Procstraination, Fear's Best Defense

Procrastination, Fear’s Best Defense

Procrastination is a fantastic way for people to protect themselves from the things they fear.  Think about it?  People procrastinate to avoid change.  I hear people every day say they hate their job, yet, they never do anything about it.  They complain, become negative, and even abuse their bodies by over-eating and drinking.  They have become comfortable being miserable.  

We use procrastination in all areas of our life that force us to go out of our comfort zone.  For example I never use it at work.  I get all my work done, sometimes ahead of time.  I have no issues accomplishing chores around the house or volunteering to help other people.  Those things fall into my comfort zone.  It’s the scary stuff like changing careers, letting go of a relationship, losing weight, and taking the first step of making a change to improve the quality of my life that turns me into a procrastinating expert. 

Think about this, how many times have you said, “Next year at this time things will be different, I will lose that 20lbs, I will be in a good relationship, I will have the career I want, and one of my old favorites, my life will be better?”  You find yourself 10 years later still saying that.  I know how that feels.  I use to do it.  I used procrastination to protect myself from making changes that would improve my life.  Like everyone else I was afraid of failure.  

Losing weight is huge.  For some people losing weight takes away their protection.  What happens when they lose the weight if they have not done any other changes in their life?  They begin to feel disappointed because they felt weight loss would solve all their other problems and they over eat again to compensate for the other places in their life they are out of balance. 

The same thing with changing careers it takes you out of your comfort zone. You may be miserable, yet you are safe.  You become stuck in the problem rather than looking for the solution.   Maybe the solution isn’t changing careers.  Maybe the solution is changing your attitude and how you react.  It doesn’t matter what the solution is it still involves change.

Deciding to stop procrastinating and making those huge changes in your life do not have to be scary.  Yes, it will feel uncomfortable.  I believe once you leave your comfort zone your life begins to change for the better.  Don’t start off with huge goals, take baby steps.  If you are looking to change careers think about what you are passionate about.  Do research about it to see if you can make a career out of it.  If you don’t know what you are passionate about sit down and write on a piece of paper all the things you like to do.  If losing weight is your challenge think about why you want to lose the weight.  Once you do that write down on a sheet of paper what is holding you back from losing weight.  Small steps lead to big goals.

Procrastination allows us to protect ourselves from fear of failure.  We are not doomed to be stuck in an unhappy situation.  We can get un-stuck.  It takes a little work to have a huge positive outcome.  

For more information contact me at Roseswellness@gmail.com