Procrastination!

Everyone procrastinates. I do it, you do it, birds do it, and so do the bees :-). We put things off because we don’t want to do them, or because we have too many other things on our plates. Putting things off — big or small — is part of being human (unless you are an alien!).

In our line of business, we need to be successful — there are many ways to avoid success in life, but the most sure-fire just might be procrastination. From time to time I procrastinate and believe you me, if we procrastinate, then we are sabotaging ourselves. This puts obstacles in our own path, and this hurts our performance.

So why do we procrastinate? Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of losing autonomy, fear of being alone, and fear of attachment are some very good reasons. In a nutshell, because we expect ourselves to be perfect.

If you think you are a procrastinator, take heart! No one is beyond help. The fact that you procrastinate does not mean that you are inherently lazy or inefficient. Your procrastination is not an untamable beast. It is a habit that has some specific origin, and it is a habit that you can overcome.

So how do we fix it? People have written books on this, but let me give you the short and sweet answer: “Hold urself accountable.” When it comes to building a career, the buck stops with you. The definition of accountability is to be responsible for your action. Being accountable for our goals can help us to increase our chances of achieving it. I think most of us set goals in private and do not dare to share it with others. Once again this may be due to shyness or fear of the possibility of others mocking at our goals. But keeping our goals to ourselves may be our biggest mistake that caused us to fail. If we are really scare to declare our goals publicly, the more we should do it. Why? It is because doing this will allow us to use fear to our advantage.

Once our goals are known to the public, it will make us fearful of what they will say to us when we do not achieve our goals. Either way, fear is going to be present regardless whether you are sharing your goals with them or not. So why not use fear to your advantage?  It can be frustrating if you constantly fail to achieve your goals. Set your goals and do it differently this time round. Be accountable for your goals by announcing it publicly through forums, blogs or find an accountability partner. Once you are accountable for your goals, you will unleash your hidden potential and find the extra strength to help you achieve it.

Cheers to our success. So let it be written, so let it be done.