I have a secret confession. My focus has been off lately. I’ve been running in circles, fiddling with new technologies, starting new projects. I even built a new website yesterday. I’ve been taking on these unrelated projects to avoid working on my primary goal. So I am writing this post for me.
I know myself. This is my form of procrastination. I actually will do something major like write a book, learn a foreign or programming language, build a new site because I am avoiding something. Either consciously or subconsciously I think, "Hey, look at this great achievement! I can now program in Java!" or "Hey, I now speak Spanish!" When in reality, I am avoiding working on my goal (which is to finish building the desktop version of Achieve-IT! software).
So why am I avoiding it? I ask myself that question many times every single day. The best answer I can provide is fear of being overwhelmed. Can you picture that? I am overwhelmed with fear of being overwhelmed. But it’s probably more a fear of success. The Pocket PC version of the software has changed people’s lives in many different ways. Some people have used it to quadruple their incomes, others have used it to cope with ADHD or lose 25 lbs. and countless other examples.
In the back of my mind I think with the exposure of a desktop version the number of clients will rise significantly. The unintended consequence is it may change my life! All the stuff that goes with a successful program such as travel, interviews, time away from my family!
The software itself is in good working condition, minus a few bells and whistles. I have a small group of testers who think it’s looking great. But still I’ve got a gremlin nagging me, saying it’s ok to put my work aside for now.
I’ve dipped into my reservoir of self-motivation for the entire software development process. Each day I psych myself up to program – early in the day I think I can probably do 4-5 hours of great coding. But most days I do only 1 hour. One hour is some progress, yes, but not what will take to get it done by my goal date: April 1 of this year.
If you were to come to me in the same predicament where you had all the ways and means to achieve your goal and asked me "Brad, what should I do?" My advise would be to tell your goal to as many people as you could. And admit that you just weren’t working on it. Tell the people you love and respect.
By doing this, you’d be increasing the cost of not doing it. Eventually people are going to ask you how much progress you are making. Do you like admitting you just didn’t do it? Neither do I. That’s why using the leverage of friends will cause the cost of procrastination to become greater than the cost of buckling down and just doing it.
So I am going to take my own advice. This is the last stop I am pulling out. I am burning my own bridges that lead to Excuseville. I am confessing to everyone reading that I haven’t done my very best. The tables are turned now. Knowing that you are out there and watching will keep me on my toes. I am putting it in high gear and will get it done. Finishing it will be much easier than writing another confession on April 1 that I just didn’t do it….
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{ 5 comments }
Insert “do homework” or “study” instead of “finishish desktop version of Achieve It!” and that is EXACTLY me. The Student Tablet PC is what I feed my procratination into. There’s hundreds of hours wrapped up in a little packed I call my website and say, “Cool! I have an awesome website that helps a lot of people!” but in realilty I know it’s all just because I don’t want to do homework or study.
I guess if you’re gonna procrastinate, the type of procrastination you and I have is the best kind…it’s just a tricky one to spot.
Tracy any thoughts on what may be contributing to putting off studying?
You do have a great site though! It’s like Jim Rohn said. “I am so good at procrastination, I can do it and it won’t even show.”
That’s exactly me man. You have to increase the cost of the procrastination so that it outweighs the cost of buckling down.
I won’t study for a professional certification exam UNTIL I schedule and pay for it. Then I know I HAVE to do it, or I forfeit all that money.
Good post.
Same here. This post resonates well. Telling others about our goals is definitely a good thing. Very brave to tell us all, its what people should be doing a lot more: expressing themselves, their hopes and fears. Good luck!
Hey, thanks for the support!