5 Stoic Habits To Eliminate Procrastination From Your Life
“How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself?”
As Seneca said, “Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future. The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.”
In pursuit of a better life or career, procrastination is the biggest obstacle to overcome. We say we want to get in better shape, make more money, and learn new skills, only to never do it.
Procrastination is the one thing holding us back from being our best selves and living life to the fullest. But once you learn how to eliminate it from your life, you can quickly move from idea to execution and become unstoppable.
Drop Your Ego
Most people let their egos prevent them from getting started. They’re afraid to look foolish, so they rather stay in their comfort zone. But, as Epictetus said, “If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.”
When you’re starting a business for the first time, be prepared to make ‘stupid’ mistakes.
When you invest your first $500, be prepared to lose it all.
When you’re going to the gym for the first time, be prepared to be clueless about how to use all the equipment.
When you make your first YouTube video or record your first podcast, be prepared to sound foolish.
This is all okay. You first need to be a beginner before you can become a master. Every expert started out as a clueless newbie.
Just don’t let your ego prevent you from getting started. Your ego is afraid to look foolish, so it will convince you to start ‘tomorrow’ or ‘next week’. But as we all know, this is fiction. It’s a clever excuse.
Drop your ego and get started.
Memento Mori
Marcus Aurelius said, “Don’t behave as if you are destined to live forever. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good. Now.”
The Stoics frequently meditated on their mortality. The Latin phrase memento mori literally translates to, “remember that you must die.”
I always thought meditating on your own mortality was a depressing practice, until I experienced a cancer scare. It was the first time I was confronted with my own mortality.
Since then, I understand how unpredictable life can be. I realize I will die one day, and I don’t know when that ‘one day’ will be. It might be today. It might be tomorrow. It might be 70 years from now.
“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” — Marcus Aurelius
Precisely because you don’t know how long you have to live, you should make the most of today. Don’t postpone your dreams. Don’t postpone kindness. Don’t postpone living life.
Memento Mori. Remember, you must die. Don’t let this thought get you down, but let it inspire you like nothing else. Let it fuel you to take massive action, spread positivity, and live fully.
Be Strict With Yourself
You are responsible for the quality of your life, the results in your career, and the state of your health.
Not other people. Not the government. Not the economy.
You.
Yes, external things do influence your life, career, and health. But ultimately, you are responsible. You are in control. You are in the driver’s seat of your life.
This means you must hold yourself to higher standards if you want to upgrade your life. As Epictetus said, “How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself?”
Stop rationalizing your own excuses. Do not accept your own laziness. Do not say you’re going to do things and then not do them. Practice better habits. Hold yourself to higher standards.
Marcus Aurelius said, “Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.”
Most people do the exact opposite. They criticize everyone except themselves. But if you want to move forward in your life and career, you have to become strict with yourself.
Be tolerant with others, but hold yourself to the highest standards.
See Failure As An Opportunity To Improve
Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacle Is The Way, believes failure and setbacks are essential for improvement.
Holiday says, “Each time, you’ll learn something. Each time, you’ll develop strength, wisdom, and perspective. Each time, a little more of the competition falls away. Until all that is left is you: the best version of you.”
Nevertheless, we’ve been conditioned to avoid failure and see mistakes as a bad thing. This is mainly because school teaches us that failure is bad. When you make mistakes, you get a poor grade, and everyone (teachers, parents, etc.) is disappointed. Not a great experience.
This has turned most people into being risk-averse.
They procrastinate on their goals and don’t go outside of their comfort zone anymore, all because the fear of failure has been planted in our minds since childhood.
A more productive way to look at failure is to see it as an essential part of growth. To see mistakes as the fastest way to get better, gain valuable experience, and set yourself up for future success.
For example:
- As a kid, you learn to walk by falling hundreds of times
- As an entrepreneur, you build the best business by listening to harsh feedback from your customers
- As a content creator, you start creating better stuff when your previous work doesn’t get any views/clicks
- As an athlete, you gain valuable experience after losing an important game, which allows you to perform better in future games
As Seneca said, “A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.” Failure forges resiliency, shapes our character, and helps us become our best selves.
Remember, it’s not the most intelligent person who succeeds, it’s the one who refuses to give up. Learn to bounce back from failure. See setbacks as opportunities to become better — not as something to avoid at all costs.
This mindset will set you apart from everyone else.
Surround Yourself With Great People
As Epictetus said, “The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best self.”
Other people’s energy is contagious. This can make or break you, so you have to be mindful of who you surround yourself with.
Surround yourself with positive, inspiring, and ambitious people, and you’ll automatically become more positive, inspired, and ambitious.
We become who we surround ourselves with. The habits, mindset, and energy of those we spend most time with rubs off on us.
But this also means that if we surround ourselves with negative people who have bad habits, we automatically become more like them.
“Other people’s views and troubles can be contagious. Don’t sabotage yourself by unwittingly adopting negative, unproductive attitudes through your associations with others,” said Epictetus
That’s why it’s essential to curate your social circle. Surround yourself with people who make you better.
