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First of all I’m really excited to launch my Podcast show this week! I know that not everyone has the time to sit and watch a video, so I’ve created a podcast version of my video so that you can download it and listen to it on the go! My Podcast show is brand new and I would really love it if you could leave me a review on iTunes and let me know what you think and subscribe to the show if you want to! Thank you so much.
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Now, on with this week’s topic…
This week’s video follows on from last week’s where I was talking about having an honesty meeting with yourself at least once a month. If you missed it, then catch it again here.
So, after you’ve had your honesty meeting with yourself you should have a pretty good idea as to why you’re stalling – what’s holding you up! In the past when I’ve done my honesty meetings I look back on everything and it’s as if I’ve been living life like it’s a dress rehearsal – waiting for the right moment, holding off on going for it until… until what?? What was I actually waiting for? Why was I actually procrastinating?
I came to the realisation that I normally procrastinate for 3 reasons:
- Lack of commitment (I never used to even consider that this was stopping me!)
- Lack of knowledge – not having a clue what to do!
- Fear
These are the 3 things that have held me back the most and made me procrastinate and I don’t think it’s just me that they hold back! I think these 3 things are rooted at the bottom of most people’s decision to procrastinate.
I don’t know about you, but when I procrastinate I feel really rubbish – I feel frustrated, I wonder, “will I EVER do this?”. So I decided that I needed a good strategy I could call on whenever I was procrastinating, something to help me get to the bottom of it all fast and help me move past it. So in this week’s video I shared an exercise and strategy I use, which follows on from the honesty meeting – this is like the follow on meeting where you drill down, get clear and set yourself action to take so that you start making progress.
Here’s what to do:
So, once you’ve had your honesty meeting and you’ve written out all the things which you’ve not really been making progress with, follow the next 3 steps…
Step One: Commitment
Look over every point you wrote down and ask yourself, “am I 100% committed to making this happen?” Watch the video above for more details on this point.
A question I ask myself is, “if I could wave a magic wand and make this happen right now, would I want it? Would I truly want it to be my reality?” I find that this question helps me to figure out whether or not I really do want to make it happen. Sometimes I think I want to do a certain thing, but I’m really fooling myself, because deep down I know that it’s not really in my heart to do it. If you’re not committed, maybe it’s that the time isn’t right or maybe it’s because you’re lacking clarity over whatever it is that you want to do? If you don’t feel 100% committed to something then just put it to one side for now and don’t waste time or energy on it and move forward with something else – you can always come back to it.
If you are 100% committed then the next step is to set a deadline for when you want to make it happen by! By setting yourself a deadline, you’re getting more committed to reaching your goal. I also find it helps me when I share my deadline with other people – so if I want to make something happen in two months time, I’ll tell someone else about it, because it makes me feel more accountable.
Step Two: Knowledge
Look over the things you wrote down in your honesty meeting and identify the things you’re stalling on because you don’t know how to make it happen. Most people never reach their dreams because they don’t know how to. In the past I’ve set out to do things and stalled right away, because I didn’t have a clue what to do! A lot of people do this – people even stall when choosing a business name, because they don’t know which one will be the best name!
Lack of knowledge causes resistance, because it stops us from knowing what the best decision to make is, so we end up making no decision at all! In order to stop this from happening you have to make the decision to acquire the knowledge you need in order to move forward.
- Who could help you discover the answers you’re looking for? Could you do a survey? Could you reach out to an expert? You might not know the answer, but someone, somewhere does know the answer! Make it your mission to find them, connect with them and ask for help!
- What could ou learn in order to gain the knowledge you need to move forward? What course could you go on? What websites could you learn from?
Make a plan of action for acquiring the knowledge you need. Don’t let lack of knowledge stop you from reaching your goals!
Step Three: Fear
The truth is, when trying to achieve something big, do something new or do something different there is probably going to be an element of fear, “can I do this? Will people like it? What if people think it’s stupid? What if I fail? What if, what if, what if…”
We all feel this way, but the ones who succeed are the ones who feel the fear and do it anyway. Like I wrote above, this life isn’t a dress rehearsal, so if you know that fear is holding you back, you have to make the decision, “am I going to go for it or am I not?”
Go through the things you wrote down in your honesty meeting and identify the areas where there is a fear that’s holding you back.
The quickest way I know of to overcome fear is to face it – to just do it. Make the decision to go for it and just go for it! There’s a brilliant story I shared in the video which I think about every time I realise that fear is holding me back – such a great story, have a listen to it (it’s at the end).
I hope these steps help you as much as they’ve helped me!
Please leave a comment below and share your advice! And I would love it so much if you could head over to iTunes here and leave me a review of my podcast if you like my weekly posts – thank you so much!
Carrie x
