This is Anne with your Coaching On The Go.

I’ve been talking with you about fear and the different ways that fear shows up masked as things besides fear.

Today I want to talk with you about procrastination.

The fear of the unknown or fear of failure can manifest as procrastination.

Do you ever procrastinate?

If you think down deep into it, if you breathe into it, and what I mean by that is you take a deep breath and you get curious around it, what is it about?

When you put off tasks and decisions, it can provide temporary relief from the discomfort associated with growth or nervousness about failing.

You can rationalize it, but you’re taking a lot of extra energy to make a decision, and you’re stalemating yourself.

Here’s an example.

I have gotten overwhelmed at times.

It feels overwhelming.

I have so many different choices that my being can want to shut down and make the decision another time.

It’s not going to be easier later.

The same variables are still present.

My mom, who’s getting older, gets overwhelmed by decisions.

She will start to show a variety of different symptoms.

She’ll start to feel tired.

She’ll start to get short-tempered.

She will start to say that there’s too much going on that day.

She can’t make the decision, and she’ll start cluttering her mind with the process of that decision.

I mention to her, that the longer it takes to make the decision, the more energy is spent on the decision.

I ask what could I support her with that would get her to relax so she could make the decision.

When you’re a procrastinator and you’re good at it and use it as a way you describe yourself, what do you need to move forward?

What could support you in moving forward?

A ten-minute break?

Just deciding by the end of the day, you’ll make a decision?

Could it be the heart meditation that would help you to align your brain with your heart so that you can make a decision from both of those being in alignment?

What will it take?

How would it look to be gentle with yourself when you’re about to say that you’re a procrastinator, just to get curious about that procrastination and find out what fear is in there, what are you scared of?

How could you nurture yourself through that fear instead of being critical of yourself?

How could part of you comfort the other part so that you can move together and make a decision?

Often people procrastinate because they get scared about their future.

That decision never goes away.

What often happens for people is they get piles and piles of things that aren’t completed, and it weighs down their ability to move forward.

You’ve heard that comment.

The only way through is through.

If you know you’re going to be making that decision anyway, what tools would help you continue to move forward today instead of putting it on the back burner so that you have more and more things to decide on another day?

The most successful people in the world are decisive.

They’ve got a strong decision-making muscle connected to their instincts.

What I’m chatting with you about for these weeks is how you handle decisions.

How do you handle fear?

Do you give it a label and then identify yourself with that label or do you look into it curiously? 

Inside of the fear is the gift that gets you to the next level.

Have a beautiful day.