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Lesson 9: Procrastination 2

 in Guest Post  tagged action / business coach / business coaching / charging / client / clients / coach / coaches / coaching / coaching courses / coaching qualifications / coaching skills / coaching techniques / coaching training / executive coach / failure / fear / Julia Neiman / leadership coaching / life coach / life coaches / life coaching / nlp coach / perfectionist / performance coaching / personal coach / personal development / Procrastination / Thought / time / unknown

Coach Julia Neiman shares her expertise and knowledge in today’s guest post:

An introduction by today’s guest poster coach Julia Neiman:

The following “Lesson” is an excerpt from my new Ebook, 31 Powerful Lessons: Empowering Teens and Young Adults to Develop an Entrepreneur Mindset. While the majority of my clients over the years have been transitional age youth from 18 to 25 years old, I am now coaching parents, teachers, coaches, mentors, social workers and others who work with this age group. Procrastination is something that I find affects people of all ages and as coaches, I’m sure you’ve seen this in your clients and perhaps even have a touch of it yourself. I know I do.

In this lesson, I present 5 common beliefs and attitudes that lead to procrastination in the hopes that coming to understand why we procrastinate can lead to our breaking this habit. I hope you find it useful.

Julia Neiman guest post about Procrastination

Lesson 9: Procrastination

by Julia Neiman

Telling ourselves and others that we are going to do something is a far cry from actually doing it. The distance between intention and behavior is often quite large. Statistics show that for every intention 1 in 2 people will end up not following through on their planned action. That’s a lot of nothing getting done.

One of the causes of this is the action of constantly putting things off, known as procrastination. A key attribute of procrastination is a tendency to over think a particular course of action to the point that you spend most your time thinking rather than actually doing. This state is commonly known as paralysis by analysis. I’ve been known to procrastinate once in a while. I try not to allow myself to do that because it leads to feeling overwhelmed then I just want to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head.

Sometimes by thinking less we are able to achieve more.

Here are five common beliefs and attitudes that lead to the debilitating effects of procrastination:

1. The possibility of failure

Many people talk themselves out of working towards their goals because they are afraid they may fail. To their way of thinking, by not taking action they are able protect themselves from the possibility of failure.

Most procrastinators have a strong idea of what they want, but often the fear of failure and the thoughts that surround this paralyzing emotion are so intense that productivity is slowed down or stops altogether.

2. The perfectionist syndrome

Another common attitude within the mindset of a procrastinator is the need for everything to be perfect before work commences. Often this involves optimizing one’s environment and work space so that maximum comfort and ease is created.

The problem with this mindset is that working environments are never ideal, and never will be, unless you are prepared to invest a significant amount of your own time creating the ultimate work environment.

Understand that there is no substitute for real productive action, so even if your workplace is not ideal it is advisable to forge ahead nevertheless. Thank goodness I’m not a perfectionist because my workspace is far from ideal.

3. The finite resource of time

Arguably a huge bias in the procrastinator’s thinking is the belief that time is an infinite resource. The common excuse “I will do it tomorrow” usually stems from an unconscious belief that there will always be time. Unfortunately this is not true, and for many procrastinators they end up looking back over their lives regretting they didn’t take the opportunities when they were presented to them.

It is so easy to fall into the trap of thinking like this, which is why if you are presented with a good idea, it is advisable that you act on it immediately.

4. Stepping into the unknown

Acting on your intentions often requires a leap of faith. Embarking on a worthwhile project always contains elements of the unknown.

The problem with many procrastinators is that they are terrified of taking a leap of faith into the unknown. They want a guarantee that their efforts will not be in vain.

This may result in the procrastinator doing unnecessary research in an attempt to further control the likelihood of their actions becoming a success. Obviously planning is important before beginning any major task, but at the same time excessive planning can inhibit your ability to act at the right times.

5. Action should be easy

Another component of the procrastinator’s limiting mindset is the belief that everything, when taking constructive action towards their long-term goals will be plain sailing. Whenever hard work and long hours is mentioned a procrastinator is likely to put off whatever course of action they need to take.

All worthwhile projects involve overcoming difficulties and obstacles, and the procrastinator is often someone who foolishly believes that getting what you want shouldn’t be anything but easy.

What’s on the other side of procrastination?

If you can get past the mindset of the procrastinator, and you can begin actively working towards your goal, you may find that it becomes increasingly difficult to stop. You will find that over time you begin building up momentum towards your goals, to the point where everything is taken in your stride. There is no doubt about it, starting something is always the hardest part, but once you get in the grove your work flow will become more natural and easy.

“An object at rest tends to stay at rest; an object in motion tends to stay in motion” Sir Isaac Newton

About the Author/Further Resources

Julia NeimanJulia Neiman is the Founder of Transform For Life, an online coaching program for teens, and Executive Director of Group Home Consultants, a nonprofit that provides independent living skills training to transition age foster youth.

Julia has 20 years of experience working with troubled teens. She believes that their dreams matter and is passionate about helping them learn to make those dreams come true. To that end, Julia has just written her first book, 31 Powerful Lessons: Empowering Teens and Young Adults to Develop an Entrepreneur Mindset. The book is currently available only at her website as an ebook. Later this year the book will be available both as an audio book and a bound book.

Visit Julia’s website at http://www.julianeiman.com for a free download of a great organizational tool entitled, Get Stuff Done. Then check the Free Downloads Page for more free stuff.

Balancing the Push and Pull of Life

 in Guest Post  tagged Albert Einstein / Andrew A. Faccone / balance / business coach / business coaching / charging / choice / client / clients / coach / coaches / coaching / coaching courses / coaching qualifications / coaching skills / coaching techniques / coaching training / commitment / control / controllables / end point / enjoy / executive coach / future / goal / jourmey / leadership coaching / life coach / life coaches / life coaching / nlp coach / past / performance coaching / personal coach / personal development / present / time / Tony Robbins

In today’s guest post Andrew A. Faccone draws upon his own life experiences and his coaching expertise to share 3 points around life, commitment and time.

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Balancing the Push and Pull of Life ..

By Andrew A. Faccone

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”

(Albert Einstein)

We are all given 24 hours a day, 1,440 minutes per day and 86,400 seconds per day to use how we see fit.

Those of us reading this post are very fortunate and blessed to choose how we are to use that precious time we are given. That allotted time has a short life span, it must be used immediately and it cannot be carried over. If it is not used properly it expires.

It is our choice to maximize or minimize how we allocate our days, weeks, months and years that we are given in our lifetime. The mystery of life reveals that life is not a straight line, there is no instruction booklet on how to live and we are responsible for our actions.

The attention that we pay to the little things throughout life has a dramatic effect on the outcomes of our life as we progress and mature throughout our lifetime. Since our birth we have all pursued different paths, we have learned, prospered, been knocked down and despite the challenging conditions have succeeded as well as failed in some of our endeavors. The challenges have made us stronger and the shortcomings have taught us what not to repeat in the future. In some cases we are all learning from those shortcomings.

Past events somehow always re-appear at various times throughout our lives. In the time of our youth we pursued our education and the playful desires of our youth. Academics, athletics, music, literature, sciences, religious education, play time with our childhood friends, youth and civic groups, participation with a strong supervision from our families who attended those important life events. They cheered us on in victory and comforted us when the results did not materialize as hoped for.

When our formal education ended we then used our educational backgrounds or God given talents to find a way to make a go of it on our own. Welcome to being a grown up! We now face the commitments of professional life, parenthood, earning a living, providing for our families, advancing our professional careers and now we have become those attendees routing for our family members as they progress through their childhood and young adult activities that we participated in in the not so distant past.

Where is the person who wanted to change the world and make the difference in the world?

Is this life still a life in balance? Is there equal push and pull in our daily activities? Finding that balance, the constant struggle that addresses all of the aspects of our lives. Spirituality, physicality, and mentality.

I am asked many times in all of my personal & professional travels how did I get where I am in life? I have some of the answers to this question and some answers I do not have. I have been blessed to have had some extraordinary people that have been a part of my life. Nine years of a disciplined Catholic school education, athletic participation in high school and college, a loving family along with several key family members who taught me about the true lessons of life and that I can do anything that I set myself to attaining.

I try to rely on 3 key points and try to use them as my daily guide as I try to find a balance between the many commitments I am involved with in my daily life both personally and professionally.

What you say will determine what you will become. I have always been a believer in word affirmations. The words you are projecting will impact your individual outcomes. If you’re not projecting positive words and expecting great things to occur, they will not happen. If you don’t believe something will happen nobody else will. Use those empowering words to get you to where you want to be.

  1. Control The Controllables is the most important piece of our lives’ direction. We cannot control other people or the actions that they undertake, outside events, or decide the specific outcomes for certain situations. We can only control ourselves and our actions; we are accountable to those actions and decisions that we ourselves make. No one else. Do the best you can to work on those goals both short term and long term, work diligently and constantly change your approach to achieve your goals, but understand you can only control what is in front of you. A strong will can conquer anything, but you also have to be realistic in what you undertake.
  2. Have a goal & the end point in mind. We all set out many times to undertake certain projects but never have the end goal in mind. Example: I am going on a diet and lose weight. That statement screams starve yourself and constantly not be satisfied with even losing the smallest amount of weight. Give yourself credit for wanting to lose weight and changing your eating habits. Whenever a new habit is introduced to our lives it takes roughly 28 days to form a new habit. You have to give yourself credit and realize that to be successful and create a new habit it takes time. Having the end point in mind, losing 1-2 pounds weekly and trying to exercise on a more regular basis is a realistic goal & plan. It is not where you are it’s the direction that you are headed that counts. Keep that goal of where you want to be ever present in your daily actions. You’ll be surprised what you can attain.
  3. Enjoy the journey Life is full of surprises, challenges, and lot of unexpected “things “occur. When life throws the unexpected curve at us daily, which it does to us at some point, we need to readjust and get yourself back on track of the task at hand. Interruptions, issues, something totally unexpected is going to occur. Deal with it quickly and to the best of your ability and get back to what you were you were doing. Once that event has occurred put it in the rear view mirror and move on. Tony Robbins, noted author & motivational speaker, referenced the statement ‘the past does not equal the future’. It is so true. We all need to be aware of this statement and realize that we are doing the best that we can, with the time we have to enjoy each day with its many challenges and surprises.

Life is an attitude -have a good one and you will enjoy the wonderful journey. When you start to make these new adjustments in your daily activities, changes in those daily habits, week after week, month after month, and year after year you will start to recognize that new person in the mirror who you have not seen in some time. Start small but think big, because you can do it, great things are coming your way… it all depends on you!

About the Author/Further Resources

Andrew Faccone, MBA is employed in the healthcare industry as a long term care account specialists in the United States near the New York Metropolitan area. Andrew has over 18 years experience as an athlete,& coach positively impacting the lives of athletes he has coached. Andrew is available for speaking engagements of any size or location and individual coaching sessions.

Contact Andrew A. Faccone at aa****@***oo.com or

Linkedin : http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-a-faccone-mba/24/291/3b2

Cell Phone 732 614 8425 Eastern Time Zone

 

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Goals You Can Control

 in Guest Post  tagged action / attitude / business coach / business coaching / charging / client / clients / coach / coaches / coaching / coaching courses / coaching qualifications / coaching skills / coaching techniques / coaching training / Early L. Jackson Jr / executive coach / goals / influence / leadership coaching / life coach / life coaches / life coaching / motivation / nlp coach / perception / performance coaching / personal coach / personal development / schedule / time / Zig Ziglar

Early Jackson, shares his coaching expertise and knowledge in this weeks guest post:

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Goals You Can Control …

By Early Jackson …

Zig Ziglar, a motivational speaker and inspiration to thousands through his books and products once said, “Things are the way they are because we are the way we are.” I have found this to be a tough but valuable truth to live by. Often our largest challenge in life will not come from anything external, but the internal wrestling of procrastination. As a coach, I speak to people about what they wish to happen for them. Usually the reality is a disconnection with what they want and how they act. We spend too much time focusing on what we can’t control instead of what is within our reach.

In the late 1920’s at the turn of the industrial revolution America implemented a system of evaluating employees, especially factory workers. If a person on an assembly line at location ‘A’ was clocked at 85% efficiency, great attention would be given to the 15% that was lacking. This created a unique problem. The person would not get better, but worse. Why you may ask? Because wherever focus goes, energy flows. People do not progress by focusing where they lack, but by emphasizing their strengths. The system of correcting behavior was flawed mainly because the attention was placed on the wrong statistic.

Many do not attempt their goals at all because they see the task of planning for them as a huge mountain they cannot conquer. Half the battle is developing the right strategy and the goals that once were impossible, are easy to obtain. Instead of giving your precious focus to the negatives surrounding your desires, begin to assess what you already possess.

Here are a few things that you can control:

  • Your perception: My mother always said, “You can’t stop a bird from flying over your head but you can stop it from building a nest on you.” You and you alone control how you think. No one is so powerful that they can make you think a certain way. People are there to influence, but the end result is yours to handle.
  • Your attitude: If what you think is based on perception, how you think is a result of an attitude. Life goes on even if you have a bad day. How you respond to life is going to determine what you get out of it. It is a proven fact that people with a better attitude live a more fulfilling lifestyle.
  • Your time and schedule: Time is the only currency you can never earn more of. It is far better to lose money then your time. You can always earn more cash, but once time is invested and loss, it is gone forever. It is your responsibility to guard your time and use it wisely.
  • Your circle of influence: We all have wished at some time or another that we could have chosen our family members. But the reality is, you have the family God wanted you to have. What you can choose is who gets into your ‘space’. Focus on who you are allowing into your life because that’s who will have influence.

Actions are simply our response to our motivation. Once the fire has been lit we have to move quickly to implement our goals and use that momentum. Life gives us what we are willing to put into it. Goals aren’t prejudice nor play favorites. Goals show up completed when the person pursuing them employs consistent effort and planning.

See you at the TOP!

Early Jackson

About the Author/Further Resources

Early JacksonEarly L. Jackson Jr., profoundly recognized as a Social Activist, has been laboring to bring balance, skill, relevance and understanding to people of all nationalities. After effectively overcoming a stretch of drug addictions, Early has highly developed himself to become a successful life coach. As a result Early has had the opportunity to speak at such prestigious institutions as Rider University, The University of Phoenix, Jefferson Hospital, The Philadelphia Board of Education, The University of Pennsylvania and even on Carnival Cruiseline. He has also served diligently as an educator, a conference and seminar host as well as a radio and television personality in the Greater Philadelphia area for more than thirteen years. Coach Early was recently featured on The Hampton Roads show and is a regular contributor to “Inside Business” The Hampton Roads Business Journal as well as a writer for ” Examiner.com” a dynamic entertainment, news and lifestyle network that serves more than 20 million monthly readers across the U.S. and around the world. In addition, he is acclaimed for his work as a life coach working with individuals, couples, families and professionals in designing and living extraordinary lives. Early, has a special ability to build leaders, while developing people to a life of happiness, with deep, lasting satisfaction and fulfillment.

Early is known for his passionate teaching, humor and genuine love for people. Drawing from experience as a leader in the U.S. Army during Desert Storm, he proclaims a liberating message of empowerment to those who lack a voice of affirmation. He is known as ‘the constant encourager’ to many who seek a greater experience of true achievement.

Early Jackson, happily married to his wife Cherese, is a heavily sought after teacher and conference speaker; he has been invited to speak both nationally and internationally. He is the author of “Groomed For Greatness: 31 Days To An Empowered Life”, 50 Affirmations For Next Level Living”, “Tweet Your Way To Greatness” and “10 Mistakes I Made Before 30 & How To Avoid Them” as well as a variety of Coaching CD series. His overarching belief “If we are to exercise our full status and potential in this life we must be retrained in our daily behavior and mind sets” is a prevalent and recurring theme in his teachings.

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Is it history?

 in General life improvement  tagged business coach / business coaching / career coaching / coach / coaches / coaching / coaching content / coaching courses / coaching qualifications / coaching session / coaching skills / coaching techniques / executive coach / history / leadership coaching / life coach / life coaches / life coaching / perception / performance coaching / personal development / resource / time

This was originally published as a bonus article in the Coaching Confidence weekly email during May 2011. To start getting your very own copy each week enter your details under “Don’t miss a thing!” to the right of this page.

Is it history?

One of the subjects I studied at university was history. There are skills, methods of analysis and approaches that I still use in my day-to-day life which may not be obvious.

There are also other skills and knowledge that I learnt directly from studying that subject which are far more obvious. For example an ongoing project has been researching my own family history – knowing my way round certain historical records is rather helpful for that.

I’m also involved in recording onto databases certain historical records to make them more accessible and easily searchable. Some of these records are hand written, while others may be typed. They are all from a past era in time and it can take some time to become familiar with the language that is being used.

I don’t mean that the records that I’m working on are written in a language other than English – there is just specific terminology that can take some interpretation.

Some documents can be really easy to understand and interpret. Others can take longer as I adjust to someone’s particular handwriting style or the abbreviations they may have been using.

Projects can be a straightforward list of names etc and can be more repetitive in the work needed as well as more superficial with your understanding of the data. Others involve far more involvement.

One of the projects that I recently did was make a record of names that appeared in newspapers. This was an African American paper from the turn of the 20th century and there was a story within one of the pages that recorded disturbances after a mesmerism act had visited town.

It appeared that some of the local youths had learnt some mesmerism skills and had used these for their own amusement. An example of a disturbance was one boy who stood up and shouted in Sunday school every time a particular phrase was used!

I’d be very surprised if at the time the instigator of this act would imagine that in over 100 years time someone would be reading about their exploits and sharing the account with others.

I also wonder if those who had been upset by the situation would still have the same feelings if they were looking back on it from 100 plus years into the future – would it still seem important to them?

As a coach I have seen plenty of clients make use of the benefit of hindsight – both actual and when someone imagines looking back at an event from the future. You may even have guided a client to think of something in the past and seen the difference it made to them.

As an individual I also know that sometimes just taking that step back from a situation, often makes it seem far less significant or scary. It can also put things into a much wider context.

Today I invite you to play with the following:

  1. Pick a situation or scenario that you are currently stuck with or want a new perspective.
  2. Make sure that you are in an environment where it is safe for you to be distracted – for example do not do this when driving a car!
  3. Imagine that you have somehow travelled 100+ years into the future and someone else is reading an account of that situation
  4. From this new perspective, 100 + years into the future, notice what your thoughts are now.
  5. From 100 + years in the future become aware of any advice/action you would share with the you from 2012.
  6. When you are ready bring your attention fully back to 2012, bringing any observations and advice back with you that you want to and is appropriate.

Feel free to take any action you want to with your new perspective.

Love

Jen

About the Author

Jen WallerJen Waller is on a mission to support, nurture and encourage coaching skills and talents from non-coach to coach and beyond.

She has created a free 7 day e-course about how to create your own unique coaching welcome pack that works for you and your clients. Get your copy here.