Did you know that 95% of people say they procrastinate. The other 5% haven't yet turned in their surveys! Ha! Ha!
It is WAY TOO EASY to put off a healthy lifestyle between Halloween and New Years by consoling yourself with the Day after New Years, Best New Diet, Plan. Why wait!
Wait = Weight! DON'T WAIT! DON'T WEIGHT!
Most people who are not natural procrastinators actually often procrastinate committing to exercise and weight management plans on a consistent routine. I wish I could say that I am not a procrastinator but since this post is 2 days late, I think that says it all. I REALLY have to push myself and keep myself SO highly accountable in order to really be motivated to get something done. But boy, oh boy, when I do, WATCH OUT! My Daddy has often said he has never seen anybody get anything done like I do WHEN I FINALLY get up my Gumption to do it. He's right! I can move it, like there's no tomorrow, when I decide to.
Even my boss who was teasing recently about me being a High Class Southern Hillbilly, affectionately complimented me saying, "...there's no doubt about it, when a Hillbilly makes up their mind to do something, they get it done. Things happen when a Hillbilly gets moving". So very true!
For example: Because procrastination comes easy for me about alot of things, alot of time, it was a REALLY BIG DEAL for me to reduce 335 lbs and stick with a healthy lifestyle program for 4 long and brutal years without giving up. I slammed it hard in the gym like Jillian Michaels, almost EVERY DAY for nearly a decade. No biggest Loser could have kept up with me. Seriously! Not even kidding!
So, to me it is the strangest thing to see people who are the "GIT ER DONE AND GIT ER DONE NOW" kind of personality, procrastinate in getting healthy or forming healthy habits. I would think those people would be the no-nonsense, YESTERDAY PEOPLE, who would easily tackle Health & Wellness like the rest of their To-Do lists. No hesitations, no resistance, no fooling around, no whining, no excuse making, no delays! CONSIDERED DONE ALREADY! Checked off the grand To-Do list and on to a different project while I am still lacing up my sneakers!
Yet, someone like me can do what those people have the toughest time doing. What is wrong with this picture! I have often marveled about that. It has intrigued me so much that I actually probed into it recently and learned what some experts say is the reason, psychologically speaking, behind us chronic procrastinators. See if you can relate.
University of Calgary Professor Piers Steel Ph.D., author of The Procrastination Equation has spent his career studying time management issues. He, a self-described reformed procrastinator, said "the act of dillydallying can be boiled down to three human traits:
- Confidence,
- Values and
- Impulsiveness (how susceptible he or she is to immediate delight).
[I can so relate to this. whether it be reading, surfing FB, tv, the phone, texting, music, coffee,] anything that feeds the pleasure centers of the brain.
It takes a lot of determinated focused and conscience effort to turn down instant pleasure and hold out for the delayed but deeper satisfaction that comes with completing a task that feels like work. Combine your innate impulsiveness with a society and environment full of promised quick and cheap thrills and you have the perfect setup for procrastination.
"The heart of procrastination is an adaptive natural tendency to value today much more than tomorrow," said Steel, That's why, he said, most people make New Year's resolutions in vain. In scientific terms, a person's intention alone is not enough to see anything through--a condition called "preference reversal." That means unless an individual has some knowledge of his or her motivational weaknesses and can create a plan to counteract them, those promises of losing weight or writing a novel will fall to the wayside, Steel said.
"Essentially, procrastinators have less confidence in themselves, less expectancy that they can actually complete a task," Steel said. "Perfectionism is not the culprit. In fact, perfectionists actually procrastinate less, but they worry about it more."
Paul Spector, professor of industrial organizational psychology at University of South Florida, said there are three ways of getting sidetracked:
- One is characteristic of people who simply have a hard time getting started on a project, or a classic procrastinator.
- Another deals with a person who gets started, but then gets bogged down in details, or a classic perfectionist.
- The last is the person who is distractible, i.e., the person who needs to workout, but decides to go-out when a friend calls.
Here's what I did to overcome procrastination when I finally got my mind made up to lose the weight and get in shape. I had to research myself. Professor Piers says "Research is Me-search". When I got to the bottom of What's Eating Me I was able to stop procrastination dead in it's tracks. It didn't happen overnight but it would have never happened if I hadn't made up my mind to get started and be fully committed.
After the car wrecks, the old procrastinator showed back up and has been an unwanted sidler ever since. You know what a sidler is? According to one of the Pastors at the church where I attend, A sidler is someone who every time you turn your head they are right there in your face. Too up close and personal. In your face. In your space. CREEPER!
I think a sidler can also be THINGS that attach themselves to us and are always there in our face, in our space. Holding us back. Keeping us in bondage. Things like PROCRASTINATION!
What will it take to get your attention! To get you motivated! To stop the procrastination?
It is said that we are motivated by two things; Pain or Pleasure. I can relate to that. When the pain got so bad, I stopped procrastinating and took action. It saved my life and set me free. Then the pleasure set in and I enjoyed feeling good and looking better so much so that I was whole-heartedly invested in maintaining the lifestyle and it became me.
Working out and eating healthy became my favorite things and I literally preached it 24/7 to anyone and everyone who would listen. It mattered not where I was or if the person was a total stranger. I couldn't help myself. The healthier I became and the happier I got, the more I wanted to share the good news with the entire world. I just couldn't keep it to myself. Besides, I had made a promise to the Lord that if He would help me, I would spend the rest of my life helping others, like me.
That is why I have been kicking and screaming and fighting within myself to get back to that place of no excuses, no nonsense, made up mind, dedication that no matter what NOTHING OR NOBODY IS GOING TO STOP ME FROM GETTING HEALTHY AND FIT AGAIN! I am getting there and my Gumption is coming back to me and I will be a force to be reckoned with, again, and I want the world to join with me and let's stop this procrastination madness and just get healthy and free from the bondages of procrastination. It is not the way to the land of Milk & Honey and I want nothing to do with it anymore! It does not serve us well. Procrastination is not our friend. So, I hope you will join me TODAY! Put an end to procrastination once and for all. We can do it. Especially if you have faith even as small as the seed of a grain of mustard. Now that is small faith. But just that teeney, tiny, amount of faith is enough to help us rise above our sidlers and take positive action, NOW!
Today is our day of Salvation! We have a purpose to fulfill. Milk & Honey is waiting for us!Let us go forth and Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy!
Blessings, HUGS, and LOVE,
Tina Maria ~
P.S. Remember to let me know if you want the chance to win a 50.00 IonPod Refillable Alkalizing Water Bottle. Winner will be randomly selected Friday Dec. 23rd. Post a note on FB, or a comment here on my BLOG, or send me a private email at TinaMariaAdams@gmail.com
To learn more about the IonPod Water Bottle, scroll down to the previous BLOG and you will see photos and info.
No comments:
Post a Comment