Why do we procrastinate on our purpose?! Do it Now!
by Jennifer Mahone
Photo by Jasper Van Lommel on Unsplash
“Thinking will not overcome fear but action will.”
– W. Clement Stone
Just take a moment and read that quote at least 5 times in your head. Then take it a step further and read it 5 times out loud. Seriously…I’ll wait.
When I say I’ll wait, I truly mean it. We fail to recognize the repetition that is so desperately needed to help propel us into our success of whatever goal or dream it is that we so desire. There is a need to repeat the things in which we fear and act upon our words in order to overcome the natural thought process which too often holds us back.
Our thoughts many times can become somewhat of an enemy when it comes to making decisions. We over think things and eventually turn away from the thing we were so determined to complete because of a fear of failure.
I want to define this word “Failure” for you before we go any further.
Merriam-Webster defines Failure as – A lack of success, a falling short, omission of occurrence or performance.
As we look at that last part please allow me to break that down for you a bit more. Omission is defined as something neglected or being left undone. So if failure is defined as the Omission [something being neglected or left undone] when referring to an Occurrence or Performance [the execution of an action or something being accomplished] then the end result is “the thing which is being called Failure must be currently at a complete state”…finished!
Stay with me here…
So here is my question to you.
Why is it then that when we are on an ongoing journey in our life (not complete – because my view of complete is death) do we allow others or even ourselves to view us as Failures when we have not completed the thing which we are doing, we simply hit a road bump? Think on that one for a moment.
This in turn births a FEAR of FAILURE and so we decide that it can not be done.
I will share with you my definition of Failure at the end of this Blog.
Do It Now!
W. Clement Stone’s Do It Now! approach has taught so many people that if we will just Do It Now! then we will accomplish more, become more self-disciplined and have less stress.
This is definitely one that I struggle with. Each day I have a list of a million things that for some reason I feel need to be completely done by the time the clock strikes 12. If not…I have Failed! There’s that word again. And although that list consists of maybe 3 major must do’s and a ton of “need to be done, but not a big deal” I still stress over the entire list.
One thing I have learned to apply to alleviate some of that frustration is Do It Now! If I am sitting at my counter typing this blog and I have to get up to stretch, use the bathroom or get another cup of coffee and I see crumbs on the counter from the lunch we just had I can choose to approach it in 2 ways:
This kitchen is a mess, I just don’t have time to clean it! or…
I grab the dish rag, rinse it and wipe down the counter real quick as I grab my coffee and head back to my seat.
Now mind you…the kitchen was nowhere near a mess from what it may look like after preparing dinner. But for some reason my mind told me that I was neglecting the kitchen because their were crumbs and a few dishes in the sink and for that I created an unnecessary stress that took me away from the bigger task at hand and that was sharing these words with you.
The second approach was the Do It Now moment where I corrected a distraction of something that was still important to me but was able to handle the task quickly and move on.
The smaller things can be eliminated when we act on them quickly and move forward with our bigger mission. And by the way, when I went to the bathroom, I also grabbed a stack of folded clothes and carried them to the bedroom with me so I could put them away later when I am done blogging.
You see, Do It Now can be applied to anything and with that we are accomplishing more, becoming more self-disciplined and creating less stress.
These are just small examples but there are so many more ways to apply Do It Now! in every situation.
What’s Holding You Back?
Photo by Mitchel Lensink on Unsplas
For me…it is always me. I can list a ton of things that cause me to stop dead in my tracks and leave things unfinished and sometimes back in the state that I started.
For many years I struggled with my weight and nutrition. I tried to follow every single diet plan that was out there. My mind didn’t really grasp the concept of beneficial/effective exercise because I was just doing what everyone else was doing. If I went to the gym and most of the ladies were on treadmills, I hopped on a treadmill. They would move on to the elliptical and I was following close behind. Not too close though…wouldn’t want to be labeled the stalker. Bottom line…I just didn’t know what I was doing.
So when I couldn’t understand and I didn’t see results I was…yup, you guessed it…a Failure!
I tried everything and still nothing.
So when you look at your past or current situations I want you to think of the thing or person that has labeled you a Failure at some point in your life. Speak to it/them and tell them…I AM NOT COMPLETE/DONE YET!
We are constantly a work in progress. Could you imagine if we were in a state of completeness how boring our life would be? There would be nothing new to experience, nothing new to learn and definitely no journeys to enjoy.
Why are we so afraid to fail?
What holds us back from experiencing life?
I want to encourage you to grab a hold of the thing in which you desire to achieve and look forward to falling off along the ride. We learn the most exciting and useful things in life when we stop along the way. Sometimes it feels like an unwanted stop because it wasn’t planned but that moment still brings about a new experience.
I’m gonna be completely honest with you on one of my greatest weaknesses.
You already know by now my UNDYING LOVE of ICE CREAM. And if you follow our blog you’ll also know that we stick to a Ketogenic WOE (way of eating) which is Low-Carb, High-Fat. Last year we decided to give up dairy to see if it was affecting our progress on the weight loss area and sadly it was. I kept my ice cream but on a very strict once-a-month rule. Last week was my ice cream moment and I indulged and I regretted the after moments of this choice. I almost immediately had side cramps and I truly felt like someone inserted a balloon into my abdomen and started to inflate it. It was the feeling of ribs expanding. I don’t know any other way to explain it. I told my family to don’t ever let me do that again.
Well….I did it again!
This weekend I went to the our ice cream spot and picked up everyones favorite and this time (I am so ashamed to say it)….
DISCLAIMER: Please do NOT follow the ERROR of my ways.
I asked for a banana split instead of my regular 2 scoop sundae. How is that bad? A banana split gives you 3 flavors of your choice and all the toppings.
I need to hang my head a moment in silence.
Ok…I’m back. I was so extremely miserable after only half of that banana split. Only HALF! I instantly laid over on my side struggling to breathe because to inhale was a task I thought would take me out. The air I inhaled almost created a piercing feeling that I could not get past.
This may seem so insignificant to you but when I asked you at the beginning whats holding you back, for me it is me. I continue to give in to the very thing that causes me more pain and derails my progress. I have a goal and I race toward it so hard throughout the week and then I feel I deserve a ride on the ice cream truck (music and all).
For me its a mindset that needs to be broken and I’m still working on it. I am still in progress, not yet complete and definitely NOT a FAILURE.
And so are YOU! Find that thing that’s holding you back, no matter how big or small and tackle it head on. If you fall off, recognize it and keep moving forward. If every child who fell of the bike the 1st time or even the 10th time when first learning to ride decided to never get back on, they would never allow themselves the opportunity to learn even greater things in the future. A fear of failure would be created in their mind.
Consider this as well though. That child most likely got up, dusted themselves off and got back on because they had a support system pushing them on to succeed.
Find whats holding you back and keep people close to you that will encourage you to get up, dust off and keep going. I’ll be your first cheerleader! Do you know why I love cheering for you? Because I know you’re not finished yet and neither am I! And the BEST versions of US are still straight ahead!
And finally…
There Are Still Mountains To Climb
Please don’t ever think the ground will always be flat and smooth. If you get this idea out of your head then you will be able to move forward with an anticipation for adventure, strength training and lessons learned.
Adventure sounds great but let me explain the latter two.
Growing up my family would always go camping and hiking. We loved being outside. So when I was graduating high school, my dad decided to take 2 of my closest friends and I to Big Bend National Park. If you’ve never been there before, it’s AMAZING! We loved every minute of it. We pitched our tents, went exploring and hiking, stayed up late at the picnic table talking about our future (as my dad snored in the tent) and even had an experience of a lifetime! The evening we stayed up late, we had the most amazing opportunity to see a baby cub near a dumpster not to far from where we sat. We weren’t prepared though for the momma bear that followed not too far behind. In our moment of fear we counted to 3, dashed to the truck and locked ourselves in for the night (my dad still sleeping in the tent…sorry dad)! He was ok though. I’m pretty sure the snoring is what scared the bear away and kept us safe…Lol! I love you dad!
Anyway…we went hiking another day of that trip and found ourselves climbing the mountain on a very hot day. When we stopped to take a much needed break it was a true moment of shame when my dad told us to drink some water and we had our backpacks loaded with soda cans. First of all, soda wasn’t going to do anything to quench our thirst and second, no wonder we were exhausted! We had trekked up that mountain with heavy cans of useless calories! Plus we had regular tennis shoes on. Pretty sure we wouldn’t have struggled with the rocks had we worn hiking boots.
What a lesson learned that day.
We were so poorly prepared.
But I can tell you that the experience of it all was so worth all the other trials we went through. The strength we gained that day as we hiked up that mountain with rocks piercing our feet, soda cans weighing heavy on our backs, the sun scorching our faces and no water to quench our thirst was so worth the refreshing breeze and amazing view we captured in our minds and hearts forever the moment we reached to top.
No matter how trying the mountain appeared, the excitement for a new and daring experience completely overshadowed the fear of never making it. We did indeed reach the top that day and we will remember that for a lifetime. Every mountain makes us stronger and if we chose to just walk around it, we will never have to opportunity to grow from it, be strengthened by it and see the amazing views of what is to come.
There are still mountains to climb but the greatest moment is knowing you chose to climb it no matter the trials, slips of falls. Climb your mountain! Reach the top! Don’t ever give up!
I promised to share my definition of FAILURE at the close of this blog and here it is:
Jennifer Mahone Dictionary: FAILURE – Succeeding in pursuing something that is challenging even though it may result in falls, it does not define me as incomplete but still in progress.
Life’s Lesson of FAILURE – If you separate the word and switch the two parts we get U – R – Expected to FAIL
We are all still learning. Its what you do with your fall that determines your growth!
I encourage you to DO IT NOW!, FIND whats HOLDING you BACK and address it, and Climb that Mountain!
And ENJOY every moment along the way!
Success to you in whatever journey you are on!
Jennifer
PS: When I share with you what is on my heart, I always apply it to my life first. Tomorrow, February 1, 2018 begins a new challenge for me and I invite you to be my accountability partner and create accountability circles around you. I am choosing to go COMPLETELY Dairy-free and this includes my Forever Loved Ice Cream for the next 6 months. I will give 1 and ONLY 1 exception on my birthday in June (only because I do not care for cake and cookies and other bread like treats). If you want to share your challenge feel free to do so on our Facebook “Whats holding you back?” Post.