2 of 7: It Just Hasn’t Been The Right Time

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.

That Panicky Feeling

That Panicky Feeling

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.

Confessions Of A Recovering Perfectionist, Part One

For years I resisted the word “perfectionist.”  I thought that word sounded simplistic and anal-retentive.  It reminded me of surface-obsessed people running white gloves over lampshades and endlessly rearranging boring red long-stemmed roses in cut crystal vases.

“Perfectionism” sounded like a hobby for people who didn’t have anything better to do with their time.

But at the same time, I found myself exhibiting the following behaviors:

  • endlessly thinking everything all the way through and not really being able to stop

  • not really trusting anyone else to do things properly
  • feeling that if I couldn’t succeed, I probably oughtn’t to try
  • being convinced that other people were constantly judging me and my work
  • needing other people to notice and appreciate how hard I was working all the time
  • unwilling to start something unless I was pretty sure I could rely on the outcome
  • having unrealistic, if not impossible, expectations of myself
  • having unrealistic expectations of what I could accomplish in any given time period

Now, it’s true that the above behaviors are exhibited by almost everyone at one time or another.  And for an artist, well, “achieving the impossible” is practically our favorite thing.

Some of the greatest works of all time were the result of some artist pouring totally insane amounts of money, time, energy and life-force into a project everyone else thought was totally crazy.

But perfectionism wasn’t causing me to pour energy into my projects; perfectionism was preventing me from working.

Has that ever happened to you?  How did you break the cycle?