the part where you shine the light on your thoughts and observe with detachment.  No judgement or anger, just curiosity. NO shoulding on yourself. ) IF you do believe you CAN have it.

5.      Key Question #2 & 3 Why don’t you have what you want already? Why aren’t you doing it already?

6.      Most important question: All of the doubts and critical thoughts that you have noticed are holding you back from this dream…making you feel ick…do you believe they are true?

7.      Action Step: Choose a new thought to think that will create a new feeling and new actions.  Guess what you’ll get?  New results.

Ultimately, I think we procrastinate in moving forward with our dreams or goals because we don’t believe in ourselves.  Every time we put off that tiny step that will take us to the bigger step, we tell our brains that the dream isn’t important.  We literally wipe out our confidence in ourselves doing this, we waste energy on shoulding on ourselves or regret with procrastination. 

Now let’s talk feelings.

Disappointment is a feeling.  Failure is a feeling.  Sadness is a feeling.  Frustration is a feeling.  Anger is a feeling.  If you are avoiding feelings such as these, it might just be the reason you do not have what you want. 

It’s risky to try the thing knowing it could turn out this way. But remember the choice to think differently. 

• I don’t have time can become I will find time.  Way more empowering.

• I don’t want to can become I will do it anyway.

• I can’t get started can become I’m starting today by figuring out why I feel this way and if I believe the thought that is causing this belief. 

We act from our feelings and the way we think creates our emotional state.  Every single time. 

Do you have the guts to shift your mindset into action? 

Do you have the guts to overcome procrastination when it comes to what you really want for you?  This shift is a choice.  This choice of awareness – to understand and know your thoughts – evolves into a lifestyle that will shift your entire identity.  And if you allow it, you will become the type of person who does not procrastinate and who believes in yourself.

If you’d like to join us in the Consistency Club -C’mon! Click here for the link to join.

Until next time, stay curious!