What’s getting in your way of getting things done?

 “Whenever there’s something I’m supposed to do, I’ll do anything other than the one thing that I’m supposed to do, and then I feel bad about myself, and then I get depressed, and then I really don’t get anything done ‘cause I’m depressed….”

–Ellen DeGeneres

Who hasn’t procrastinated at least once in their lives? We all do it, whether we realize it or not. Being an action-oriented person, I usually tackle what needs to be done in a timely manner; but I was surprised to discover recently that there were a couple of things I was putting off. I was participating in a personal development course over the weekend (The Pursuit of Excellence), and for homework we were asked to commit to taking two courageous steps. We were paired with an ‘accountability buddy’ who was assigned to follow up and make sure we did what we said we were going to do. This is such a simple yet powerful technique, and illustrates why coaching is so effective; stating a goal and being held accountable for it drastically increases the chance of achieving it. One of my courageous steps was to take Latin dance classes.

In July, during an event called Midnight Madness, the local dance studio was selling dance packages at a ridiculously low price, so I happily forked over the cash and they handed me the voucher. Then life got busy. We had to pack our house for the move, find a new house, and then renovate it. Before I knew it, it was February and way too cold and snowy to consider leaving the comfort of a warm blanket and a cozy couch at night. Learning to dance the Salsa and Merengue is something I truly wanted to do, for years actually, and yet I was putting it off and wasn’t even conscious of it. After I publicly announced that this was going to be one of my courageous steps, I went home and pulled out the voucher, only to discover that it had recently expired. That’s when it hit me – I procrastinated on this for so long that it actually cost me money – money that I will never get back. But the lesson I learned was worth paying for. Then I told myself the truth about why I was procrastinating; it had less to do with not having enough time and more to do with fear. I admit it. I was afraid of not being able to pick up the dance steps fast enough, letting my teacher and myself down, looking bad. I think the scientific term for that is ‘fear of screwing up’! My ‘wall’ – the thing standing between me and what I wanted in life – was exposed. Yet shining a light on it actually allowed me to walk through it. I took that first dance class and my husband and I signed up for the full package. And all those things I was afraid of, well, they never really happened because I shifted my perspective and focused on having fun. Hey, if Kate Gosselin can do it on national television, what was I worried about? It’s funny that most of the stuff we’re afraid of never really happens, and yet it can keep us stuck for years.

Can you think of something you really want to do but keep putting off? What’s it costing you to delay it? What are you (subconsciously)hoping to avoid by putting it off? The answers to these questions can help you move forward in your life, just like telling myself the truth in the above example helped me. I’d love to share the tips and techniques that have worked for me over the years because I know that they can help you too. If you would like to learn more about conquering procrastination, please join me in my upcoming teleclass, Getting Things Done: Overcoming Procrastination to Create the Life You Want.

Don’t put it off, click now for more information.

https://hellenbuttigieg.com/teleclass.html

P.S. By the way, in case you are wondering, the second thing I was procrastinating on was teaching this teleclass – how’s that for irony?