Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Invoke the warrior

Two words that I hate thinking about are `impossible' and `procrastination.' While the first makes you a cynic and a pessimist, the second leads you to the wrong side of the action likely to be taken up.

But when I came across a chapter on `What is Holding You Back?' in a book `Redesign Your Life' by Andrea Molloy, I was keen to know more about procrastination as a factor in marring one's life. The book entices you into reading it by promising that it would help you begin a life of greater power and energy.

The word procrastination has been used several times only to bring home the point how it could be so deadly.
Actually, most of us tend to procrastinate whenever we are faced with a challenging task. The weaker part and the easier-going self want to be always in the “avoid mode“, but then we regret later having missed a great chance of doing a good job.

What does one need to cast aside this trait and get into a “doing“ mode? Of course, you would say, will power and a realisation of what would happen if you put it off for some other day, maybe, as you say, a good day. But the thing is that tomorrow, to use a cliche, will never come. It has a tendency of keeping itself giving many tomorrows!

Molloy has several points to `beat' procrastination: Before you say `go', you must gather all kinds of information, materials etc. needed to work out the task; Focus only on one thing to avoid any kind of distraction; Imagine how you would feel when you have achieved your goal; To begin with, work on smaller things so that your interest is not killed right at the beginning; Think of other and more interesting ways to finish up the job; Share your goal with friends so that you get better ideas.

If these don't work, you have not yet lost a chance.

Procrastinate (!) for a fixed period and resume with new ideas and new zeal of a warrior. Think that you are in war and winning it is your only chance to stay alive!

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