Stop Sabotaging Your Goals
How Procrastination Keeps You from Achieving Them
By Marlene Wagner
Have you ever set a goal for yourself, and you kept putting off working on it and ended up making no progress toward it?
If you constantly put off tasks that will help you achieve your goals, you’re not alone! It’s called procrastination.
Many people struggle with procrastination and find that it keeps them from achieving their goals.
Procrastination is a sneaky beast. It can masquerade as a helpful friend, telling you can always do the task tomorrow.
Or that you need a break from all the hard work. Or you’ll start on it after this show ends, only to be glued to the screen three hours later.
Procrastination is keeping you from reaching your full potential. It’s holding you back from the success and happiness that you deserve.
Every time you put off a task you need to do to achieve your goal, you’re taking a step back.
We’re all guilty of procrastination on tasks.
It’s so easy to put off starting the laundry for the week or washing the dinner dishes because we want to watch our favorite television show.
The routine day-to-day tasks we’ve all done at different times, but it is still procrastination
You’re losing ground and making it harder to get where you want.
But what about the more significant projects and bigger goals you’d like to do or accomplish?
Putting them off is so much easier because they are off somewhere in the future. Next month, next year, or a 3–5-year goal.
These are what to look at and how we sabotage ourselves to achieve it.
You may have always wanted to write a book. But you never take that first step towards that goal.
It may be a goal to declutter, and it seems everyone wants to declutter something. A household declutter, paper declutter, or digital declutter.
Yet you never get started.
You tell yourself by next year, you will have lost a certain amount of weight and will get fit. You continue doing what you’re doing and never get started.
Our wants and necessary to-dos are endless and never go away.
Before you know it, the minor delays and setbacks add up, leaving you feeling discouraged and defeated.
So, how do you stop sabotaging your goals with procrastination? Here are a few tips that can help.
The key is to recognize when you’re procrastinating and to take action to overcome it.
You may never have thought of or identified with the word procrastination. You think of this or that you want to do or need to do, and that’s where it ends.
And I’m sure you didn’t say. Oh, I’m procrastinating! Now that it’s brought to your attention, it’s time to pay attention.
Being honest with yourself is critical as identifying what you think and feel when putting something off.
When you put off washing the dishes, cleaning the bathrooms, or doing laundry, are you just feeling lazy?
Or do you need to reward yourself because you have already worked too hard and watch Netflix instead?
Are you just feeling lazy, or is some underlying fear holding you back? Try to get to the root of what’s going on.
And if the answer is just laziness, that’s okay too!
Make a deal with yourself.
Promise yourself a reward for completing each task. Maybe it’s a delicious slice of pie or a night out with friends.
Whatever it is, make sure it’s something you’ll look forward to.
If it’s an underlying fear of the bigger goals, the more extensive projects, let’s look at what you fear.
Not knowing how to start stops most people from taking on a bigger goal or project. And that is where it stops.
If you don’t know where to start writing that book or starting the declutter project, the first step is to acknowledge you don’t know to begin.
Step one is finding where you can learn how to start the goal. Make a plan. Do you know anyone that has written a book that could help you get started?
Make a list of all the places you could get help. You may hire a coach to guide you from start to finish.
Do you have a friend that could help you with the decluttering project? Again, you can hire someone to help you or pay to have them do it for you.
Whatever the goal or project you’re putting off, plan to get moving and remind yourself of all the great opportunities you’ll miss out on if you don’t.
Turn it into a game.
Make a competition with yourself to see how quickly you can complete each task. The faster you finish, the more time you’ll have for fun and relaxation.
Get a friend involved. Enlist a friend or family member to be your accountability partner.
They can help keep you on track, and you can motivate each other to keep going.
Don’t take yourself too seriously. At the end of the day, it’s just a task.
Yes, it’s important and needs to be done, but there’s no need to stress yourself out over it.
So, take a deep breath, put on your favorite playlist, and get to work!
Remember, the goal is not to be perfect but to make progress. So, don’t be too hard on yourself, and have some fun along the way.
With these tips, you’ll be well on your way to overcoming procrastination and taking advantage of all the great opportunities that come your way!
I hope this was helpful and starts you thinking the next time you put off a task and recognize it as procrastinating!
I have as-needed coaching available, and if this would be something you’d be interested in, contact me for a free one-hour discovery call.
If you have any challenges, let me know. I’ll include it in my content.
Starting today, make yourself a priority and begin living your best life.
But before we go, always remember to
Be true to your magnificent self,
Coach Marlene
Connect with me! I’d love to hear from you.
https://attractloveatanyage.com/
www.facebook.com/coach.marlenew
Email: parkavenueunlimited@midco.net
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