The Procrastination Cycle

Getting off the hamster wheel

The Procrastination Cycle is where many big dreams are born… and die.

Here's how it works:

• You have a dream or goal or a great idea

• You jump right in and in your excitement start taking steps ‘around’ your dream

• Because the steps are unfocused, you get lost in the muddle of "doing" without making actual progress

• Since there is no progress, you lose interest.

• You set the dream aside

• You start all over again with the next big dream

  

Sound familiar?

Most of us run through this cycle over and over again throughout our lives, all the while wondering why we can’t accomplish our goals.

We tell ourselves we’re just lazy, unfocused, there are too many external roadblocks, we’re ‘idea people and not do-ers’.

While these things may be true, they are likely not the real reason for your procrastination.

The thing to remember about procrastination is that it comes in many different flavors. It’s not a one-size-fits-all problem.

Most often, procrastination isn’t really the problem at all, but a symptom of another problem, a much deeper issue.

Procrastination stems from a variety of issues such as:

• Fear of failure

• Lack of confidence

• Overwhelm

• Perfectionism

Each of these root issues brings with it a different flavor of procrastination. So when you find yourself procrastinating on a project, it’s time to ask yourself what the real hold-up is. Once the root cause is discovered, you can finally get off the hamster wheel and begin making real progress towards your biggest goals.

So what have you been procrastinating on lately? And what is your chosen flavor of procrastination?

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