Procrastination. The dictionary defines it as: the action of delaying or postponing something; to put off till another day or time; defer; delay. In reality is shows up as a pain in the a** for entrepreneurs and budding business owners.

We have all of these great big ideas for our business, new ways to help clients, reach more people, help the world, etc…. and for most coaches I know CREATING and DREAMING up the  idea is the EASY part. The hard part is actually making it happen. Something stops us. Something gets in the way. We have a million different amazing ideas but most end up staying in our heads without action. This, my friends, is procrastination.

Procrastination shows  up in many different forms – doing chores, watching TV, surfing the web, Facebook, mindless tasks, organizing, working on the easy stuff  and nothing that actually will help you move forward in you biz. All things that keep you from doing the actual thing that will give you what you want.

The thing is YOU HAVE GREAT IDEAS. Imagine how things would be going for you if they all came through full fruition. The problem is you are getting stopped up somewhere. And to be honest, it can be scary all alone with a big idea. If feels expansive but almost TOO big for you to do on your own. You get overwhelmed and eventually give up, stop paying attention or move on to the next thing. But, do you know the best way to eat an elephant? ONE BITE AT A TIME (Creighton Abrams). 

The KEY is to take your big idea (and I believe you have a great one) and break it down into well thought out action oriented steps. Now this IS the hard part. It takes time, patience and practice. I have spent the past 10 years in self motivation and action oriented success and procrastination still gets in the way. But the thing to know about procrastination is that it is a sign of RESISTANCE. I found that the book “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield, explains resistance the best: “The more you love your art/calling/enterprise, the more important its accomplishment to the evolution of your soul, the more you will fear it and the more Resistance you will experience facing it.” This is hands down the truth and I have seen it every time my friends, colleagues and peers experience procrastination.

The good news is now you know.  This concept is brought to your consciousness.  Once you understand procrastination is a sign of resistance you can PUSH THROUGH that resistance because you know that you are on to something really big and beautiful. You just have to get to that other side.

So next time you experience or notice yourself procrastinating, re-evaluate. What do you need to do to stay on course and take inspired action forward. Even if it is a small bite from the big “elephant” idea, the key is to keep moving forward.

NOW YOU – how does procrastination show up in your life or business? Please leave a comment below, I would love to hear from you.