My clients often fall into one of the following categories: procrastinator or over-worker. Let’s dive into what these both mean, why falling into these categories is not a bad thing and how you can work to overcome them.
The Procrastinator:
These clients procrastinate WILDLY in taking the next steps in their life and business dreams and goals – despite deeply knowing that they want to take the next steps (and having the skills and drive to actually make it happen!).
The Over-worker:
These clients are deeply driven by purpose and passion, but often get so caught up in going for their dreams that they forget how important rest, white space and slowness are (just as much as all the DOING).
What they both have in common, is that they are often surprised when I share that neither of these are ‘good’ or ‘bad habits or traits!
The truth is that we are deeply socialised to be critical of going slow, taking pauses and ‘inaction’.
We are also deeply socialised and rewarded for ‘doing’ and achievement. To the point that we can feel if we are not ‘working hard’ and exhausted we will never reach our dreams and goals at all!
And so we often fall into one end of the spectrum of doing nothing, or doing ‘all the things’ as a way to try and cope with the fear, overwhelm of up-levelling – or just the busy pace of life.
BOTH ends leave us unable to take the next steps forward.
The truth is…
Most of us need frequent pauses, space and periods of ‘nothingness’ when things feel out of alignment or when we are up levelling (but with the constant reminders to be productive and to not be lazy – we forget that these moments are part of the process not a deviation from it)! We can also become stuck in all or nothing and forget the power or small and frequent steps forward.
Most of us also love the thrill of our work and taking inspired action (but with the constant reinforcement of that being such a good thing – we forget to balance it with rest, white space and play).
The ideal is to know and honour ourselves well enough to be able to move through both of these periods – rest AND action as they arise within ourselves and our work, and let them work their magic!
Where do you fall on the spectrum?
Do you feel you are at one of the extremes or do you ebb and flow between the two?
If you are a chronic procrastinator – you might like to check out my mini-course Overcoming Procrastination – It’s just $27 and it might just give you the powerful re-frame you need to step away from that internalised shame about why you can’t just ‘get it done’ and find a simple new way to work with it that feels deeply empowering. Here is what one participant shared about what shifted for her after going through it.
“Amanda’s style is so accessible and easy to engage with even for the biggest procrastinators out there! The videos are short, to the point, but packed with quality insights that I hadn’t thought about before. The best thing about this mini-course is how I’ll be able to take the techniques with me. I often forget to use the techniques in my toolkit when I’m in the moment experiencing any kind of stuckness, but Amanda has given a really great framework to think about procrastination that will stick with me.”
Kris Emery – Author of Destination Author and non-fiction editor, Kris Emery Editorial
Until next time,
Be kind to yourself and remember – It’s likely that right now you are exactly where you are meant to be in your journey!
