#FindYourPurpose #StopProcrastinating #JustDoIt
How do I stop procrastinating?
How do I gain more confidence in myself?
How can I reduce my fears and anxiety?
These are questions Gregg Steinberg gets from people struggling with their careers.
Steinberg, a professor of human performance at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee, says there are no easy answers to those questions. The best answer, though, is to fill your life with purpose.
Steinberg discussed his strategy for doing that in a column Aug. 16, 2015, in The Tennessean newspaper of Nashville.
His three-step strategy includes thinking of a time in your life in which you had a meaningful impact upon another person’s life. Then, think of words that represent that situation for you. For example, if you successfully mentored a younger colleague, your words might be, “be the teacher,” Steinberg writes.
When you are feeling de-motivated and burned out, you need to say the words and visualize the situation in which you created success, Steinberg says.
It’s easy to put things off. It’s easy to think that you CAN’T do something. It’s easy to be AFRAID to do something.
Most motivational experts advise people to create urgency in their lives. In other words, do what you need to do TODAY to make your lives better tomorrow. Once you begin the path to success, it will be easier to keep going. Sprinters and other racers have to wait for the gun to go off to start running. Pretend the starting gun has just gone off in your head. That will help you conquer procrastination.
The motivational experts often tell you to “do it afraid.” It’s OK to be afraid to do what you need to do, but do it anyway. Putting it off won’t make the fear go away, so do it now, and do it afraid.
You also can reduce your fears by acknowledging any successes. You complete a project, make a sale etc., so celebrate. Take yourself out to dinner – and take your favorite person(s) with you. Celebrating alone is no fun.
As you feel successes, your fears decline. Once you “did it afraid” a few times, you become less and less fearful or anxious.
Once you discover what you want, and learn what to do to get it, don’t wait. As the Nike slogan says, Just Do It! Chances are, whatever you want to accomplish will be done over time. You don’t necessarily get one shot. Even the sprinter who loses a race gets to race again. So, if you do what you need to do immediately, and not find success, chances are you’ll have other opportunities to find success. You just have to know what you are seeking is good for you, and for others, and stay committed to it. It will become, as Steinberg says, your purpose.
If you have the need to change your life, and have the ambition to do it, but are unsure which path to take, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. That path has proved successful for many who were once in your shoes.
So the best advice is to find your purpose, create some urgency to moving toward it, do what you need to do, even if you are afraid, then celebrate your successes along the way.
To wallow is hollow. To pursue is cool. Pursue your purpose.
Peter