More on overcoming procrastination in my next post, but today I
want to share a poem with you…

I came across this some time ago and it spent sometime pinned to my
wall as a motivator for when times where tough!

Yes, I’ve been through tough times too… and I’ll go through them
again… as we all will.

It’s how we handle tough times that’s crucial…

Anyway, I was sent this recently by a friend and it reminded me
just how much it helped me through those difficult times.

Copy it into your word processor, enlarge the print and put it
somewhere you’ll see it. Read it at least once a day for the next
month or so to help you push on through when the going gets
tough!

I’m not sure who wrote it, so if you know, please let me know by
dropping me an email.

OK, here goes…

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill.
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a fellow turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man.
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup.
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar.
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

See you next time.

Have a great day!

This is the third in my series of posts to help you in overcoming procrastination…

Procrastination is often a symptom of a poor self-image.

You may well be thinking… “How can that be?”… or “What’s self-image got to do with procrastination?”.

The answer is simpler than you might think and isn’t difficult to understand…

You see, we often link performance to self-worth. Unless we achieve perfection in our efforts we consider ourselves to be a failure and, since perfection is incredibly difficult to achieve, there’s too much at stake to even start a project. We put too much pressure on ourselves, by ‘insisting’ that we achieve perfection. By procrastinating, we avoid having to make judgement… we avoid the possibility of failure.

Unfortunately, we also avoid the possibility of success!

So, how can we break out of this dilemma?

What’s the first step to Overcoming Procrastination?

The best way is to create a safety net for yourself. Look at your goal or task and ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen to me if I don’t achieve perfection?”

Maybe, you’ll get a little criticism… maybe you’ll have to rework some of your project… maybe you’ll feel a little embarrassed… maybe… maybe… maybe!

Now look at the positive reactions you’ll get for a job well done!

Praise from your peers and boss… appreciation for a great effort… maybe even a pay rise!

Simply remember self-worth does not equal performance!

As you start towards your goals, simply say to yourself, “Whatever happens, my self-worth will still be the same, I am safe and will remain safe, whatever the results of my efforts”.

When you provide a safety net like this for yourself, you’ll find you’re much calmer and much more likely to start your project.

Try it today!

Look out for my next post to help you with overcoming procrastination… coming soon!

Take care and have a great day.

Keith L Jones
Life Improvement Coach

This is the second in my series of posts to help you with overcoming procrastination…

Procrastination is one of the most damaging habits you can develop.

Did you notice the use of the word develop?

You weren’t born with procrastination built into you. You developed the habit of putting things off as you grew older and as society, your peers, your parents, teachers and many other people chipped away at your confidence and self-belief.

Now that’s a bold statement, if ever you heard one! Yes?

Take a look at any small child…

Do they hesitate when they see something they want? You bet they don’t!

Just about every young child is in a rush to walk, talk and create mayhem!

So what happens? Why do we develop this debilitating habit of procrastination?

For many of us, it’s a safety mechanism. A way of putting off trying something… so we can’t be seen as a failure. So we can’t be criticised for completing a task that’s not up to scratch.

Hey, if we wait long enough, someone else might just come along and finish things off for us!

Look at people around you. Do they put things off? Do they delay things they could easily attempt today… right now!

Change the way you view things.

Every ‘failure’ is a lesson learned. Every success takes you closer to your dreams and to the abundance you deserve.

Every success grows your business.

Make an effort to stop procrastinating… NO! Make a decision to stop procrastinating… right now!

Start every day by working on your major project, don’t procrastinate by checking your post or your emails… do that later. Otherwise, you may get diverted from your main project for the whole day. Now don’t tell me that’s never happened to you before! Of course it has! It’s happened to me as well!

So here’s the plan…

Start your working day by working for at least two hours on your major project… before you do anything else.

Then see how much difference it makes to your business, your confidence and to your happiness!

Look out for my third post to help you with overcoming procrastination… coming soon!

Take care and have a great day.

Keith L Jones
Life Improvement Coach

This is the first in a series of posts to help you with overcoming procrastination. I was going to post this last week, but put it off… Tee hee!

Sorry couldn’t resist that one!

To procrastinate, according to the Oxford Dictionary means to defer action. Put simply, procrastination is the art of putting things off!

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Don’t put off until tomorrow, what you can do today”. Well, a procrastinator changes that to, “Don’t do today, what you can put off until tomorrow!”

OK, that’s the fun over. Procrastination is serious. It holds most of us back at sometime or another and I consider it to be something of an addiction… in that it’s very difficult to give up!

Over the next few posts, I’ll be discussing, in detail, the signs of procrastination, the main reasons why people procrastinate and methods to help with the process of overcoming procrastination.

Procrastination not only prevents many people achieving their life goals, it helps create negative feelings of self-worth and destroys confidence. So, it’s something that needs to be tackled in a way that will bring about lasting change.

For that reason I’ll be telling giving you a practical techniques to put an end to procrastination for ever!

But more on that in the next post. For now, I’d like you to decide how much of a procrastinator you are.

Make a list of times you’ve put things off recently. How does it make you feel?

Where would you be now, if you hadn’t delayed important decisions or projects?

Don’t beat yourself up and don’t make judgements about yourself. That’s not the idea. It is important, however, as part of the process in overcoming procrastination, to accept you’re a procrastinator… if that’s the case, so we can work to provide a solution.

See you next time.

Have a great day!

Keith L Jones
Life Improvement Coach