Are you a procrastinator?
Categories: Mental Health

Many of my clients say, “Can you help me not procrastinate? Will you help me be accountable.” To which my response is something like, “How would you like me to do that? Slap your hand through a zoom call when you don’t do your homework? Would you like me to make you feel worse about yourself than you already do?” As #entrepreneurs we’re great at making ourselves feel shitty. And if you’re not doing it to yourself, your employees, your company, or customers will gladly help you feel like the imposter you’re trying so hard not to be. So I choose not to make people feel worse about themselves. In fact I love them just as much today as I did the day before the dog ate their homework. 

What you likely don’t realize is that procrastination is usually just resistance to an emotion you don’t want to feel. You might not even know what that emotion is or where it’s coming from. Spoiler alert: it’s mostly fear and perfectionism. 

I’ve recently seen this pop up with people wanting to go to the Founders Thriving retreat. Multiple conversations that sound like, “I’d love to go but I’m just too busy [being miserable],” or “I know I’m burnt out but I’ve been trying to solve this big problem for a long time and taking five days is just not something I can afford.” My response to both is: What are you afraid of? What are you unwilling to look at? How unwilling are you to let go of ball and chain you’re dragging around like a badge of honor?

One of my favorite quotes from Einstein is, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” There’s a really good chance you don’t even understand the “kind” of thinking you’re using today because you’ve only ever used that “kind” of thinking. What does the sun look like if you’ve never left the cave? Version 1.0 of your software was installed at birth by two humans doing the best they could with their “kind” of thinking. They installed their code without you even knowing it. So unless you’ve performed a full version upgrade to v2.0 (and if you have to ask yourself, “Have I done that?” the answer is definitely no) then you have no clue what’s possible. 

But I digress. The secret to decreasing procrastination is to look at what you’re procrastinating, then examine the sensations (physical, mental, emotional) that arise when you attempt to complete the task. If you can find the end of that thread you can begin pulling the tangled ball of yarn that is your current thinking. And remember, this isn’t comfortable or easy and sometimes you need someone to hold the mirror while you investigate your shadow.

If you’re struggling with procrastination or on the fence about joining us for the Founders Thriving retreat, book a free integration session. I’m not going to convince you to go (I don’t want anyone there who isn’t ready to do the work) but I can help you decide if you’re ready to install “You 2.0.”

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