procrastination Archives - Page 2 of 3

EPISODE 143 – Productivity Over Procrastination

December 12, 2017 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT9M2EeCX5Y[/embedyt]

“Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientists can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.”
― Denis Waitley

Procrastination is one of the ways in which you could be delaying or avoiding your success. You may think of yourself as a procrastinator, and you are not alone. Everyone has procrastinated at one time or another, however, it does not mean you are a procrastinator. It means you are delaying or avoiding a task because it is not as pleasurable as something else you choose to do. Procrastination is a choice although it may seem unconscious at times.

There is a gap between the intention of what you say you want to accomplish and what actions you take. You may know some of these people, they talk but do not walk their talk. Take a look at your intentions and examine your WHY for doing things. Your WHY needs to be greater than your fear.

Why Do People Procrastinate?

There are many reasons that people choose procrastination over productivity.

“I am not in the mood.” OR “I don’t feel like it.”

Your thoughts and feelings, emotions, are drivers of the actions you will take. If you don’t feel like doing something or you are waiting for the right mood to hit, you could be waiting for awhile. You may need an attitude checkup. What is influencing how you feel right now? You may not feel like it now. Once you get started, you will change how you feel and your motivation will increase. You have probably heard of people who did not feel like going to the gym to workout but once they did they felt great and were inspired to continue. Sometimes you need to do things even if you don’t feel like it at the time especially when you know they will get you closer to achieving your goals.

“I do not know how.”

I have heard this way too many times. People stall success with this. This is where I tell people to turn their questions into their quest by finding the answers. We literally have a lot of the HOWs at our fingertips by doing an internet search and speaking with others. Some people refer to procrastination as laziness. It isn’t – it can mean that the task is not as important as they say it is or it is a form of avoidance due to a fear.

“I do not think I can do it.” OR “I am not good enough…(so why bother?)”

People avoid doing something they believe they cannot do for the fear of being seen as less than perfect or being embarrassed. Who cares? Isn’t better to learn and grow and get farther ahead? You do not know if something will work or not unless you make some efforts. You may even surprise yourself. Done is better than perfect. Aim for productivity over procrastination.

“It’s boring.” OR “I do not find it interesting.”

You may not find brushing your teeth interesting yet most people do it for their oral health. Every task is life may not be interesting but it leads us to where we want to go. Start putting your most important tasks at the start of the day…even when you find them boring. They can be the one thing that propels you forward to where you want to be.

“I will need to do it better next time…I do not think I can do it.”

Once people have had some level of achievement they can back off on the momentum they created because they have suddenly raised the bar of expectations. They think to themselves, “What if I cannot deliver the same quality again or exceed it?” This goes back to the fear of not enough. We can be our own worst critics and forget that we have control over the situation.

“I will not be forced to do something I do not want to do.”

We all have choices. This phrase reminds me of those who are getting in the way of their own success. They are determined to do things their way even though they have not been getting the results they want. They need to be open to exploring a different way of doing things. Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.” Are you truly being forced or are you resisting what could be getting you further ahead?

At the end of the day, you can choose productivity over procrastination because DONE is better than perfect. It gives you an opportunity to ask questions, make new decisions, and chart and adjust your course of action. Be the person who walks their talk. Set a timer. Eliminate the distractions preventing you from getting things done – turn off electronics, schedule breaks to check email and social media, and do your work where you are not distracted by other things to do. People often fill their day with low priority tasks which fill time. You get done whatever you allot your time to. When you are tempted to deliberately look for distractions to avoid a task, remember you WHY! What will be doing this activity do for me? Step toward your success!

What do you do to avoid procrastination?

“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone”
― Pablo Picasso

We would love to have you subscribe to the Success Secrets newsletter on my website at www.debrakasowski.com where you’re going to get my just release FREE e-book about the 21 Habits High Achievers Kick to Achieve Success. I would love to hear about this podcast has impacted your life. E-mail me at Debra@DebraKasowski.com. Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Woman Show where we talk about leadership, business, and human potential to help you live rich from the inside out. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Share it with Your Friends. Give us a 5-star rating!

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free e-book download today! www.debrakasowski.com

EPISODE 107 – Reasons for Failure

June 22, 2017 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill.

Recently, I went back to my old trusted and true resource of Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill after completing a podcast with Nicola Grace – The Mission Mentor. We were talking about how “you cannot afford to have a negative thought.” Our thoughts are so powerful and can speak to your future. As I was flipping the pages, I came across 31 Reasons for Failure. Now, if you have not read this book, you must. I am not going to go through all thirty-one, however, I do want to touch on some significant ones I have seen in my coaching practice and people I interact with daily. I have overcome some of these too.

No Defined Purpose or Aim. One of the reasons for failure is that there are individuals who lack clarity. They have no idea what they want to do or what they are here to do. Without clarity, they wonder aimlessly through life and have no direction and hence no drive.

Lack of Ambition. Strive to Get By. There are so many opportunities available to excel. Too many people put in just enough effort to get by and settle for mediocrity. They do not put in the extra effort required to get to the next level. Effort cannot be taught; it must come from within. They lack the drive to succeed. If this is you, you need to tap into the “why” you do what you do perhaps your why is not strong enough.

Lack of Education. When faced with a challenge, I have heard people say, “I can’t do that. I do not know enough.” Today with the internet you have no excuses and even before the internet you could find a way to learn what you needed to. There are free courses offered by distinguished teachers and education institutions offered online 24/7 through websites like Coursera and Udemy. Then there is Google, type in the question you are asking and get the answer at your finger tips in moments. If you need to take some courses professionally, then do so. You can also interview people who have the education you are lacking to learn more. Don’t forget the libraries are full of books that can support you. You can overcome a lack of education. You need to push yourself to do it.

Lack of Self-Discipline. In my work with Emotional Intelligence, this is a hot topic as self- awareness is the key to transformational change. If you want to improve in any area, first work to improve yourself and your habits. You cannot control other people. You can only control yourself. When you develop self-mastery, then you can focus on how you interact with others. The biggest area of control for self-discipline is reining in the negativity and shifting and reframing into a positive mindset.

Procrastination. Some people work well under pressure and they find that procrastination serves them. Procrastination can quickly lead to missed deadlines and opportunities. People will avoid assigning projects or task to you because you are not reliable. Underlying procrastination is the need to have everything just perfect. Perfectionists are often waiting for everything to be “just right” – the timing must be right, the right people must be in place, or the right environment must be set up. The timing with never be just right. You need to get started and adjust the course as you go; better resources will appear as you start on your journey.

Lack of Persistence. My friend and colleague Lori Raudnask has a book called, Persistence Pays. She talks about how you can get what you want in life if you persist. It is way too easy to quit at the first sign of defeat whether you have been rejected by a publisher or the bank or getting your first sale. You have not failed if you discover the lesson. The lesson of how to improve. Failure cannot exist if you keep taking intentional action and stay determined to succeed.

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas A. Edison

Indecisiveness. The inability to make a decision is making a decision. Opportunities only last so long before they are taken away. If you are unable to assess situations and information and decide, you will have your future determined by other others who do. You need to learn how to become more decisive. Being indecisive is not different than procrastinating and waiting for someone to rescue you or do the work for you. Get going – do the work and make the decision.

These are seven reasons for failure. There are several others. Think of the reasons you have failed in the past. What did you learn? What would you do differently now that you have learned this? Now that you have the awareness, there are no excuses! You need to take different actions to get different results.

We would love to have you subscribe to the Success Secrets newsletter on my website at www.debrakasowski.com where you’re going to get us free MP3 download 10 Surefire Strategies to Power Up Your Productivity and Performance. I would love to hear about this podcast has impacted your life. E-mail me at Debra@DebraKasowski.com. Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Woman Show where we talk about leadership, business, and human potential to help you live rich from the inside out. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Share it with Your Friends. Give us a 5-star rating!

Keywords: persistence, persistence pays, reasons for failure, Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich, getting what you want, procrastination

EPISODE 29: Quit Playing the Waiting Game

September 22, 2016 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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EPISODE 29: Quit Playing the Waiting Game

Are you waiting for the day that success come to you? Are you hoping for that perfect moment when everything in the world seems to align? Do you dream about having enough money for the right time to purchase a house or go after your dreams? Life is too short to play the waiting game. Many people are waiting on something: there waiting to hear for got the job, they’re waiting to see the proposal was accepted, or they may be waiting for a diagnosis. Some people are waiting for someone else to deliver their happiness. I have taken care of many patients in my nursing career to realize that if you want something you need to go after it. There is no perfect moment only in the moments of experiences you create. The right time is now for taking action. You can prepare and plan and adjust as you go because what you envision as that perfect moment may never come. The waiting game ends up being a trap. What are you waiting for?

We all face uncertainties and life has no guarantees. The only guarantee that I will guarantee you do that if you do nothing you get nothing. In today’s podcast of that address three areas in which I find that people are waiting:

Come rescue me. People are waiting for someone to come and rescue them or to give them an opportunity and because you are waiting you take no action. You may be waiting a long time. It is been my experience those people who are taking action and putting in the effort it is these people who get recognized and promoted were offered opportunities because they have showcased their skills talents and abilities and knowledge. They don’t wait-they take the initiative. This is what makes them stand out from the crowd.

Waiting for perfection. These people wait for everything to be just perfect. If you wait for everything to be perfect you may never take action. Perfection is another form of procrastination. It can delay projects and even missed deadlines. Excuses start to come up for reasons why you can’t meet expectations. It’s important to focus on your progress versus perfection. While you’re waiting for everything to be perfect, others can be taking action and surpassing you. Start focusing on your progress and each step that you take and you will build a momentum.

Waiting for the right time. Some say timing is everything. There often is no perfect time but we can create our own opportunities. Sometimes this can be a way of avoiding responsibility or accountability. The right time to take action is always now. Do your due diligence and minimize your risks. Move forward with intention.

Quit waiting for happiness to come to you. Quit waiting for the dream job to come to you. If you wait, you may be waiting a long time. Set some goals and work toward it. Nothing happens unless you take action.

Thanks for joining us on The Millionaire Woman Show today. I would love to hear how you have taken actions to make your goals become reality. E-mail me at Debra@DebraKasowski.com we would love to hear from you. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Give us a 5-star rating! Sign up for our Newsletter www.debrakasowski.com

Time: 6.49 min

Keywords: stop waiting for happiness, stop waiting for him, stop waiting for things to happen, waiting for success, waiting, quit waiting, playing the waiting game, perfection, procrastination, progress versus perfection, facing uncertainty, still waiting

10 Things You Need to Stop Doing in Order to Start Seeing Results

January 23, 2016 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

businessman showing Stop doing what doesn't work words underneath his shirt over blue sky

When people think about productivity and performance, they often think about how many items they accomplished and crossed off on their to-do lists. However, if your total focus is on what you should or could be doing, the list could be endless. It is easy to get caught up on the to do list but we fail to notice that if we spent more time stopping what we should not be doing we could increase our productivity, performance, and start seeing the results that we really want.

Start creating a Stop Doing List:

Stop being distracted by your cellphone; put it away. When you take time to put your distractions away and actively listening to what the other person is saying and paying attention to their body language you will start to pick up clues can learn so much more about the other person. This will help you ask better questions and strengthen relationships. Putting away your distractions allows you to do the work you know you need to get done like finishing a report, making a phone call to a client, or sending out that welcome package.
Stop talking about yourself and your role. Take time to find out more about your employees are your customers instead of focusing on yourself. You will learn more about their needs and their wants and how you can best serve them. People are not interested in you and what you role is and how great you are. They want to know what is in it for them – make the conversation about them.
Stop making rash or impulsive decisions. Feeling frustrated or angry? Step away from the situation get some fresh air. Gather more information. Separate the facts from your emotions. Take some time to assess and weigh your options. Give yourself a specific amount of time before you make a decision, hold a difficult conversation, or invest your money. For example, some people wait 24 hours before making a major purchasing decision. This time frame allows for them to think through their decision before making it final.
Stop blaming, complaining and making excuses. These behaviors are just the deflective mechanism for not taking full responsibility for one’s actions, behaviors, and life. You need to own what you do and what you say and take personal responsibility for what you can influence. When you avoid speaking up when you see a gap or something wrong in a plan, you must accept the consequences. If you want different results, you must speak up and provide information that may be necessary to get the results you need. Complaining does not solve anything; it allows you to vent. Action creates results. Excuses are just reasons why you’re not fully committed to what you said you wanted to do. Personal accountability starts with you committing to what you say you want to achieve and taking the actions necessary to make it happen.
Stop making assumptions and judgments. When you make assumptions and judgments, you are making them based on your own personal beliefs and experiences. You are painting everyone with the same brush. A better approach would be to come from a learner’s perspective and ask questions to gain more information. Start challenging the assumptions and judgments and discover if they are really true. You may find that some of those perceptions are totally off-base.
Stop making everything a competition where someone has to lose and someone has to win. You will gain greater strides when you start working with people than working against them. If someone is better at something than you are, ask questions and learn from them. Hone your own skills to be better. Leverage your strengths versus focusing on your weaknesses.
Stop putting off what needs to get done. You need to ensure that you are managing your priorities. Focus on where your greatest return on investment of your time, money, and resources come from. Work on what you need to get done first before answering e-mails that often request things of you.
Stop reacting and getting defensive to change. Change represents progress and movement. People often react and get defensive when they lack information and they make snap judgments. Get more information so that you can respond to a situation and communicate your needs and get what you want.
Stop putting in the last word. Everyone does not need your two cents about how great you are and how you are the only one who makes great decisions or is successful. You may be great but you don’t want your last words to linger making others feel poorly about themselves. When a conversation is closed, leave it at its highest point instead of ending with, “By the way…”
Stop making decisions that are not aligned with your values and what you say is important to you. Your life and where you are, are a product of all the decisions and choices you have made thus far. If you want different results, you need to start making different choices. Take time to figure out what is most important to you and ask yourself why you decide to do what you do. When you know your “why”, you will make better choices.

BONUS: Stop worrying about what other people think. Do you want to become what they think of you or what you think of yourself? Seeking other people’s approval is exhausting of your time and energy. Be yourself!

What you do on your to do list is just as important as what you need to stop doing. When you focus on what you need to stop doing, you will realize that you will tend to your priorities and start seeing your productivity, performance, and even profits start to grow. You are in control of your results.

What things can you add to the list?

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. She is a contributing writer for Diversity Magazine and Fabulous at 50 magazine. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. www.debrakasowski.com

Are You Punishing Yourself from Being Successful?

December 16, 2015 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

Sometimes fleeting thoughts can cause turmoil…

No one ever said that chasing your dreams would be a smooth ride. It is more like a roller-coaster full of ups and downs. Definitely not for the faint of heart but it can be exhausting to the point where you say “That’s it! I give up! If I shut everything down, everyone around me will either back off or be happier if I just stop all this nonsense.”

Before you do, I want you to stop for a minute. Let’s really think this through. Let’s say you do stop due to the pressure of your environment or the belief you have in yourself to make things happen. You may make the choice to do exactly that and accept a different routine as a new normal but eventually you will be miserable and potentially resentful for giving up on your dream or goal. Your unhappiness will overflow into all the other areas of your life: your decisions, the way you communicate with others, and your interpersonal relationships. If you try to please everyone else, you are suffocating your purpose and your passion. What are you teaching people around you? How is quitting going to serve you? Part of you will die.

There is a distinct difference between being no longer passionate about what you are doing and quitting because others do not want you to fail or they are worried about how you will change when you reach your goal. Take notice. Their fears have nothing to do with you! It is their stuff about how they feel about stepping out of their comfort zone and going after their dreams. People want you to succeed and they want to help but they also want to protect you from taking a risk and failing. The greatest thing about life’s failures is that you can get up, learn the lesson, try again or change things up. Surround yourself with people who believe, encourage, and support you and who would not ask you to quit.

You are sabotaging your own success when you step back or worse, stop taking action steps in order to calm the waters of other people’s fears, doubt, or criticism. The number one sign you could be sabotaging your own success is procrastination – basically, doing anything else more pleasurable other than what you need to be doing. Consistency is needed for success to be achieved. It is all the small action steps that set you up for achievement.

People may fall along the wayside for a short time or even longer. They may be caught up in a cycle of envy, unworthiness, or re-evaluation of their own lives. They may compare where they are to where you are. Their imagination could be running wild. They may have realized that they have settled or not challenged themselves or do not wish to do so. They may even think you no longer accept them as they are while you chase your goals. The funny thing is – we do not go after what we want to leave people behind. It is awfully lonely if we cannot share our successes with others.

Stop punishing yourself! Let the way you live inspire others. Recognize everyone is on their own journey. We do not have the same passions or purpose. Holding yourself back to please others does not serve any one. You have set the bar for yourself – do not lower it. Encourage others to raise their own standards of what they expect of themselves. You are not the judge – they are. The goals and dreams you are pursuing are YOURS and no one else’s. If you do not follow your passions and what you believe to be your purpose, we all lose. Punishing yourself to fit into the crowd serves no one.

Be the best version of yourself by being the person you know yourself to be. Your happiness will flood the hearts of all you interact with.

Please comment and share with others so they do not stop chasing their dreams.

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. She is a contributing writer for Diversity Magazine and Fabulous at 50 magazine. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. www.debrakasowski.com