Choose Your Easy
/“Build a business doing work I love that supports me having more time at home with my children.”
I wrote that down in a notebook a few years back and came across it again as I was cleaning up one day.
Ouch.
Facing the fact that I hadn’t realized this dream stung. Living the reality hurt even more. I did some digging, soul searching about what happened.
I discovered procrastination was at play.
But Gigi, wait! You’re a high-performing, self-disciplined, over-achiever! How could this be you??
Well, it turns out that there's two kinds of procrastination. The first type includes examples like procrastinating on
a presentation one has to give next week,
a mid-term paper due for school,
filing taxes, or
a report that is due to a client or boss.
It’s important to note that these examples all have deadlines. And when there are deadlines, the effects of procrastination are contained to the short-term. This is because there's danger of public embarrassment, a career disaster, or some other scary consequence.
But there's a second kind of procrastination that happens in situations where there is no deadline: long-term procrastination.
So if one wants a career that requires a lot of discipline and being a self-starter—say, something in the arts or something entrepreneurial—there are no deadlines on those things. Plus, there are all kinds of important things outside of one’s career that don't involve any deadlines: seeing family, exercising and taking care of one’s health, working on a relationship, or getting out of a relationship that isn't working.
Now if the procrastinator's only mechanism of doing these hard things is some sort of external consequence, that's a problem. In all of these non-deadline situations, the negative consequences are not readily apparent. A person doesn’t feel the effects of “starting their new diet on Monday” or “waiting until next week to start writing that long-awaited book.” As a result, the effects of long-term procrastination are not contained.
They just extend outward forever.
And it's this long-term kind of procrastination that's much less visible and much less talked about than the short-term, deadline-based kind.
It's usually suffered quietly and privately. And it can be the source of a huge amount of long-term unhappiness and regrets.
It's the long-term procrastination has made one feel like a spectator, at times, in their own life. The frustration is not that they couldn't achieve their dreams; it's that they weren't even able to start chasing them.
Here’s the real: everyone is procrastinating on something in life.
While some people may have a healthier relationship with deadlines, remember: procrastination’s sneakiest trick is when the deadlines are not there.
Therefore, one needs to think about what they’re really procrastinating on, and then stay aware of the lure of instant gratification: to do what is easy and fun—especially when it means avoiding doing something that involves uncertainty, being vulnerable, and taking a risk.
Cue the distractions!
My challenge for all of us:
Sit with the discomfort of not going toward what you want vs. the discomfort of going toward what you want.
Go ahead. Choose your easy. Which ultimately leaves you feeling ease in your life?
As we close out the month of January, I want you to take another look at resolutions that you may have thought about at the top of the year. Chances are many of you have already forgotten them and moved on.
Researchers at the Dominican University in California found that
“25 percent of people abandon their New Year’s resolutions after one week.” Further, 60% of people abandon them within six months. And to top it off, the average person makes the same New Year’s resolution ten separate times—without success.
My hope for you is that when you look up in December 2021, you’re not feeling the heaviness and disappointment of procrastination. My hope is that you are experiencing and living in the fullness of whatever it is you’ve envisioned for your career, your relationships, your body, and more.
So peep this out:
The research is clear: Resolutions don’t work. Goals do.
A person is 42% more likely to achieve their goals just by writing them down
Committing to someone your goals ups your probability of success to 65%
For magic-making achievement: having a specific accountability appointment with someone you’ve committed your goals to comes with a 95% success rate.
So the best way to overcome that distressing long-term procrastination:
Write down what you want. Tell someone. Repeat.
Vulnerable share here.
My intention in 2021 is to grow my business so that I can realize my vision of serving and empowering people to live their best life while creating space to be the woman, mother and wife I desire.
So there it is. I’ve written it down. I’ve told ya’ll all my business and you’ll be hearing from me regularly.
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If you are ready to make a powerful shift in getting unstuck and overcoming the effects of procrastination, book a complementary Breakthrough Session. You'll get clear about where you are vs. where you want to be and we’ll explore some strategies to bridge that gap.
P.S. Allow me to help you help yourself:
Download my Self-Care Assessment. Increase your awareness and get ideas about how to take care of YOU.
Gigi Gibbs