The Surprising Side of Procrastination

Success comes with more responsibility so we subconsciously shy away from that, but let your light shine bright, stop scrolling and procrastinating, go be victorious

I know this may seem contrary to popular belief, but I believe the biggest reason we procrastinate is not laziness or lack of motivation, but just the opposite. I believe we actually fear success. Subconsciously we fear succeeding because with success comes heavy responsibility, hard work, and the unknown. And what is scarier than the unknown? Let’s face it, not much.

I tend to find myself mindlessly scrolling through Instagram or Pinterest when I am putting of a task I do not want to do. The best thing I can do is turn off my phone notifications so that I am not tempted to look at it. Who else is with me on this? Comment and let me know, my guess is if we are honest we probably have that and a lot more in common.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking down so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were meant to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ~Marianne Williamson

I Absolutely resonate with Marianne Williamson’s quote because when I say Namaste to my yoga class after class that is what it means is the divine light in me honors and see’s the divine light in you. We are the divine creators in our lives that is the secret in life. I believe we all have a unique gift to share and a story to tell. All things are possible when we have a specific vision, we work hard toward our goals, stop procratinating, get rid of self-limiting patterns, and surround ourselves with people like Sahil Patel, Dr. Preeti Singh, Claire Kelly, Ravyne Hawke, Marcus, A.H. Mehr, Penelope Mayfield and Dr Mehmet Yildiz (If I did not specifically mention your name please do not take offense I truly am blessed to be surrounded by amazing people who I feel elevate me) who teach us, inspire us, and lift our spirits.

When I show up and live my life authentically I am willing to face my fears and bad habits head on. I live with a high level of awareness and with that awareness I am then able to correct bad habits that cause self-limiting behaviors, such as procrastinating, and prevent me from achieving all that I desire.

Sahil Patel tagged me in this seven day challenge to write about why I procrastinate, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t procrastinate, so I thought it was quite fitting to write about it and I hope it helps me improve this bad habit. No matter how much I work to improve myself, I have to say, procrastination is one of the things I always am guilty of. The excuse I tend to use is that I work well under pressure, and I am actually typing this at the airport as I wait for my flight because I procrastinated writing today making everything else a priority knowing full well I could eek it out at the last minute. That is the good part about stress is that it gives us the adrenaline we need to pull off good work “under the gun” so to speak. Some people work better under pressure than others and I am one of those.

“Instead of saying ‘I don’t have time’ try saying ‘It’s not a priority and see how that feels.” ~ Author Unknown

When I need to get something finished, I have a definite process. I never miss deadlines, although it may come down to the very last minute and cause my hair to become grayer. In my recent article, The Power of the Enneagram, I revealed several of my personality weaknesses, being a Type Seven I am scattered and undisciplined which explains why I tend to procrastinate. However, I also tend to focus on my goals and stay focused. So, all in all I love balance in my life and at the end of the day I manage to pull it off. I do not recommend my method; however, it works for me.

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has yet to come. We have only today. Let us begin.” ~ Mother Teresa

So, what motivates you? I will let you in on a secret. Time scarcity motivates me. It works. Mix time scarcity in with the fear of disappointing people and I will perform like a circus elephant. That may not be a good thing, but I will always come through loyal and true.

Sahil Patel so wisely said, “To overcome procrastination, you first have to identify it. Without knowing the problem, it’s impossible to solve the problem.”

I appreciate this challenge to write about procrastination and with this new level of awareness I will work to reduce procrastinating so that I can reduce the stress in my life and be less distracted.

I am Libby Shively McAvoy I have overcome both physical and emotional abuse and used a combination of healing modalities to dismantle PTSD, but I deeply believe that Emotional Intelligence is critical for reducing cases in domestic violence. By coaching clients EQ methods I work with them to help them process and express emotions, increase empathy, build confidence, manage stress, practice personal awareness, understand how other people feel around them and build social skills and communication. I hope to build an emotional intelligence program for elementry schools because I believe that by educating children at a young age we would not only reduce domestic violence later in their lives, but also bullying during school years, and they would learn to connect to their higher self, which as I wrote about in Healing Through Connection EQ is a critical component for. I also believe strengthening EQ would help prevent procrastination because it builds awareness.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I am sending you all love and light and I hope you will join my Thursday for my special article about Diwali, the fesival of lights wich honors the victory of good over evil and light over dark, and I mention this because I feel it ties in so beautifully with the Marianne Williamson quote that I used today. I would love if you would comment and tell me more about yourself and please subsribe to my email list so we can stay connected.

The light in you is bright. You are worthy of all you desire. I hope if you tend to procrastinate as I do you will work on trying to improve. If you do not procrastinate that is awesome- please comment and share a tip with me on how I might be able to improve based on what I have shared in this article, I would greatly appreciate it.