“Someday is not a day of the week.” ~Author Unknown
Do you ever spend time on fun, but non-productive, action items? Does that make you feel stressed that you actually could have taken the time for higher priority tasks? Roxana Núñez, the Procrastination Princess has a few suggestions in
Someday is Not a Day of the Week, if you can relate to procrastinating:
Do you blame your procrastination on fear? Does it paralyze you to try something new? I have procrastinated for 30 years and I can tell you it is time to stop. Allow me to tell you Sarah’s story.
Sarah is a great writer. She is currently in college expanding her skills on writing. Recently, we both entered a challenge to write 50,000 words in one month. Essentially, we were supposed to write a novel.
After ten days, she froze. She did not finish the challenge. When I asked her what happened, she told me she was afraid to fail. And so her fear became her reality. Personal coach Dani Johnson says “if you feel fear, you have too much time in your hands”. I agree with that sentiment. If you are busy doing, you don’t have time to think fear. Sarah spent more time worrying about failure than she did thinking about the plot to her story. She had too much time in her hands.
I am not telling you that you should never feel fear or that you will never again be scared of anything. What I am telling you is that you will experience moments when your thoughts will betray you and it is up to you what you do with that. If you stop what you are doing in order to entertain that thought process, you are doomed. You have too much time in your hands.
If instead, you brush it aside and keep doing what you are doing, you will find yourself accomplishing more. The more you do, the less you will fear, until whatever IT is will not feel so scary anymore.
“Get busy living or get busy dying”. This quote from Shawshank Redemption sums up the message in this story. If you let fear stop you from achieving your goals, you are just busy dying. If you decide today that no matter what, you will tackle your challenges, you will find yourself living the life of your dreams.
Many of you have businesses of your own and are probably afraid of rejection. That is a legitimate feeling. I have two reminders for you: don’t take it personally and don’t consider it a final answer.
In a business setting your presentation might be wrong, your product might not be appropriate, your service might be unnecessary. Any of these circumstances have nothing to do with you personally. You are not your job. In case you are an entrepreneur, your company is not you. That is just part of who you are. If somebody does not like your product, your service or your idea, move to the next person. You will find people more than willing to invest on you, your opportunity or your idea if you keep looking. More important, do not confuse rejection of your product with dislike for you. People might like you or even love you, they might not be ready for what you have to offer.
Many times we consider a No as a final answer. This may or may not be the case. How many times have you done a presentation and being rejected only to find out the prospect purchased from your competitor? Obviously there was a problem with communication. A negative response is not usually set in stone. You need to learn to read your client. Maybe you should ask “what can I do to turn this no into a yes?” or maybe you can say “what could I have done to better meet your needs?” Maybe the person only needs more time or more information. Don’t take an answer as final until you have explored every alternative. Maybe in the future you can turn it around if you work hard.
Feel the fear and don’t procrastinate. Before you know it you will find yourself with more clients than you know what to do with. Procrastinate tomorrow.
Thank you to guest blogger, Roxana Núñez, the Procrastination Princess. She has been living with and studying procrastination since she was a teenager. Now in her 40’s, she understands that many women procrastinate on themselves by putting all their other responsibilities ahead of her dreams. She wants to encourage women over 40 to take care of themselves first in order to be an asset to their families, their companies and live a more fullfilled life. You can find Roxana at https://aviddiva.biz/