I just read this is a great article from the Executive Vce-President of Youngevity on Proctastination and I wanted to share it with you.
How to Beat Procrastination
As leaders, teachers, students… actually, as human beings, we often get caught up in the grips of procrastination. As the venerable Jim Rohn said, "If it can be done, it's easy… it's the impossible things that are difficult. The things we need to do every day are easy to do – the challenge is that they're easier NOT to do…" And, therein lies the rub!
How many times have you written the same things on your "to-do" list day after day, week after week, and not gotten them done? Or, skipped yesterday's phone calls or points of contact, and tried to "make up" for those today? It seems that we are masters of the odd jobs and the unique situations, but we constantly put off those little things that we should do every day – the little health and wealth habits that add up over time that can truly transform our lives.
There's not enough space in a thousand books for enough words to help you discover why we procrastinate. You've probably already read the "7 habits…" and "Eat that Frog!" – I have too, great stuff, but procrastination is still a battle. Tackling that one tough task, climbing that one mountain today, doesn't automatically setup your success for tomorrow – in fact, those large single tasks often create a false sense of accomplishment and success – because in the long run, it's not as much how the "once in a while" tasks are handled, it's the consistent completion of the daily tasks that add up to sustainable success.
I recently discovered, in an article written by James Clear, a way not to discover WHY I procrastinate, but a simple system on HOW to beat it. Ultimately, the advice is from a very successful, but unlikely source – Jerry Seinfeld. Yes, the comedian… Extraordinarily funny, extremely successful, and exceptionally disciplined comedian.
Jerry's advice is amazingly simple, easy to follow, and powerful. Step One: Identify the simple thing that you need to do every day. For him, it was write jokes. For you, it might be make follow up phone calls, make new contacts, or to do 25 pushups. Step Two: Get a year-at-a-time wall calendar – one that shows all 12 months, and has a little square box for every day. Every day that you complete the task, put a red X through that day. Step Three: Focus on the chain; moreover, focus on not breaking the chain. Two days, three days, four, five, twenty, forty, one hundred… The longer the chain, the better it feels, and the more success you will see. Brilliantly simple.
For Jerry, some days he writes great stuff, some days not so much. But the key is to do the task at hand and not break the chain. Success is not a part-time thing, it's not even a full-time thing, it's an ALL the time thing. Jerry writes every day – rain or shine, good days, bad days, holidays… In wealth as in health, there really are a few simple things that you should do EVERY DAY to reach your successes. As for me, I have a few calendars that keep me on task – a couple at home, and one at the office. My only job is to not break the chain. I've just started, and have 4 red X's in my chain. How long are your success chains going to grow?
Mike Randolph
Executive Vice President
How to Beat Procrastination
As leaders, teachers, students… actually, as human beings, we often get caught up in the grips of procrastination. As the venerable Jim Rohn said, "If it can be done, it's easy… it's the impossible things that are difficult. The things we need to do every day are easy to do – the challenge is that they're easier NOT to do…" And, therein lies the rub!
How many times have you written the same things on your "to-do" list day after day, week after week, and not gotten them done? Or, skipped yesterday's phone calls or points of contact, and tried to "make up" for those today? It seems that we are masters of the odd jobs and the unique situations, but we constantly put off those little things that we should do every day – the little health and wealth habits that add up over time that can truly transform our lives.
There's not enough space in a thousand books for enough words to help you discover why we procrastinate. You've probably already read the "7 habits…" and "Eat that Frog!" – I have too, great stuff, but procrastination is still a battle. Tackling that one tough task, climbing that one mountain today, doesn't automatically setup your success for tomorrow – in fact, those large single tasks often create a false sense of accomplishment and success – because in the long run, it's not as much how the "once in a while" tasks are handled, it's the consistent completion of the daily tasks that add up to sustainable success.
I recently discovered, in an article written by James Clear, a way not to discover WHY I procrastinate, but a simple system on HOW to beat it. Ultimately, the advice is from a very successful, but unlikely source – Jerry Seinfeld. Yes, the comedian… Extraordinarily funny, extremely successful, and exceptionally disciplined comedian.
Jerry's advice is amazingly simple, easy to follow, and powerful. Step One: Identify the simple thing that you need to do every day. For him, it was write jokes. For you, it might be make follow up phone calls, make new contacts, or to do 25 pushups. Step Two: Get a year-at-a-time wall calendar – one that shows all 12 months, and has a little square box for every day. Every day that you complete the task, put a red X through that day. Step Three: Focus on the chain; moreover, focus on not breaking the chain. Two days, three days, four, five, twenty, forty, one hundred… The longer the chain, the better it feels, and the more success you will see. Brilliantly simple.
For Jerry, some days he writes great stuff, some days not so much. But the key is to do the task at hand and not break the chain. Success is not a part-time thing, it's not even a full-time thing, it's an ALL the time thing. Jerry writes every day – rain or shine, good days, bad days, holidays… In wealth as in health, there really are a few simple things that you should do EVERY DAY to reach your successes. As for me, I have a few calendars that keep me on task – a couple at home, and one at the office. My only job is to not break the chain. I've just started, and have 4 red X's in my chain. How long are your success chains going to grow?
Mike Randolph
Executive Vice President
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