My first tip on how to kick your own ass is to stop procrastinating. We all procrastinate…
• “I’ll get in shape tomorrow.”
• “I’ll start blogging tomorrow.”
• “I’ll find a better job tomorrow.”
• “When the time is right.”
These are all excuses that I’ve said or heard over the years. This is procrastination. What are we waiting for? If we wait for the perfect time, we’ll lose the opportunity altogether. The best time to get something done is right now.
I used to walk all the time because I didn’t know how to run. I wanted to learn how to run, but apparently I didn’t have the drive to push myself to do so. It wasn’t until I met this hot girl that was a runner that I decided to push myself to run. Now I run practically every day. In order to quit procrastinating, you need a motivator. A motivator could be anything. What motivates you? What do you want most? In my example, the hot girl was the motivator. We all need motivation. I like to think I’m self motivating, but that’s not always the case. We are wired to do something if we’re going to get something out of it. That’s our motivation. What will you get out of starting to run every morning? What will be the benefit for you if you start blogging every day? It could be possible that you start blogging every day, get a huge following of people, then get paid to blog. It could be possible that you become debt-free just by blogging. Is that something you’re looking for?
I’ve always wanted to box. It’s just one of those things that I wanted to do, but I didn’t really have the motivation to go out and do so. Sure we bought Groupon’s for boxing and ended up at the bar instead. That’s the first step, right? So what was my motivation? It appears that I needed motivation. I have wanted a bigger upper body, maybe with a few cuts. I saw some boxers that had the body shape I wanted with the abs at all, so this became my motivation for boxing. I got hooked up with a trainer named Chris Feist at Velociti Fitness and have been training with him for six months now. I’m no Hercules, but I have noticed a difference in my upper body. I have increased my stamina and my strength. All of this because I found my motivation and stopped procrastinating.
The best way for me to achieve this was to create a habit. We often times spend a lot of time breaking the habit. Now it’s time to create a habit. Make running your new habit. Start out with a run/walk for 15 minutes every morning. Before you know it, you’ll be running 5 miles a day. If you want those abs you’ll start doing it now.
Aristotle once said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Here are 5 ways to stop procrastinating & learn how to create a new habit.
• Make reasonable quotas each day.
Get a schedule or a to do list and jot your tiny goals down for the week.
• Create behavior changes that lead you to another portion of your goal.
For instance, if you want to start blogging start with a handwritten note. Write notes to your friends and overtime this will encourage you to write more.
• Don’t have too many options.
Sometimes being boring in certain things is a good thing. Too many options can leave you feeling overwhelmed and will set you up for failure. Keep it simple.
• Keep your goal in mind.
When you doodle, doodle that goal. Make it subliminal. Eventually it will be ingrained in your subconscious and you won’t even have to think about why it is you stopped eating sweets.
• Don’t give up.
You’re going to mess up. You’re going to backslide. It’s inevitable. The trick is not losing your momentum. Whatever you do, keep that goal in mind and you will achieve it.
These five steps should be a good start to help you stop procrastinating and achieve anything you want. I firmly believe we can do anything we put our minds to. If you want it, you got to believe!
I leave you with a quote from The Doors…
