To stall is human.
You know when you’re slumped on the couch, watching your 3rd straight hour of audition reels for The Voice on YouTube, when that tiny voice in your head whispers “Maybe you’re…avoiding work?”
Um, yeah, that was me yesterday. I’ve been sick this week, and I needed to recharge.
But the funny thing was that when I woke up that morning, I felt excited to get to work. I had a small client project to wrap up, and then I’d reserved the rest of the day to focus on my content strategy for the next few months.
Ever notice how we procrastinate the MOST on those laaaaaast details—the ones that prevent us from moving into our Zone of Genius?
Maybe for you it’s that first email to your newsletter subscribers. Or it’s the updated About page for your website. Or the Facebook post with a link to your free opt-in.
We stall on tasks that require us to really show our stuff. We avoid the work of standing up, standing out, and upleveling our business.
These are the things that involve taking a stand. They’re sparkler preludes to your coming out party. They’re the tasks bring attention to you and your business—which you desperately need (and secretly fear).
By the way, if you’ve never heard of a “Zone of Genius,” it’s a concept popularized by Guy Hendricks in his book The Big Leap. (Or at least, that’s how I found out about it.)
Essentially, Hendricks says, our Zone of Genius is our range of peak performance. It’s when we operate effortlessly and brilliantly. When we’re inspired and inspiring and totally fulfilled.
Obviously, life isn’t one big Zone of Genius. But the goal, he says, is to make as much room in our lives for our Zone of Genius as possible. And that requires removing the obstacles to get there.
I’ve noticed that often when I procrastinate, I’m stuck on something that’s right at the fringe of my Zone of Genius. Usually it’s whatever proceeds my actual writing or public speaking, like brainstorming blog topics or outlining a speech.
And I have a theory about that.
I believe we procrastinate because we know that big, powerful change is just on the other side of this last piddling task. And that change scares the sh!% out of us.
Take Stevie McCrorie, my new favorite singer of all time. (Check out his audition for The Voice here.)
This is a guy who comes to LIFE when he sings. His Zone of Genius is soooo obvious even Sir Tom Jones stands up and applauds for it. But this adorable Scottish firefighter—who (spoiler alert) goes on to WIN THE ENTIRE SHOW—did not sign up for The Voice. No no no. He hung out at the firehouse singing to himself and at parties for YEARS before his mates finally filled out his application and forced him to audition.
His friends literally forced him to get up on stage, just so he could do what he does best at the level he deserves to do it.
Stevie’s ability to live in his Zone of Genius (or at least to win a recording contract which made music a regular part of his life) was waiting on the far side of his procrastination.
All too often, you and I act like Stevie: stalling on that last little thing, an easy hurdle, really, because secretly, we’re terrified of what comes next.
As Marianne Williamson put it, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. So our terror gets stuffed into our feelings about this one little task, and we put it off forever.
But instead of acknowledging that we procrastinate because we’re scared and that is a valid way to feel, we beat ourselves up for being lazy or huge wimps with no real cause for complaints.
You know what?
Enough is enough.
Let’s just acknowledge that growth is HARD.
And then let’s take some action.
Here are three things you can do to beat procrastination right now.
You’ll be over the hump in 5-10 minutes and back in the Zone before Friday night cocktails.
Step 1: Think about whatever it is that you need to do and feel where it hits you in your body.
I usually get tight in my chest and throat, sometimes like I’ve got an iron fist squeezing my heart.
Sound dramatic? Yes, but that’s my reality. Just get real with yourself and feel the fear.
Maybe you don’t feel afraid but embarrassed. Or lonely. Whatever the feeling is, just feel it.
Step 2: Acknowledge that this is a right way to feel.
You aren’t broken or stupid or wimpy or weak because you feel this way. Even if your logical brain says this task is no big deal, we aren’t dealing with logic when it comes to emotion. Besides, we humans aren’t rational creatures.
Step 3: Tap along with the following video to release this fear and move on with your life.
Last year I got turned on to something called Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT. You’ll also hear it referred to as “tapping” because it involves tapping certain points on your body while reciting a mantra specific to your issue.
I’m a big fan of this follow-along video by a fellow entrepreneur named Kim Jansen. She’ll lay out all the details for you.
In particular, I love how EFT makes you aware of the negative emotion and puts you in control of it. The tapping itself feels ritualistic, which is cool.
If you’ve never heard of EFT and this all sounds a bit suspect to you, just give it a try. What do you have to lose? 10 minutes of your time (maybe), but I can say for certain that it’s helped me and thousands of other people dissolve whatever was weighing them down.
If you’ve tried it before and think it won’t make a difference on something as no-big-a-deal as procrastination, I challenge you to try it, too. It tooootally works for me, for all the reasons I’ve said above.
Do you have a favorite tool for overcoming procrastination? I’d love to add them to my repertoire!
