*How to Overcome Procrastination*
**
It's been said that the most painless way to learn is from other people's
mistakes, so I thought I'd share some of mine with you. In this series, I'm
going to share some of the things that challenge me, and how I deal with
them. In this article, I'm going to tell you about one of the traps I still
fall into from time to time, & how to escape from it!
You probably already know that we recently launched our NLP Belief-buster
cards, a set of powerful patterns for conversational belief-change using
"Sleight of mouth". What you probably didn't realise is that I've wanted to
create a deck of Sleight of Mouth cards for at least the past 3 years, &
hadn't been doing it.
Why not?
Because I couldn't quite figure out the "right" way to do it.
I spent time trying to figure out the way forward, & told myself that once
I'd sorted out how to organise it etc, then I'd make it happen, but I never
seemed to be at a point where I could start writing.
What I didn't realise is that this is my preferred flavour of
procrastination, basically taking the form "When I get clear on exactly how
I'm going to do this (ie. When I have a good enough plan) then I'll get
started".
Unfortunately, the more I tried to figure out how I was going to do it, the
more I didn't get started!
Then one day, I suddenly remembered (for the umpteenth time) that the best
place for me to discover "how" is by taking action.
You can discover "how" by taking action
As it turns out, the only way I ever write a deck of cards is by... writing
them! So I started writing the sleight of mouth cards, & the deck started
taking shape before my eyes. It turns out that there were problems to be
solved & things I had to figure out how to accomplish, but I discovered how
while in the process of doing it.
1) Identify something you've been wanting to do, create or
accomplish, but have been putting off making a start (or have
paused).
Here are some examples:
Starting your own business
Getting fit
Creating a product
Writing a book
Finding a partner
2) Discover the story you've been telling yourself in order not to
take action.
Here are some examples:
I don't know how to do it
I just need to work on this plan a bit more
I don't know enough / have enough skill
I'm not good enough
I'm afraid of screwing up & looking / feeling stupid
Chances are, you have a "preferred method" for avoiding taking action. In my
case it's the "I just need to work on this plan a bit more" story. The bad
news is that this has tripped me up more times than I care to mention. The
good news is that having identified this as my "preferred method", I'm wise
to it. It still catches me from time to time, but not for nearly as long as
it used to (except when it does).
3) Ask yourself what would happen if you started taking action
anyway?
While I wouldn't want someone performing brain surgery on me if the didn't
have enough skill, the reality is that most things people aspire to don't
have the same life or death consequences. In fact, in most cases, the
process of learning is supported & enhanced by taking action. Why? Because
we learn by doing. In fact...
You can learn things by taking action that you can't learn any other way
When you take action, you're interacting directly with the environment, &
receiving input at a conscious and an unconscious level. Whenever you take
action, you're learning, & when you're taking action on something new,
you're learning at a very high level.
There are things I figured out within hours of starting to write the NLP
Belief Buster cards that I hadn't been able to sort out in years of
planning.
4) What's an action you can take within the next 24 hours to
move you closer to your goal?
Even a tiny step in the direction you want to go moves you a little bit
closer. In fact, the most extraordinary & seemingly complex accomplishments
have been built upon countless tiny steps.
And the great thing about steps is that you only need to take one at a time!
--
Salam Street Smart NLP!
Teddi Prasetya Yuliawan
Indonesia NLP Society <http://indonesianlpsociety.org>
