Chad Schapiro: End Procrastination

Perseverance is the key to all success as gas is to driving your car. There will be times when we feel like we are spinning our wheels going no where but you will always get out of that rut with solid perseverance. Without it you won't be able to even start the car.

The opposite of perseverance is procrastination. Perseverance means you will never quit, you will do what it takes in the face of every adversity. Procrastination usually means that you never get started.

People make all kinds of excuses for their procrastination. "I'm a perfectionist." "If I do anything I do it 100%, all or nothing." "Everything has to be just right before I get started." "If I struggle or am uncomfortable something must not be right." Have you heard or said these things before?

These faults are being turned into things that are supposed to sound good. The perfectionist is trying to act like they are too good to struggle. Too good to grow through uncomfortable times of learning and growing. That they have already "arrived". That even though they will go to the bathroom sometime today and it won't be 100% of the day, that they think it sounds good that that is the only way they can take on a new endeavor. This is all just fancy defense mechanisms set up to make us fee good about our weaknesses, but in the end it's just excuses. The real reason for procrastination is not these feeble attempts but rather a fear of failure. That's what perfectionism really is. What's the difference of being afraid of being less than perfect or afraid of anything else? In each you're still stuck going nowhere. We are still being dominated by a negative vision that holds us back to do nothing. It is an unfortunate and convenient tool we all use.

How do you get around it? How do you turn procrastination into perseverance? It is really very simple and painless. But like all simple things to do they are simple to not do. Lets use these 2 techniques simply and pain free to change your life.

Number 1. Break it down.

People see the task at hand and they know it will not be a quick fix so they freak themselves out thinking about the long road in front of them. It could be anything. Weight loss, painting the house, retirement planning, and of course building their home based business. The key to any of these is to break it down into manageable pieces and then knock them off one at a time. Focus on this present moment and doing the best you can not thinking about the past or what is up in the future.

Suppose I was to ask you to sign up 300 affiliates. That would make most people to afraid to even start. What if instead I told you to sign up one affiliate today? That would seem easier. In less than 1 year you would have personally signed up over 300 affiliates. Seems easier but we may still freak ourselves out because we worry about doing it each day for the next 1 year. What if I told you don't look ahead at all but just do it today, not a week, month, or years, but just today. I would think most people would feel they can accomplish or learn to accomplish that, these people would be the same people that are feel incapable of doing the whole thing in 1 year or less.

If I said the same thing to you tomorrow, don't look back or forward just focus on today. Lets focus on being productive today, do you think you could take steps towards doing it?

One day at a time is the key. Break it down to day by day increments.

The second key is also very short and simple: write it down. We know how important goal setting is and keeping up with your daily goal sheets. If you focus on very short term goals you will conquer procrastination. Just as in really dieting if you right down what you ate each day you will be much more on top of your intake the same works for this key. Write down what you are doing with each 1/2 hour of your time. I know you will be amazed at how much downtime you really have that could be used to help you become more successful than anyone you've ever known. If it is inconvenient to write it down that second wait till later but keep track of it. This does not have to be in any fancy notebook just a running report on a piece of paper or spiral notebook. Keep track of this for at least a week and you will see some areas where you can take more action.

Break it down and write it down. Simple but powerful!!!!