Here’s Reason #2 why Procrastination Is Genius In Disguise:
Go here to get the recording (it’s waaaaaaaaaay down at the bottom of the page): http://www.getitdoneteleclass.com/fall/
We discussed in yesterday’s email about how Procrastination is your friend, because it is really just a REMINDER about your DESIRE.
After all this time, you are still thinking about it. It hasn’t fallen away like some things do.
That’s great! When your desire for a project stands the test of time, that’s great!
And here’s another way Procrastination Is Genius – and this is the Disguise part – once you get underneath all that blame and nagging, you have all the information you need to move forward.
The desire itself contains within it all the information about what your next move should be (more on this when we get to Reason #7).
We just have to quiet the mind a bit in order to hear the answer.
Here’s an example: Susan’s Unfinished Book
Susan wants to finish the book she started writing three years ago. When she began the project she wrote like wildfire, but then she started to falter. Then her daughter fell ill, so Susan dropped the project altogether to care for her over the next few months. Next thing you know, her daughter has fully recovered and Susan’s got 150 pages gathering dust.
Every day Susan berates herself for having put the project down.
Every day she re-runs old mental tapes about how she should have done things differently and how it’s probably too late now.
Every day she picks at herself, going back and forth about whether her book was ever even a good idea to begin with.
Self-Doubt Can Be Paralyzing
Here’s what I notice: all that self-doubt is paralyzing.
And unless Susan finds some peace around what’s already transpired with her book, she’s going to have a hard time moving forward.
So let’s pause our story here and focus on that for a moment. Let’s get beyond all the eye-rolling and recriminations and self-blame and see if we can’t get to the TRUTH of what’s been going on here.
Peaceful Thought: It Just Hasn’t Been The Right Time
What I know is true is this: You haven’t moved forward on your projects yet because it hasn’t been the right time.
Maybe it hasn’t been the right time because of life circumstance (like having a baby or a health issue or a money issue) or maybe it hasn’t been the right time because you haven’t been ready (you didn’t know enough, spiritual development, that mysterious “right moment” thing) or maybe you’ve needed to wait for some technology to be invented, or you’ve needed to wait for the right people or the right partner.
But whatever the reason: it just hasn’t been the right time.
And I know that for a fact because if it had been the right time, you would have done it.
So let that sink in and think about how that might be true for you: Up to now, it just hasn’t been the right time.
Even say it out loud to yourself: “Up to now, it just hasn’t been the right time.”
Maybe make some notes about what you notice about this concept in relationship to your own project.
Good.
MORE TOMORROW….
And if you’d like help moving forward on your projects, consider the Get It Done Teleclass (www.GetItDoneTeleclass.com/fall) that starts next week. I’d love to have you there.
Here’s reason #1 why Procrastination Is Genius In Disguise:
Procrastination is genius because it hurts.
Procrastination causes you pain.
It would be one thing if you could put stuff off and then just la-di-da around all carefree and happy. But you don’t – you put it off and it hurts and it’s a weight on your mind and on your heart.
Why is that genius?
Because the pain procrastination causes serves to REMIND you that your projects are important to you.
Procrastination is your friend, tapping you on the shoulder and saying, “Hey, remember how much you care about this?”
And really, it’s not just tapping – it’s nagging. Loudly.
Newsflash: nagging doesn’t work. It doesn’t work with your spouse, it doesn’t work with your kids and even YOU can’t nag you into doing the projects that really matter to you. So if you catch yourself nagging a lot, you might want to try another strategy.
So here’s my little quiz:
I want you to think about one particular project you are procrastinating – you might have lots, but let’s just pick one – whichever one comes to the top of your head first.
OK? Got a project picked out?
Great.
Now – working quickly and without pondering – answer YES or NO to these 5 questions:
1. Is this project important to you?
2. Will completing this project make a difference in your life?
3. Will completing this project make a difference in the world?
4. Does your soul ache to do it?
5. Ten years from now, will it matter whether you have done this or not?
Good.
Take a minute to make a note about what you notice about your answers.
And if you discovered that the project you were thinking about really doesn’t matter to you, then maybe think of another project that does. (And for crying out loud – cross that first one off your list or delegate it or something! Why torture yourself about something you don’t even care about!)
Honey, it is time to move your work to a bigger venue. Today, if possible.
I know it doesn’t feel ready and I know you’re not sure how and I know the new website isn’t up yet and you haven’t lost the weight and your not sure if your skills are what they should be and there are those changes that you know really need to be done before anyone sees it and..and…and…
I get it.
Me, too.
But seriously – we are in no position to judge our own work. And we’re certainly in no position to judge the work that’s been sitting there pawing at the front door waiting to go out for heaven-knows-how-long.
So take a chance. Publish it. Send it out. Post a picture of it. Share it. Make a one-minute movie of it.
Just get it out there so that we have a chance to enjoy it, too.
Because perhaps the most important part of art is what the audience brings to the piece, and if you don’t share it, we can’t experience it.
And let me know how it goes for you, OK?
P.S. Have you signed up for the “Procrastination Is Genius In Disguise” teleclass tomorrow 10/6? Register for free here: http://www.GetItDoneTeleclass.com (no cost, no commitment, no commute!) and you’ll get the recording as my gift to you, too! YAY!
You know that panicky feeling you get when you’re about to make a big move? Don’t let it deter you – it’s only old ghosts and shadows that will disappear as the sun rises.
Sitting at my desk a few weeks ago, about to hit the button that would send out the announcement about the publication of “By The Way, You Look Really Great Today” to my whole list, I started to feel a little nauseated.
I started to wonder if maybe I shouldn’t wait until tomorrow.
I started to think that maybe the book wasn’t really complete after all, and perhaps I should go back and revise it.
I started to doubt the cover art, the literary merit and the wisdom of even trying such a project.
Yep – me – the person who spends all day telling other people to screw up their courage and share their art – was shocked to find out that what I really wanted was to run away and hide.
And I remembered back to previous experiences like it, and realized that that panicky feeling had led me to do things like:
– get sick
– set a nearly-finished project down and start something new
– create a crisis or emergency
– go clean out my sock drawer
– pick a fight with someone I love
– talk myself out of the launch
Sad, and kind of funny, too.
So next time you’re getting that top-of-the-roller-coaster feeling, just acknowledge it and keep moving. Say a prayer for the best possible outcome for all concerned, release your attachment to the results (sure, that’s easy, right? 🙂 and just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
You’ve come this far – don’t abandon yourself now.
You have good taste and strong opinions.
Use ’em.
In Praise Of Those
Last Ten (…Or Twenty…) Pounds
Oh, you ten (…or
twenty…) pounds…
You remind me:
I am not a teenager
anymore
(Thank God)
My life is not lived
just for me alone anymore
(Thank God)
I’ve got good food and
good wine and good appetite
Thank God.
You jiggle a bit.
It’s not a bloat; it’s a
blessing.
Softer.
Stronger.
You have lived through
the unthinkable.
Those friends who have
gone –
The love and grief for
them that remains –
Is that part of the ten
pounds?
The jobs well done that
no one praised –
Is that a pound or two?
And those ice-sharp playground
taunts, those adolescent bone-aches,
That twenty-something
battle for Self – ferocious –
Where is the weight of
that?
Jealousy does not become
us.
Ten pounds hardly seems
like a distinction worth making when
One body is so much like
Another.
Feet Leg Belly Back Arms
Head Hands
Not all of us have every
part and
There might be an organ
that’s not quite working right or
A hormone that’s out of
whack
We’ve all been a little
Damaged in transit.
But here we are.
Here to criticize
ourselves
Here to be a better
example to our daughters and our sons
Here to shove the
photo-shopped images out of the way and say
This is what the Body of
a Person looks like.
This is the truth of me.
All of me.
Only me.
And remember, if twenty
years from now you would find a photograph of you taken today you’d think, “Wow
– I had no idea how beautiful I was.”
So let’s put on the
bathing suit and go swimming.
Let’s invite our lover’s
hand to caress our belly.
And let’s put on lovely
clothes that fit and
Give away those
not-our-size-now clothes
Because believe me, one
of your
Brothers or Sisters (who
do not enjoy the luxury of excess) could really
Use those and Lord knows
they’re not doing you any good
Just cluttering up the
closet
Torturing you.
So we stand naked and
say,
“Thank you, Body, for
loving me so well and so long.”
Offering a blessing on
This Body
Whose
Shadow
Leaves an
Imprint
On the
Air
We Breathe.
© 2010 Samantha Bennett
By The Way, You Look
Really Great Today
www.TheOrganizedArtistCompany.com
