good morning believe nation today we’re
going to talk about why and how to
overcome procrastination let’s face it
you’re likely watching this video in an
effort to avoid some other tasks you’re
procrastinating to learn how to stop
procrastinating but the clock is ticking
so why can’t you seem to stop though the
psychological causes are still debated
there’s a human tendency to over or
underestimate the value of a reward
based on its temporal proximity this is
often referred to as temporal
discounting for example if I offered you
$100 today or 110 in a month most would
take the hundred and run but what if
instead I offered you $100 in a year or
110 in a year and one month suddenly you
might say to yourself if I can wait a
year
I can wait the extra month but the time
and value difference are the exact same
in each example it turns out that human
motivation is highly influenced by how
imminent the reward is perceived to be
meaning the further away the reward is
the more you discount its value this is
often referred to as present bias or
hyperbolic discounting so being on
Facebook reddit Twitter or YouTube is
more rewarding than a perfect score on
your test until temporal proximity
increases the value of a good mark on
your test and you cram all night on top
of this every time something enjoyable
happens you get a dose of dopamine which
modifies the neurons in your brain
making you more likely to repeat the
behavior the problem is video games or
browsing the Internet provide many small
quick and continuous rewards unlike your
term essay which is a one-time future
reward I’m stalling I am
I’m have a problem with procrastination
and I’m supposed to start the show and
I’m not
so this procrastination thing whenever
there’s something I’m supposed to do
I’ll do anything other than the one
thing that I’m supposed to do and then I
feel bad about myself and then I get
depressed and then I really don’t get
anything done because I’m depressed and
I told a friend of mine about this
problem and she said you should go to
therapy and I thought about it and I
thought well wait a minute why should I
pay a stranger to listen to me talk when
I can get strangers to pay listen to me
talk
so that’s when I came up with the idea
of touring and I thought now I have to
write a show so I thought what do I want
to say what do I want to talk about so I
sat down on my desk and I was staring at
my desk and I thought wow that’s dusty I
can’t write with my desk all dusty like
this so I went downstairs to get a rag
and on the way downstairs my kitten was
on the stairway playing with a piece of
dust or something and and I went to a
pet the kid because it did the thing
where they roll on their back and show
you the belly and you got to reward that
you can’t pass that up so I sat down I
was petting the cat for about I don’t
know 45 minutes something like that and
then I went downstairs and by that time
I’d forgotten why I went downstairs and
I was staring around trying to remember
and I thought I should paint this room I
wonder what color this is it looks like
a white but I’m sure there’s some fancy
name for it all these people what kind
of job is that to come up with a name
for paint colors you know all the
different color whites like eggshell or
linen or lily or off all the different
ones you know and I thought maybe yellow
you know canary or banana or smokers
teeth you know something that would be I
thought I’ve got a right so maybe if I
put music on it’d be more inspiring so I
went over to the cabinet where I keep
all my CDs you should have seen that
thing total disarray just oh everything
meatloaf was next to the cranberries
which I thought it’d be funny one night
to organize it by food when I was drunk
really nothing else was in there except
bread and just all kinds of weird like
the doors and the carpenters and Nine
Inch Nails were together and that
doesn’t help anything so um I thought
I’ve got to organize this I can’t put
this off and so I’m sitting in the
hundreds of CDs and the phone rang and
it was a friend of mine I said I can’t
talk I’m writing and so she said I can’t
believe you you’re so disciplined I have
such a problem with procrastination and
I said well we should go to lunch and
talk about that so we went to lunch and
we were talking about procrastination
and the waitress overheard us and she
said I have a problem with
procrastination too I said really get my
sandwich and so
but that’s when it hit me that’s what I
should talk about procrastination that’s
a problem everybody has that’s Universal
procrastination and then I said Oh Who
am I kidding I’m never going to get
around to writing about procrastination
and so my friend said that’s why I
brought this videotape if you watch this
guy he keeps you focused he keeps you on
track you’ll never procrastinate again
so about a week later I pop in the tape
I find that if you don’t press play
right away something’s on TV it took me
almost 10 years man to finish this book
for the first time I talked about this
book and you say ET how did it happen
how did you get to a place where you
stopped talking about it and you’re
completely right I wanna share this with
you I got tired right Karl can you go to
the book and just show them the chapter
to say enough is enough all right I want
I want to give the book before you get
the book but I just want to show you
because I want you to know I’m not just
talking about this because the TGIM I’m
writing the body because it’s my story
and so I got tired tired of what I got
tired of people asking me yo et where
you at with your book right and I’m
telling you I don’t know what happened
I’m gonna keep it real with you
I’d always write the book every year I
would start and I would go
chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 and for
some reason I couldn’t get past chapter
3 every single year alright so I picked
the book up I start boom chapter 1 I get
chapter 1 I get chapter 2 I get chapter
3 I set the book down alright all kind
of stuff happening you know sports I’m
playing video games I’m going to the
movies look all kind of stuff happening
right and then I finally got to a place
where I got to chapter 4 and then I
stopped and this year was the first year
that I said to myself
ét enough is enough right look
yesterday yesterday I made my last
excuse yesterday and I’m talking to
somebody the reason why you have not
become successful the reason why you are
not like a locomotive the reason why
you’re not having success in your life
is because every single day you got an
excuse I need you to do me a favor I
made my last excuse yesterday my last
reason I came up with my last reason
yesterday why I can’t do what I’m
supposed to do and so I need you to do
me a huge
favor all your excuses all your good
reasons everything every everything
that’s keeping you from doing what
you’re supposed to do I need you to put
it behind you and say yesterday was the
last day for that foolishness yesterday
was the last day to say I’ll have enough
money to do this I’ll have enough money
to go to school I’ll have enough money
to get a computer I don’t have what it
takes I’m not smart enough right I don’t
write well enough
I don’t sing well enough that’s why I
didn’t do my CD I didn’t write my book
cuz I’m not on that level listen to me
you better hear what I’m saying
yesterday was the last day that I want
to hear an excuse it’s over with
the magic of thinking big this was
recommended to me by one of the most
successful product designers and
licensors licensed ORS in the world
millions of dollars a year licensing the
people like Nestle coca-cola etc the
magic of thinking big so many people
procrastinate because their goals
blackballs
quite frankly their goals are just
uninspiring they’re they’re intended to
be realistic and therefore they don’t
motivate you to plow through or dodge
the inevitable hurdles and emotional
difficulty and ups and downs of your
face and the example that sometimes I
give is you know the trip to whatever
pick a city up no matter what I pick I’m
gonna insult somebody let’s say triple
city Cincinnati for the weekend or trip
to the Greek islands alright the trips
insanity might be more realistic in
terms of cost and logistics attainable
perhaps it’s more likely to get put off
in many cases because it’s simply
uninspired to most people Greek islands
alright you’ll you’ll put your head down
and just pipe through brick walls to get
to that or you’ll put up least with this
scrapes and bruises along the way so
number one is the magic think of it you
really need to up the ante in most cases
with what you’re aiming for to even
generate the willpower to do it and in
that case it’s not you that’s the
problem it’s the goal that you’ve ended
up thinking that’s the issue start
habitual izing or ritualizing or
systemizing or routine izing those
things that are the most important
things and start doing them every day at
the same time and what you’ll find is
that especially in the work arena in
business if you will make rituals and
routines out of the very high value
things in your life every day you’ll do
them at the same time automatically
because if you think about it you
already do the same things every day at
the same time automatically when we
procrastinate what we’re usually doing
is resisting doing something different
than we normally do right we have our
routines that we’re in we’re all
creatures of habit we like to do the
same things at around the same
times every day and when we’re
procrastinating what we’re doing is
going oh I don’t really want to do that
thing right now sometimes we don’t know
why we’re coming up with a bunch of
excuses it’s usually just because it’s
not a habit it’s not a routine it’s not
something that we do automatically every
day as an example I struggled for years
with trying to get my sleep and my
exercise and my diet all in shape well
that all changed when I built a simple
routine where I go to sleep at the same
time I wake up around the same time and
then I do my exercise first thing and
then I eat a healthy meal first thing
and then I just meet a routine out of
that so I go to sleep I get enough sleep
I wake up first thing that I do is I
make sure that I get my exercise and
then I have a healthy meal and now I’m
pulled into these routines every day and
I don’t have to worry about
procrastinating because it’s a ritual
it’s something that I do the same every
day now it takes 30 days or so to
actually create a new habit so you got
to force yourself to do it at the same
time every day at two to three weeks
you’ll notice it gets easier and easier
and then at about a month you’re just
doing the exact same thing every day
you’re pulled into it you find yourself
doing it automatically you’re my final
one you got to get sick and tired of
defeat aren’t you tired of getting beat
aren’t you tired of being on the losing
end I want you to know what it feels
like to finish something I can’t explain
to y’all my life has gone to a whole
other level when I finished that
four-year degree when I finished that
master’s degree when I finished my book
can I explain you how my life is changed
in just one month the fact that the
people know I’m finished with the bunk
I’m getting engagement that I never got
before I got companies calling me that
never called me before not because I
finished the book but because I finished
something they see me as a person that
follows through and I want you to know
what I used to field your feet it felt
bad but there’s a total different
feeling when you accomplish stuff you
got a different level of credibility
from people people see you different
people are willing to do things for you
that they’ve never done before a people
you have credibility that you never had
before
and so I encourage you I encourage you
follow through finish your history boy
et listen to me you heard
before I told you in the last episode
when my aunt died listen to me I just
buried my aunt all right I just buried
my aunt a couple days ago but sometimes
in life you got a more we got mr. Thomas
season for Hall but then you got to get
up your wife died get up you got a
divorce get up
you fail the test get up you got kicked
out of college on academic probation get
up get up right forget the past because
that’s exactly what it is the past
and make the rest of your life the best
of your life okay the fourth thing that
I personally did to be procrastination
and to achieve impossible things my most
meaningful goals was to create
distraction free environments now I want
to share two things with you I read that
recently Andre Agassi’s fantastic book
open and in open he talks about the fact
that when it comes to his tennis bag no
one touches it and when he was asked why
can’t anyone touch your tennis bag he
said because when there’s disorder in my
tennis bag there’s distraction in my
mind
similarly when there is disorder in your
workplace when there’s disorder in your
home when there’s disorder in your
physical environments when there’s too
much distraction you will not be focused
you will procrastinate and you will not
get big things done
I guess I’m suggesting to you is in your
work environments whatever those work
environments are if there are if there’s
distraction if there’s Facebook
notifications on if there’s mess all of
those things will allow you or encourage
you to procrastinate you’ll check your
facebook note feed you’ll check Twitter
if you give there’s papers around what
you’ll do is you’ll start picking up the
papers what you want to do as much as
possible what I personally did that was
really another game-changer was these
distraction free work environments even
when you read the fantastic Walter
Isaacson book Steve Jobs in the air he
talks about next that was the company he
went to after he was thrown out of Apple
and one of the first things he did when
he went to next he painted everything
white and they asked him like why is
every
white why is everything so perfect why
are there no distractions anywhere
there’s nothing on the walls even the
manufacturing facilities all-white pset
because I want to be able to think
really clearly I don’t want to be
distracted I want to get my most
important mission done so the forth idea
that worked for me I know to work for
you is distraction-free environment
clean out the distractions work alone as
much as possible get rid of the clutter
because mess creates stress it
diminishes your focus and it allows you
or encourages you to procrastinate we
give ourselves so many excuses you know
we always hear these excuses of why
aren’t people getting ahead and what
their major challenges are and how come
they haven’t started but I think my my
favorite my favorite excuses sort of
it’s the prettiest excuse that you ever
hear it’s that it’s I call it the
perfectionist lie you know it’s the
preciousness this a person says oh you
don’t understand I can’t get ahead in my
life because you know I’m a
perfectionist or Brendan I haven’t
completed that project because you don’t
understand I’m a perfectionist I care
about excellent so I have not completed
that yet and it’s just it’s just this
great vein sort of abstract lie where
people blame their personality right
it’s like I’m a perfectionist so I can’t
get it done I just think that is the
most beautiful little lie because
they’re really if a perfectionist was
honest with themselves at least they’d
be precise they’d be able to say you
know what I have not started or
completed that thing because I am unsure
or I am distracted right that’s really
the truth they’re unsure of what to do
so they don’t begin or they’re
distracted
so they don’t complete or even if they
do complete and they don’t ultimately
share that thing or ship that thing then
the perfection the challenge there is
really just fear of judgment fear of
rejection and at some point we have to
be mature and honest with ourselves and
stop saying well it’s because I’m so
perfect that this isn’t done and saying
actually maybe it’s because I’m a lazy
ass or maybe it’s because I’m letting
the world distract me and rip me away
from my passions and my day because
I haven’t taken control over my time I
haven’t taken control over the
responsibilities I have and arrange them
so I can focus on my real passions my
real desires my real dreams you know at
some point we just have to be conscious
enough to say oh wow
I’m not moving forward because I’m
scared I haven’t completed this because
I’m distracted and realizing that that
that scaring feeling that that fear of
rejection or failure it’s not going to
go away and it’s not supposed to there’s
some big ideological belief out there
that we’re never supposed to feel fear
the time that we finally fear no fear we
can go ahead and crush it in the world
the fear is not going away it’s always
going to be there I’ve been backstage
about to go out in front of the
thousands and thousands of people
terrified out of my brains if I sat back
there and waited until I was super
strong and perfect uncertain to go out
on stage I’ve never be able to serve you
know you hear from the great rock stars
the great public figures the great
people who’ve moved the needle of the
world they were terrified they were
scared but they didn’t stop even with
the failure even with the failure on
their mind even with the fear in their
body that impulse running they did it
anywhere because they used their higher
conscious their higher desire to serve
and they let that what if instead of
being overwhelmed by fear
we became overwhelmed by our sense of
faith why we let our itself overwhelm
ourselves and say yes the fear is there
but I’m going to proceed anyway because
I can make my difference you know what
if instead of getting distracted and
keep blaming our distractions on
perfection we actually said you know
what I’m always going to be distracted
there’s always going to be some new
thing in the world some new
responsibilities some new whim or want
of the people around me to pull me from
my very sense of freedom and happiness
and joy in life my very progress I’m not
going to compromise my day to serve
everybody else in a way in which I can’t
at least complete the things that are
meaningful to me you know we at some
point have to take ownership of our
lives and realize no it’s not because
we’re pretty and we’re perfect is
because we are scared and our lives are
messy and we haven’t got a control of it
yet so this day let’s start that let’s
be ok with the fear let’s be okay with
the fact that everything’s gonna be
messy but at least begin at least
complete it because you know what
nothing is perfected anyway until it’s
completed right first it has to be
completed then we can tinker and tweak
it and perfect it a lot of our major
brands and the major tools and
technologies they release things they
complete things they release them as
beta then they perfect them get them
better and better and better and better
but at least they released at least they
completed at least they started serving
and getting their things in the market
place so let’s do that let’s get to work
today
let’s stop fooling ourselves and saying
oh well it’s just got to be so perfect
so I’m not going to begin because you
don’t understand Brennan I have to have
I have to have things perfect because
that’s just important to me you know
what how about you haven’t done how much
you have them out there how about you
have them serving people how about you
have the difference being made even if
it’s not cold right then get it right
and more right and more right and more
right after you complete it this is the
time to complete those projects you’ve
been waiting on don’t fear them get them
done don’t be distracted by everybody
else’s thing manage your time better
take back control get your stuff out
there and you’ll see the difference you
can make in the world thank you guys so
much for watching I made this video
believe life because one of you asked me
to
and I can’t see who it is because I did
not I did not download my notebook on
Evernote so whoever it was thank you so
much if you have a request for the next
edition of the leap life leave it in the
comments below and I’ll see what I can
do and we want to know what’s the
biggest thing you’ve ever
procrastinating on I like it leave it in
the comments below and we’ll join in the
discussion thank you guys so much for
watching have an amazing day we tend to
believe and we’ll see you soon
the first thing to do to stop
procrastinating is to stop trying to do
things that don’t matter they stop
trying to get yourself to do things that
you know you’re never going to do anyway
give yourself permission to cross off
the list all the stuff you’re never
going to do anyway this just like dumps
a mental load off your brain you feel
lighter you feel like oh right exactly
I’m never going to do that anyway so why
was I even thinking about it so first
thing get it off your list the last
thing I’ll say is set your bar this
seems almost the antithesis of the goal
recommendation that’s not macro level
you have a big goal micro level on let’s
say a daily basis you need a small goal
IBM sales people killed everyone in the
industry for ages and part of the reason
was their quotas were set very very low
which meant they were not intended to
pick up the phone and make calls because
they knew they were almost new with 100%
certainty that they would hit their
quota
it was counterintuitive but also one of
the most successful ghostwriters I know
he’s written 60 bucks I mean how how the
hell do you do that he is prolific and
super consistent and I asked him how he
done that is said to shitty pages that
is my quota every day I have to write to
shitty pages that’s it if I write to she
did with pages that day as a will so you
need to set that bar very low or you
won’t get started if you then exceed
that let’s say two pages well then you
can end up with a like it or hate it a
book like the 4-hour body which is 577
pages after cutting 150 so even for the
biggest you need to have small goals on
a micro daily basis so that you are not
inhibited from taking action the third
way that I be procrastination is through
the power of exercise now you may have
heard me talk about exercise before but
this is a little different and I want to
show you something sort of an acronym
the third way that I beat
procrastination is a second wind workout
2ww is the
here’s the idea the latest research is
actually revealing that when we exercise
we actually rewire the way our brains
work we create massive resistance
against chronic stress we release
endorphins when we exercise we release
norepinephrine we release dopamine and
we release serotonin what does that mean
to you it means that when you exercise
not only in the morning but a second
wind workout so workout for 20 minutes
or 30 minutes first thing in the morning
okay and then what you do is around 4 or
5 o’clock this is an incredible strategy
that really changed the game for you
around 4 o’clock or 5 o’clock or 6
o’clock
you go for another 30-minute workout and
here’s the primary principle it’s really
this exercise is one of the best
productivity tools or peak performance
tools known to humankind so if you go
for that second wind workout you’ll
release all the endorphins you start
feeling very strong you jumpstart your
metabolic rate you find you almost get
an extra day every day because in the
evening you’re full of energy you’re
full of focus there was actually a study
that was done at University of Toronto
two groups of people one exercise one
group didn’t the group that exercised
actually had more focused better
learning powers and stronger memory than
the non exercisers so the point is take
a second win workout every single day
and it will dramatically improve the way
that you beat no destroying
procrastination
going to talk about why and how to
overcome procrastination let’s face it
you’re likely watching this video in an
effort to avoid some other tasks you’re
procrastinating to learn how to stop
procrastinating but the clock is ticking
so why can’t you seem to stop though the
psychological causes are still debated
there’s a human tendency to over or
underestimate the value of a reward
based on its temporal proximity this is
often referred to as temporal
discounting for example if I offered you
$100 today or 110 in a month most would
take the hundred and run but what if
instead I offered you $100 in a year or
110 in a year and one month suddenly you
might say to yourself if I can wait a
year
I can wait the extra month but the time
and value difference are the exact same
in each example it turns out that human
motivation is highly influenced by how
imminent the reward is perceived to be
meaning the further away the reward is
the more you discount its value this is
often referred to as present bias or
hyperbolic discounting so being on
Facebook reddit Twitter or YouTube is
more rewarding than a perfect score on
your test until temporal proximity
increases the value of a good mark on
your test and you cram all night on top
of this every time something enjoyable
happens you get a dose of dopamine which
modifies the neurons in your brain
making you more likely to repeat the
behavior the problem is video games or
browsing the Internet provide many small
quick and continuous rewards unlike your
term essay which is a one-time future
reward I’m stalling I am
I’m have a problem with procrastination
and I’m supposed to start the show and
I’m not
so this procrastination thing whenever
there’s something I’m supposed to do
I’ll do anything other than the one
thing that I’m supposed to do and then I
feel bad about myself and then I get
depressed and then I really don’t get
anything done because I’m depressed and
I told a friend of mine about this
problem and she said you should go to
therapy and I thought about it and I
thought well wait a minute why should I
pay a stranger to listen to me talk when
I can get strangers to pay listen to me
talk
so that’s when I came up with the idea
of touring and I thought now I have to
write a show so I thought what do I want
to say what do I want to talk about so I
sat down on my desk and I was staring at
my desk and I thought wow that’s dusty I
can’t write with my desk all dusty like
this so I went downstairs to get a rag
and on the way downstairs my kitten was
on the stairway playing with a piece of
dust or something and and I went to a
pet the kid because it did the thing
where they roll on their back and show
you the belly and you got to reward that
you can’t pass that up so I sat down I
was petting the cat for about I don’t
know 45 minutes something like that and
then I went downstairs and by that time
I’d forgotten why I went downstairs and
I was staring around trying to remember
and I thought I should paint this room I
wonder what color this is it looks like
a white but I’m sure there’s some fancy
name for it all these people what kind
of job is that to come up with a name
for paint colors you know all the
different color whites like eggshell or
linen or lily or off all the different
ones you know and I thought maybe yellow
you know canary or banana or smokers
teeth you know something that would be I
thought I’ve got a right so maybe if I
put music on it’d be more inspiring so I
went over to the cabinet where I keep
all my CDs you should have seen that
thing total disarray just oh everything
meatloaf was next to the cranberries
which I thought it’d be funny one night
to organize it by food when I was drunk
really nothing else was in there except
bread and just all kinds of weird like
the doors and the carpenters and Nine
Inch Nails were together and that
doesn’t help anything so um I thought
I’ve got to organize this I can’t put
this off and so I’m sitting in the
hundreds of CDs and the phone rang and
it was a friend of mine I said I can’t
talk I’m writing and so she said I can’t
believe you you’re so disciplined I have
such a problem with procrastination and
I said well we should go to lunch and
talk about that so we went to lunch and
we were talking about procrastination
and the waitress overheard us and she
said I have a problem with
procrastination too I said really get my
sandwich and so
but that’s when it hit me that’s what I
should talk about procrastination that’s
a problem everybody has that’s Universal
procrastination and then I said Oh Who
am I kidding I’m never going to get
around to writing about procrastination
and so my friend said that’s why I
brought this videotape if you watch this
guy he keeps you focused he keeps you on
track you’ll never procrastinate again
so about a week later I pop in the tape
I find that if you don’t press play
right away something’s on TV it took me
almost 10 years man to finish this book
for the first time I talked about this
book and you say ET how did it happen
how did you get to a place where you
stopped talking about it and you’re
completely right I wanna share this with
you I got tired right Karl can you go to
the book and just show them the chapter
to say enough is enough all right I want
I want to give the book before you get
the book but I just want to show you
because I want you to know I’m not just
talking about this because the TGIM I’m
writing the body because it’s my story
and so I got tired tired of what I got
tired of people asking me yo et where
you at with your book right and I’m
telling you I don’t know what happened
I’m gonna keep it real with you
I’d always write the book every year I
would start and I would go
chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 and for
some reason I couldn’t get past chapter
3 every single year alright so I picked
the book up I start boom chapter 1 I get
chapter 1 I get chapter 2 I get chapter
3 I set the book down alright all kind
of stuff happening you know sports I’m
playing video games I’m going to the
movies look all kind of stuff happening
right and then I finally got to a place
where I got to chapter 4 and then I
stopped and this year was the first year
that I said to myself
ét enough is enough right look
yesterday yesterday I made my last
excuse yesterday and I’m talking to
somebody the reason why you have not
become successful the reason why you are
not like a locomotive the reason why
you’re not having success in your life
is because every single day you got an
excuse I need you to do me a favor I
made my last excuse yesterday my last
reason I came up with my last reason
yesterday why I can’t do what I’m
supposed to do and so I need you to do
me a huge
favor all your excuses all your good
reasons everything every everything
that’s keeping you from doing what
you’re supposed to do I need you to put
it behind you and say yesterday was the
last day for that foolishness yesterday
was the last day to say I’ll have enough
money to do this I’ll have enough money
to go to school I’ll have enough money
to get a computer I don’t have what it
takes I’m not smart enough right I don’t
write well enough
I don’t sing well enough that’s why I
didn’t do my CD I didn’t write my book
cuz I’m not on that level listen to me
you better hear what I’m saying
yesterday was the last day that I want
to hear an excuse it’s over with
the magic of thinking big this was
recommended to me by one of the most
successful product designers and
licensors licensed ORS in the world
millions of dollars a year licensing the
people like Nestle coca-cola etc the
magic of thinking big so many people
procrastinate because their goals
blackballs
quite frankly their goals are just
uninspiring they’re they’re intended to
be realistic and therefore they don’t
motivate you to plow through or dodge
the inevitable hurdles and emotional
difficulty and ups and downs of your
face and the example that sometimes I
give is you know the trip to whatever
pick a city up no matter what I pick I’m
gonna insult somebody let’s say triple
city Cincinnati for the weekend or trip
to the Greek islands alright the trips
insanity might be more realistic in
terms of cost and logistics attainable
perhaps it’s more likely to get put off
in many cases because it’s simply
uninspired to most people Greek islands
alright you’ll you’ll put your head down
and just pipe through brick walls to get
to that or you’ll put up least with this
scrapes and bruises along the way so
number one is the magic think of it you
really need to up the ante in most cases
with what you’re aiming for to even
generate the willpower to do it and in
that case it’s not you that’s the
problem it’s the goal that you’ve ended
up thinking that’s the issue start
habitual izing or ritualizing or
systemizing or routine izing those
things that are the most important
things and start doing them every day at
the same time and what you’ll find is
that especially in the work arena in
business if you will make rituals and
routines out of the very high value
things in your life every day you’ll do
them at the same time automatically
because if you think about it you
already do the same things every day at
the same time automatically when we
procrastinate what we’re usually doing
is resisting doing something different
than we normally do right we have our
routines that we’re in we’re all
creatures of habit we like to do the
same things at around the same
times every day and when we’re
procrastinating what we’re doing is
going oh I don’t really want to do that
thing right now sometimes we don’t know
why we’re coming up with a bunch of
excuses it’s usually just because it’s
not a habit it’s not a routine it’s not
something that we do automatically every
day as an example I struggled for years
with trying to get my sleep and my
exercise and my diet all in shape well
that all changed when I built a simple
routine where I go to sleep at the same
time I wake up around the same time and
then I do my exercise first thing and
then I eat a healthy meal first thing
and then I just meet a routine out of
that so I go to sleep I get enough sleep
I wake up first thing that I do is I
make sure that I get my exercise and
then I have a healthy meal and now I’m
pulled into these routines every day and
I don’t have to worry about
procrastinating because it’s a ritual
it’s something that I do the same every
day now it takes 30 days or so to
actually create a new habit so you got
to force yourself to do it at the same
time every day at two to three weeks
you’ll notice it gets easier and easier
and then at about a month you’re just
doing the exact same thing every day
you’re pulled into it you find yourself
doing it automatically you’re my final
one you got to get sick and tired of
defeat aren’t you tired of getting beat
aren’t you tired of being on the losing
end I want you to know what it feels
like to finish something I can’t explain
to y’all my life has gone to a whole
other level when I finished that
four-year degree when I finished that
master’s degree when I finished my book
can I explain you how my life is changed
in just one month the fact that the
people know I’m finished with the bunk
I’m getting engagement that I never got
before I got companies calling me that
never called me before not because I
finished the book but because I finished
something they see me as a person that
follows through and I want you to know
what I used to field your feet it felt
bad but there’s a total different
feeling when you accomplish stuff you
got a different level of credibility
from people people see you different
people are willing to do things for you
that they’ve never done before a people
you have credibility that you never had
before
and so I encourage you I encourage you
follow through finish your history boy
et listen to me you heard
before I told you in the last episode
when my aunt died listen to me I just
buried my aunt all right I just buried
my aunt a couple days ago but sometimes
in life you got a more we got mr. Thomas
season for Hall but then you got to get
up your wife died get up you got a
divorce get up
you fail the test get up you got kicked
out of college on academic probation get
up get up right forget the past because
that’s exactly what it is the past
and make the rest of your life the best
of your life okay the fourth thing that
I personally did to be procrastination
and to achieve impossible things my most
meaningful goals was to create
distraction free environments now I want
to share two things with you I read that
recently Andre Agassi’s fantastic book
open and in open he talks about the fact
that when it comes to his tennis bag no
one touches it and when he was asked why
can’t anyone touch your tennis bag he
said because when there’s disorder in my
tennis bag there’s distraction in my
mind
similarly when there is disorder in your
workplace when there’s disorder in your
home when there’s disorder in your
physical environments when there’s too
much distraction you will not be focused
you will procrastinate and you will not
get big things done
I guess I’m suggesting to you is in your
work environments whatever those work
environments are if there are if there’s
distraction if there’s Facebook
notifications on if there’s mess all of
those things will allow you or encourage
you to procrastinate you’ll check your
facebook note feed you’ll check Twitter
if you give there’s papers around what
you’ll do is you’ll start picking up the
papers what you want to do as much as
possible what I personally did that was
really another game-changer was these
distraction free work environments even
when you read the fantastic Walter
Isaacson book Steve Jobs in the air he
talks about next that was the company he
went to after he was thrown out of Apple
and one of the first things he did when
he went to next he painted everything
white and they asked him like why is
every
white why is everything so perfect why
are there no distractions anywhere
there’s nothing on the walls even the
manufacturing facilities all-white pset
because I want to be able to think
really clearly I don’t want to be
distracted I want to get my most
important mission done so the forth idea
that worked for me I know to work for
you is distraction-free environment
clean out the distractions work alone as
much as possible get rid of the clutter
because mess creates stress it
diminishes your focus and it allows you
or encourages you to procrastinate we
give ourselves so many excuses you know
we always hear these excuses of why
aren’t people getting ahead and what
their major challenges are and how come
they haven’t started but I think my my
favorite my favorite excuses sort of
it’s the prettiest excuse that you ever
hear it’s that it’s I call it the
perfectionist lie you know it’s the
preciousness this a person says oh you
don’t understand I can’t get ahead in my
life because you know I’m a
perfectionist or Brendan I haven’t
completed that project because you don’t
understand I’m a perfectionist I care
about excellent so I have not completed
that yet and it’s just it’s just this
great vein sort of abstract lie where
people blame their personality right
it’s like I’m a perfectionist so I can’t
get it done I just think that is the
most beautiful little lie because
they’re really if a perfectionist was
honest with themselves at least they’d
be precise they’d be able to say you
know what I have not started or
completed that thing because I am unsure
or I am distracted right that’s really
the truth they’re unsure of what to do
so they don’t begin or they’re
distracted
so they don’t complete or even if they
do complete and they don’t ultimately
share that thing or ship that thing then
the perfection the challenge there is
really just fear of judgment fear of
rejection and at some point we have to
be mature and honest with ourselves and
stop saying well it’s because I’m so
perfect that this isn’t done and saying
actually maybe it’s because I’m a lazy
ass or maybe it’s because I’m letting
the world distract me and rip me away
from my passions and my day because
I haven’t taken control over my time I
haven’t taken control over the
responsibilities I have and arrange them
so I can focus on my real passions my
real desires my real dreams you know at
some point we just have to be conscious
enough to say oh wow
I’m not moving forward because I’m
scared I haven’t completed this because
I’m distracted and realizing that that
that scaring feeling that that fear of
rejection or failure it’s not going to
go away and it’s not supposed to there’s
some big ideological belief out there
that we’re never supposed to feel fear
the time that we finally fear no fear we
can go ahead and crush it in the world
the fear is not going away it’s always
going to be there I’ve been backstage
about to go out in front of the
thousands and thousands of people
terrified out of my brains if I sat back
there and waited until I was super
strong and perfect uncertain to go out
on stage I’ve never be able to serve you
know you hear from the great rock stars
the great public figures the great
people who’ve moved the needle of the
world they were terrified they were
scared but they didn’t stop even with
the failure even with the failure on
their mind even with the fear in their
body that impulse running they did it
anywhere because they used their higher
conscious their higher desire to serve
and they let that what if instead of
being overwhelmed by fear
we became overwhelmed by our sense of
faith why we let our itself overwhelm
ourselves and say yes the fear is there
but I’m going to proceed anyway because
I can make my difference you know what
if instead of getting distracted and
keep blaming our distractions on
perfection we actually said you know
what I’m always going to be distracted
there’s always going to be some new
thing in the world some new
responsibilities some new whim or want
of the people around me to pull me from
my very sense of freedom and happiness
and joy in life my very progress I’m not
going to compromise my day to serve
everybody else in a way in which I can’t
at least complete the things that are
meaningful to me you know we at some
point have to take ownership of our
lives and realize no it’s not because
we’re pretty and we’re perfect is
because we are scared and our lives are
messy and we haven’t got a control of it
yet so this day let’s start that let’s
be ok with the fear let’s be okay with
the fact that everything’s gonna be
messy but at least begin at least
complete it because you know what
nothing is perfected anyway until it’s
completed right first it has to be
completed then we can tinker and tweak
it and perfect it a lot of our major
brands and the major tools and
technologies they release things they
complete things they release them as
beta then they perfect them get them
better and better and better and better
but at least they released at least they
completed at least they started serving
and getting their things in the market
place so let’s do that let’s get to work
today
let’s stop fooling ourselves and saying
oh well it’s just got to be so perfect
so I’m not going to begin because you
don’t understand Brennan I have to have
I have to have things perfect because
that’s just important to me you know
what how about you haven’t done how much
you have them out there how about you
have them serving people how about you
have the difference being made even if
it’s not cold right then get it right
and more right and more right and more
right after you complete it this is the
time to complete those projects you’ve
been waiting on don’t fear them get them
done don’t be distracted by everybody
else’s thing manage your time better
take back control get your stuff out
there and you’ll see the difference you
can make in the world thank you guys so
much for watching I made this video
believe life because one of you asked me
to
and I can’t see who it is because I did
not I did not download my notebook on
Evernote so whoever it was thank you so
much if you have a request for the next
edition of the leap life leave it in the
comments below and I’ll see what I can
do and we want to know what’s the
biggest thing you’ve ever
procrastinating on I like it leave it in
the comments below and we’ll join in the
discussion thank you guys so much for
watching have an amazing day we tend to
believe and we’ll see you soon
the first thing to do to stop
procrastinating is to stop trying to do
things that don’t matter they stop
trying to get yourself to do things that
you know you’re never going to do anyway
give yourself permission to cross off
the list all the stuff you’re never
going to do anyway this just like dumps
a mental load off your brain you feel
lighter you feel like oh right exactly
I’m never going to do that anyway so why
was I even thinking about it so first
thing get it off your list the last
thing I’ll say is set your bar this
seems almost the antithesis of the goal
recommendation that’s not macro level
you have a big goal micro level on let’s
say a daily basis you need a small goal
IBM sales people killed everyone in the
industry for ages and part of the reason
was their quotas were set very very low
which meant they were not intended to
pick up the phone and make calls because
they knew they were almost new with 100%
certainty that they would hit their
quota
it was counterintuitive but also one of
the most successful ghostwriters I know
he’s written 60 bucks I mean how how the
hell do you do that he is prolific and
super consistent and I asked him how he
done that is said to shitty pages that
is my quota every day I have to write to
shitty pages that’s it if I write to she
did with pages that day as a will so you
need to set that bar very low or you
won’t get started if you then exceed
that let’s say two pages well then you
can end up with a like it or hate it a
book like the 4-hour body which is 577
pages after cutting 150 so even for the
biggest you need to have small goals on
a micro daily basis so that you are not
inhibited from taking action the third
way that I be procrastination is through
the power of exercise now you may have
heard me talk about exercise before but
this is a little different and I want to
show you something sort of an acronym
the third way that I beat
procrastination is a second wind workout
2ww is the
here’s the idea the latest research is
actually revealing that when we exercise
we actually rewire the way our brains
work we create massive resistance
against chronic stress we release
endorphins when we exercise we release
norepinephrine we release dopamine and
we release serotonin what does that mean
to you it means that when you exercise
not only in the morning but a second
wind workout so workout for 20 minutes
or 30 minutes first thing in the morning
okay and then what you do is around 4 or
5 o’clock this is an incredible strategy
that really changed the game for you
around 4 o’clock or 5 o’clock or 6
o’clock
you go for another 30-minute workout and
here’s the primary principle it’s really
this exercise is one of the best
productivity tools or peak performance
tools known to humankind so if you go
for that second wind workout you’ll
release all the endorphins you start
feeling very strong you jumpstart your
metabolic rate you find you almost get
an extra day every day because in the
evening you’re full of energy you’re
full of focus there was actually a study
that was done at University of Toronto
two groups of people one exercise one
group didn’t the group that exercised
actually had more focused better
learning powers and stronger memory than
the non exercisers so the point is take
a second win workout every single day
and it will dramatically improve the way
that you beat no destroying
procrastination
Please follow and like us: