Procrastination is like masturbation; in the end you’re just screwing yourself. – Anonymous
It’s 9am on Saturday morning. You roll over and hit the snooze button, just a few more minutes and you’ll get up in time to make the 10a workout class….or so you think. When you wake up, it’s now 945 and instead of jumping up to go work out you pull the covers up and bury yourself deeper under the covers…aahhh, nice and cozy. “I’ll workout tomorrow” you tell yourself. Then tomorrow comes and you make up another excuse and another excuse after that and before you know it six months have passed and you haven’t worked out once…you still weigh the same, if not more. Why is that? Why do we SAY we want to change but stay the same?
Some psychologist call this “paralysis of analysis” or the pattern of thinking about ones goals but never taking action. We cannot succeed at anything without defining what it is that we want and then creating and executing a plan to get it. Most times, executing a plan will require sacrifice and delaying instant gratification for better results in the long term. Is that the problem? We want what we want when we want it?? But having the ability to delay gratification says a lot about ones personality…
Studies have been conducted with 4-year old preschoolers who were presented with the choice of having a small pile of M&M’s now or a bigger pile later. As it turns out, those kids who chose the bigger pile tended to be more:
Verbally fluent and articulate.
More academically and socially competent.
More resourceful and skillful.
Better able to concentrate, focus and make plans.
Better able to cope with stress and reflective.
More effective at setting and pursuing goals.
*Delay of gratification research, Mischel, Shoda, & Rodriquez, 1989.
How do we improve our ability to delay gratification? How do you cut off the impulse to eat a krispy cream hamburger when you want it? Sure, you could distract yourself by singing or driving past the donut shop without stopping. You could also find a healthier substitute to avoid the donut…but I think the most effective way of improving our ability to delay gratification is to have a clear, concrete VISION that inspires you to ACTION. I don’t know of anyone who has succeeded in anything without working hard for it. Do you?
So if your goal is to lose 20lbs, you will have a difficult time achieving that goal if you don’t execute a plan to invest the proper amount of time and energy necessary to create success in your life.
Stop claiming that you don’t have time to work out. MAKE THE TIME. How many minutes do you spend on facebook, shopping, going to the movies or hanging out?? Stop making excuses. Stop looking for the easy way out. Stop procrastinating.
A richer, fuller, healthier life is waiting for you…what are you waiting for?
