Do you know what your next step is to reach the goals you’ve set? If you don’t know, you should take a few moments to grab some paper and sketch out your next few steps to reach whichever goal you’re working on.

But say you do know what your next step is. Is it something you can do now? If you have to wait on something to happen before you take your next step (also known as a ‘dependency’), then that should be noted along with your next step. If there’s no dependency that you’re waiting on, why haven’t you taken that next step?

Ahh, enter our good friend (not!) procrastination. Why do we procrastinate? There are many, many reasons; some are universal, some are as unique as you are. Some of the universal reasons for putting things off can be: fear of failure; fear of success; fear of boredom; and a sense of being overwhelmed. Let’s look at these individually.

I’m Overwhelmed!

Sometimes, a project can appear to be SO HUGE that one just doesn’t know where to start. There’s an old saying about eating an elephant. The only way is to eat that elephant one bite at a time. If you aren’t sure where to start, just choose the closest available part that you can grab onto and start there. If it’s a writing project, start jotting down some random thoughts about where the project is headed. If it’s a physical project (such as cleaning the garage or straightening up the kid’s playroom), simply pick up the nearest physical object within reach and decide what should be done about that object. Lather, rinse, repeat. Pick up another object, decide, do. Another object; and so on.

Some overwhelming projects are best handled in small chunks. Work on it for five or ten minutes — set an alarm if that helps you realize you’re only committed for a short time — and then switch to a more pleasant task. Sometimes, you may find that after working on it for a few minutes, it really isn’t as bad as you thought it was. Feel free, at this point, to ignore your alarm and continue working.

Fear of Boredom

If you’ve got a particularly mind-numbing task ahead of you, take whatever steps you can to make it fun! Play some loud music (or soft, soothing music if you prefer), and make a game of it. Set yourself tiny goals and make it a competition with yourself. If you can inject some fun into the whole process, you’ll be done in no time at all. Also, see the tips above for overwhelming tasks. If you have a large number of boring tasks (or if you have them recur regularly), it may make sense for you to schedule them so that you are only faced with them once each day or every couple of days. If you’re a business owner, you can delegate the really boring things to someone that enjoys them — after all, every person is unique, and something that bores you to tears may be an exciting afternoon for someone else!

Fear of Success

Many, many books have been written on this very subject. If you feel that this is your overriding reason for avoiding something, take a few quiet moments to reflect on the past. Find a memory of a time when you succeeded — remember it fully. Close your eyes, feel yourself really in that situation again. The aim here is to remember what success feels like. If you can recall, accurately, what true success feels like, it should take away some of the fear of succeeding in the present situation.

Fear of Failure

You’ve likely heard the saying that you haven’t succeeded until you’ve failed many times. Although failure is necessary to success, it’s really nothing to be feared. If you calculate your risks in a realistic manner, failure won’t hurt all that much. You shouldn’t take over-reaching risks that might endanger your quality of life, such as losing your house or endangering your ability to take care of your family. Only you can accurately assess whether a risk is acceptable to you. Be sure to talk things over with your family, as they are, by proxy, taking whatever risks you are. Also, bear in mind that true failure only occurs when you stop trying. As long as you keep attempting, you aren’t a failure, because success may be just around the corner. As Edison said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Persistence, as in everything, is the key.

Don’t let fear or procrastination hold you back. Conquer all!

I’m in the middle of a debate online about whether or not there are stages in a certain process. The debate itself isn’t important — what’s important is that the gentleman I’m debating with is convinced that stages DO NOT EXIST in this particular process.

They clearly do; you can point to different parts of the process and say it is or is not in this or that stage (the boundaries are fluid but the stages are identifiable.)

The human brain is a wonderful and powerful tool, and it will believe ANYTHING we tell it. If we tell our brain that the monster under our bed doesn’t exist, it doesn’t.

The flip side of this, however, is just as powerful but REALLY unsettling: If we tell our brain (even without realizing we’re telling it so) that we can’t be successful, guess what?

We FAIL.

I have talked to countless people who tell me that there’s no way they can change their lives; there’s no way that they could do what others are clearly doing; no way to become anything other than what they already are.

If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can’t, you’re right. — Henry Ford

Think positive thoughts today. Just try it for a day — see what happens.

And stop ignoring success.

Work is work, right, and we shouldn’t have fun with it? Whoever may have told you this (and perhaps no one in particular; it’s pretty much accepted as Conventional Wisdom) was LYING TO YOU.

”To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth.” –Pearl S. Buck

If you truly enjoy what it is that you get paid for doing, it’s not really fair to call it “work.” I, for one, absolutely enjoy what I do. I get to help people remove their roadblocks and find the joy in their work; sometimes I even get to help people transition from doing something they loathe to doing something that brings them joy and a sense of purpose. Sharing with someone the exhilaration of capturing the new joy to be found in a new line of work is something that cannot be beat! I have done this at least twice so far, and I hope to be able to do it again many more times in the future.

”Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.” –James M. Barrie

If you aren’t enjoying your work, ask yourself this: “What would I rather be doing all day?” Sometimes, yes, we find ourselves entrenched in what seems like a dead-end career. But if you’re creative enough, you can find ways to stay in the same field yet fill your days with a sense of purpose. For example, I once knew a lady who was a Realtor. She was good, and had been a top salesperson for several years. However, the sense of joy had just left her — she was still making good money, and still helping people buy and sell houses, but that spark of joy and happiness was just gone.

We consulted, and, to make a long story short, I helped her realize that she could transfer her sales and people skills to a nonprofit agency where she could truly make a difference in the lives of people that really needed change.

Now she wakes up each morning energized and ready to face the day, rather than dreading going to another busy yet unfulfilling open house.

What legacy do you want to leave behind? Do you want to be known for helping those in need, or leave your mark on your industry as a pioneer, or something even more amazing? Take stock of your likes and passions, and match those up with your skills and talents, and you can truly make a differnce in the world.

After all, if you’re having fun doing what you’re doing, you’ll do it so much better. Who knows what you could really accomplish?

I am constantly surprised at the number of people that I talk to who don’t make lists. They’ll be talking to me about a project they’re in the middle of, or a project they wish they had time for, or the frustration they experience from not getting enough done.

I ask them about their list, how that’s working for them? More often than not (really!) I get a blank stare. “List?” they ask me, as though I had just switched from English to Klingon.

With the overabundance of books, websites, experts and programs that focus on productivity these days, you’d think everyone and his mother would have a list. Not so.

Making a list isn’t difficult, even if today’s experts have made it seem so. You don’t need a fancy organizer or any type of notebook. You don’t need the world’s most expensive pen; and you certainly don’t need expensive software.

Just grab some paper — the back of a napkin if you really have nothing else — and start: What’s the very next thing you need to accomplish to get closer to your goal? (You DO have a goal, yes? If not, take my FREE goal-setting email course, here.)

Now, thinking ahead, what would be the very next step? Write that down as number two.

Again, what’s after that? Number three.

Keep going, until you’ve reached the end of the project, or about number 8 or 9. Any list that’s longer than about 8 or 9 items and you’ll get overwhelmed.

Simple? Yes. Why don’t more people do it? Fear. Of failure. Of success. Of any number of things. Fear keeps us from accomplishing many, many things; that’s a subject for another post, though.

Every time somone asks what I do, I get met with the very same question. Every. Single. Time. (Now I can just send them to my website!)

What is coaching?

• Coaching is a one-to-one professional relationship that encourages growth, challenge, and focus
• Coaching is a way to gain an outsider’s view of your situation, and a way to receive objective feedback, insight, and guidance
• Coaching is a way to measure progress toward a goal
• Coaching is a mechanism for ensuring positive change in any area of your life
• Coaching is fun!

What I do:

• Bring over 40 years of life experience and over 20 years of small business management experience to our relationship
• Actively listen to you, noting carefully what you say (and what you don’t say) — and ask appropriate, leading, open-ended questions that challenge you
• Provide resources for you to explore in order to expand your thinking and problem-solving techniques
• Encourage you to stretch yourself, to explore new and different possibilities as appropriate
• Support you and your goals appropriately

What you do:

• Agree to be open to new ideas and new ways of looking at challenges, obstacles, and potential solutions
• Agree to meet by telephone one hour each week, prepared to discuss your current challenges, problems, and/or successes

What we do:

• Work together in clarifying and solidifying your goals
• Develop a plan for your continuing growth, both personally and/or professionally

Simple, right? The exciting thing about coaching is that it’s a relatively new segment of the professional service industry; the drawback to that is that it isn’t as instantly recognizable as, say, a washing-machine repairman. However, I truly don’t mind explaining myself over and over again. What makes me happiest and most fulfilled is allowing people to connect with themselves and helping them to reach their dreams and aspirations.

How can I help you discover what’s missing in your life? Leave a comment, let’s start talking about it!