Recently, some friends and I were talking about procrastination and how hard it is for many of us to take action on all our great ideas. One friend wanted to create an online training for her business, but found she was constantly putting it off. My other friend had ideas about signing up for an art class, yet months would go by with no action. As we talked about how to get past this annoying, frustrating habit of procrastination, my friend Catherine shared a great analogy that really helped the rest of us, and today, I want to share it with you.
Procrastination is like being up on a high diving board. You’ve waited in line, the butterflies are stirring and it’s your turn to take the leap. But every time you approach the edge, count to 3 and try to jump, you pull back and have to start all over again. While your head tells you all the reasons NOT to jump, the people around you are starting to get annoyed!! “JUST JUMP,” they say, but your mind is stuck calculating the obstacles and telling you the risk is too great.
So what can you do? Take a deep breath and shift all your energy out of your head and into your body. You just have to push your heels off the board and fall. It’s about moving forward, taking the next micro-step, and trusting that you will know what to do when you enter the water!
If we want to take action on our hopes and goals – even when we’re afraid – we MUST get out of our heads and into our bodies. We have to move, one step at a time, in order to avoid the overwhelm that inevitably comes when our minds spin on every possible snag or scenario. If that means forcing your hand to click “send” on the announcement for your workshop, then do it – even if you don’t have every detail buttoned up. If it requires picking up the phone to book that class, enroll in that workshop, or hire a specialist to get your idea going, then pick up the phone! Move your body to the action you need to take – and don’t overthink it, JUST JUMP!
What’s the alternative? Staying in that frustrating holding pattern so long that you miss the fun of the jump. You have to crawl back down the diving board ladder and watch while others take the leap and experience the thrill (and yes, the risk!) of it all.
So, what is the ACTION you need to take today to jump off the diving board? Who do you need to call? What do you need to send or share? What do you need to say “yes” to? Who do you need to reach out to? MOVE YOUR BODY and just do it.
Happy Jumping!
PS – That “friend” in the article who wanted to launch an online training is ME! So I am taking a jump now to announce that in 2019, I will be leading an 8-week online Tarot Training course! It will be chock-full of juicy ways to bring the ancient wisdom of the Tarot into your lives as well as ways to use this tool with your friends, clients and teams. Stay tuned for more information!!!!
