Fighting Fear 15 Minutes At a Time
Am I a procrastinator?
I ask myself this question probably too often. Some say to procrastinate signifies laziness and fear. Is that me? Naw. I’m not lazy, but is there fear? Hmm… Maybe? Sometimes?
Procrastinate: to delay or postpone action; to put off something.
As we approach the last quarter of 2017, I want to take stock of all that I have set out to accomplish this year, but have yet to devote time and action to. I think my challenge is that I feel as if I need to set aside a lot of time to whatever task or goal I want to accomplish, but in fact, no amount of time or action is too small a thing. If I devoted just 15 minutes a day to a goal, then I’d have worked an hour and a half a week, and at 52 weeks in a year—that’s 91 hours!
When I look at it that way, that feels quite manageable given all that I already do, and it feels like something I could be proud of by year’s end. So now the question is: “Do I begin today?”. (DUh… YES!) And with what goal? That one that I put on my vision board every year? Yeah probably that one, huh? That writing project. That story that lives inside me. The one that I have no idea what it is. Ah Ha! There’s the fear! Fear of the unknown. That’s why I procrastinate! My Virgo perfectionism gets in the way! I want to be good before I even try. Ugh. That’s so ridiculous sounding I’m hating to even type it! One has to work at something to be good. Yes, there’s something to be said for natural talent but even natural talent has room for growth. So, start and be okay with being bad! I got it. But…what about those times that I’ve waited ‘til the 11th hour and banged out some really creative stuff? What about then? Maybe I’m just the type of person that thrives best when my back is against the wall! Maybe? But, I also stress, lose sleep, and take myself through all kinds of unnecessary trauma by waiting until the last minute. That’s not cool. So, no. I will not justify my procrastinating behavior. September begins my new year and with this new year I will challenge, and win over this tendency with 15 minutes a day! And I invite all of you too, who may suffer from this or any other tendency to start today! Why put off to tomorrow what you could do today? Wish me a Happy Birthday and wish me Good Luck! YIKES!
