December 3, 2024

We've all experienced this. The nosy neighbor. The co-worker or office-mate that prefers gossip more than work. The nagging pain in your back. These people or things just stand in the way. They stand in the way of how we feel, how we work, or how quickly it is to just take the trash out to the curb. Like mice in your home, they find a way in. Procrastination behaves the same.

But, there is something we can do that helps and slows down procrastination from popping up - action.

James Clear calls this the "two-minuter version" of what you want to do. And it works. Like a bully on the play-ground, we simply just have to stand up to it. In extreme cases, we might have to punch the bully in the face.

Our emphasis must be doing the work - the thing we need or want to do, even if just the "two-minute version." The research tells us and so does our trials - if we just start.

Which admittedly is the hardest part, of any endeavor.

We must stack one attempt on top of the last, but we must start. With enough attempts and days stacked on top of each other, that is where we are triumphant. Not in the outcome, but in the effort. With evidence of what you've done and can do.

Recently, we wrote about Jocko willink and his view on motivation - he sees it as an emotion, vulnerable to fluctuation.

I'd say confidence works the same. So what then? Get evidence.

By taking action, even small action, you start to gather evidence of what is possible and what you're capable of.

Your own potential. The great thing about evidence, is that it doesn't lie. The facts are cold and hard. This is precisely the evidence we use in the case against procrastination. And, when we’re focused and committed, the evidence collected is damning.