Overcome Procastination

We’ve been on this transformation journey for just about ten weeks now, and you may have started to realize that long term change is caused by what we choose from moment to moment.

If I could find a foolproof method of resisting temptation, whether it’s the temptation to overeat, sit around, or think negatively, life would be such a breeze.  But I know that desire is part of the human condition, so we will just have to manage.

The habit that has always stood between me and my goals is procrastination.  Tomorrow often seems like the best day to start being true to my resolve by following the map I’ve laid out to whatever I want to accomplish.  This is why I use these 12 week contests as a tool.

A deadline is the best cure for procrastination. 

Now that we’re two weeks out from picture day at Gordon Studio, I want to pass along a skill that will help you have your most productive two weeks starting today.

A little background; I’ve been writing a book about my transformation for over a year now, and just yesterday I managed to finish it completely and upload the manuscript to Lulu.com to order the proof.  I’ll save the story of that project for another time, but the skill I used to finish the book is the same one I want you to use to have a great finish to this transformation challenge.

I’ve been working with a Life Coach, Sandy Goodwin, in order to overcome procrastination and self doubt, and this is how she coached me to completion.  She said that every time I came up against  a situation that threatened to take me off task I should ask myself this question,

“Will this speed me up, or slow me down?”

I have heard this advice before in different forms such as,

“Will this get me closer to my goal?”

I’m not completely sure why Sandy’s phrase was so much more effective.  It must be the element of speed or time that made it work.  So I want you to use this phrase to help you make choices during the next two weeks and beyond.

When confronted by a choice about eating, training, resting, or thinking (by thinking I mean staying positive) I want you to ask,

“Will this speed me up or slow me down?”

For example, yesterday I blew of my normal good breakfast by grabbing a few bites and rushing off to the studio.  I wasn’t even running late, but I took for granted the fact that I could manage my appetite.  When I got back home mid morning I was simply ravenous, and quite frankly I lost it.  I won’t be specific here.  I don’t want to give any one any bad ideas, but it went kind of like this,

Sugar, sugar, fat and sugar, flour, flour, more sugar.  Ugh!

Here’s the important lesson.  I had almost no power to choose well once I was ravenous.  The real power was in the moment when I decided to skip a real breakfast.  At that point if I had asked the question,

“Will blowing off breakfast speed me up or slow me down?”

The answer would have been crystal clear.  Over the past four years I have gathered unassailable proof that when I skip a good breakfast, the wheels come off and I eat out of bounds.

Ah well, yesterday was still a great day because I made the most of the rest of it, and today I can do better.  The fact that I’m writing this blog post now shows that I’ve got plenty of time for breakfast this morning.

Ask the question,

“Will this speed me up or slow me down?”

Listen to the answer, and act on your inner wisdom.  We’re going to have  great finish.