"What you can do today, don't postpone until tomorrow."
Yes, the wisdom of yesteryear, we keep coming across it. Rightly so! The truths that made them common property remained the same in the century before last.
This is especially true of something we now call procrastinating, which we all too readily indulge in. How compulsively do we put things off, distract ourselves, and talk our way out of it? It doesn't matter that we often waste more time and energy than necessary to complete the task.
Sure, many things don't wow, inspire, or motivate us. They seem like they are challenging. They could be more comfortable, brings little thanks, and even less fun. The thing is, most of it has to be done. Or let's put it this way: We are even less interested in the consequences of not doing anything. We don't always want to become unfit and look at sports shoes. Or we can no longer find our way out of the wardrobe chaos. Or the reproachful undertone during the next phone call with Mum... Is it even harder to pull yourself together? Yes, that's true without clever tactics. But fortunately, with me, things look very different.
It is essential that you do not want everything immediately. Only set yourself so much that it is a challenge but manageable. This is how you avoid the "I'll never be able to do that" effect, i.e., disappointment and demotivation. You build slowly, build up and keep going - 50 sit-ups is a good goal, but a better start is 5.
It also helps many people to motivate themselves through a group, especially in sports. This is an excellent impulse to have to justify yourself a bit. The same applies here: Find buddies who are on your level. There are also virtual groups, i.e., you train alone but let the group know. So you get the motivation and are not tied to time.
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld tricked Sloth with an X. To motivate himself for the daily production of gags (necessary for his job), he marked with a red X on a wall calendar every day that he wrote something on paper. The story's moral: At some point, the chain of success with the Xs became so long that it hurt to thwart it with an X-free, i.e., procrastinated day... uh, yes. Or better: to destroy them.
Now you can always make a specific goal for the following months you want to do every day. But make sure that you can actually implement it. If you already suspect that after a few days, you will find various excuses not to do it, then you seem to be taking on too much.
And unfortunately, a few ticks don't turn into a (lucky) streak.
This article is part of the first edition of the CHANGE JOURNAL. It is no longer included in the newer edition.
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