good morning everyone
you can talk back to me I actually need
it
I feed off of the audience so feel free
to answer my questions is I want this to
be interactive thank you so much for
coming out this morning I’m so excited
to be here I need to know that people
here can relate
you see I hold the most gold medals in
the Olympic sport of procrastination yes
I do yes I do
and I know I’m not alone I don’t have
some Olympic team members here so I need
to know who is the silver medalist here
yes I see the silver medal in the bag
but a lot of you are came close
what about bronze where’s my bronze
medal people I know there’s some bronze
medal people here come on okay all right
okay so I can tell you that fear
procrastination is fear personified and
every single one of us who has
procrastinated I know that we clapped it
was funny in the previous slide but the
truth is we do it every day and all of
us procrastinators professional
procrastinators if you’re an adult you
have at least a master’s degree in
procrastination and you can think this
fear thing this like this bear that lies
to you it tries to protect you it says
that it’s protecting you fear is a
procrastination personified it tells you
hey don’t do that thing it’s too scary
Chan that spoke this morning about
stories and fear is really successful in
convincing you that it’s keeping you
safe and so the truth is none of us are
going to have to face a bear in real
life if you were facing a bear then fear
would be justified and dumping
adrenaline into your bloodstream and
making you run at speeds that you
thought were not humanly possible to get
away and I would suggest to you that if
you do see a bear you do run like this
guy because that’s really
but most of us do not don’t ever have to
face a bear in real life most of us just
procrastinate we use procrastination as
our preferred method to postpone what we
need to do where we want to go in life
and so if we look at this slide I’m
gonna speak from personal experience
because I don’t want to judge anyone
here I said I was the gold medalist so
I’ll speak about myself one of the
things that you need to do that is key
is a key component in procrastinating is
you need to separate yourself you need
to go to solid territory if you look I’m
sorry if you look at the slide and you
look at the green at the top solid
territory is where you go to be alone
when you’re there you don’t tell anyone
about your dreams you don’t tell anyone
about your hopes you don’t need to
you’re just alone so no one can keep you
accountable
no one can remind you hey you remember
you said you were going to go to college
or hey you remember you said you were
going to do this or that
so it’s necessary for you to go to
solitary Ettore so that you can then
continue your range of excuses because
that’s what they are they sound really
good these stories that you tell
yourself but they’re really excuses and
then you know if you’re like me then you
go to snack sector I have a closet full
of clothes that will testify that I
spent too much time and snack center and
then you wake up from your snack and you
go to NAPLAN door you know you finish
your snack you go to NAPLAN you go back
and forth but Surfside is the favorite
place for people to live because right
so I’m from Puerto Rico we have
beautiful beaches there like you do here
and I live in Florida and I live in
Houston I just love being near the water
and any time you’re near the water the
views are beautiful it’s Surfside but
when you go to surf side when you’re
living in the procrastination you’re
looking at YouTube videos you’re on
Facebook you’re wanting to know the
latest gossip you’re sliding into
someone’s DM on Instagram or they’re
sliding into your day
but the truth is and you may even watch
the most amazing TED Talks they’re so
inspirational and you’re like yes after
you finish the video you might even post
something positive on Facebook because
you know you’re like the positive
Facebook philosopher you man you live
the most positive life on Facebook don’t
you and but then you go to the Isle of
I’ll get it done and it’s a cycle and if
your life were a GPS device it would be
saying recalculating it would try to
recalculate you so that you can get back
on course to that place where you are
achieving your dreams and the place
where you’re achieving your dreams
sometimes seems impossible to you why
because no one else in your family has
achieved such a thing you don’t have any
friends that went to college no one in
your family went to college your mom is
not a college graduate neither is your
dad you know you want to be a pilot or a
lawyer or a doctor or you might even
want to sorry guys this is this is real
life I’m just gonna throw that there you
might want to be a doctor you might want
to write a book change the world go on
missions trips but it’s so impossible it
just seems like it you can’t do it
I don’t know anybody I don’t know anyone
else who did that and you know you tell
yourself stories that keep you in this
comfort zone but it’s really not
comfortable there but again you went to
solid territory so nobody really knows
that you’re uncomfortable the only
person that knows it’s you when you look
at yourself in the mirror in the morning
when you’re driving to work and you’re
like I hate this job
I cannot go stand to see this guy again
Bob or whatever you know whatever your
boss’s name is Linda you know Linda
thinks she’s funny she needs coffee all
the time you know
she’s not really funny and you’re not
comfortable but it pays the bills
so you fall into this everyday thing
that’s where you get that living check
to check and you tell yourself and you
know you might even had fallen into that
real early in life you may say to
yourself I have this dream but I’m too
young like how am I gonna pursue that or
you know what I’m actually too old now
my kids are growing you know the car
broke down we need money to put tires on
the car I can’t go paying for a physical
trainer you know or you know I’m married
now my husband or my wife is never gonna
be okay with me going back to school you
know what I really need is another job
because I really hate the one I have now
so what I need is another job I need
more money if I can make a little bit
more money then I can be ready to go
back to school then I can be ready to go
achieve that dream then I can go hire a
physical trainer and we tell ourselves
that but that’s not where the magic
happens
comfort zones create these walls around
us we’re already in solitary Tori so
that we tell these stories to ourselves
and we stay there not achieving anything
but achievement is over there where the
magic happens you actually have to go
over there and it feels uncomfortable
because you’re comfortable in your other
uncomfortable area does that even make
sense it doesn’t make sense you’re not
really comfortable there but it’s what
you know so it feels cold so let me tell
you a story I already told you guys that
I come from Puerto Rico yes
there’s no Puerto Ricans here but y’all
better clap and growing up in a Puerto
Rican home my parents taught me really
strong cultural values as well as really
strong religious values they were very
very very religious people and at the
age of 16 I don’t know if any of you
could see how I could have become a teen
mom because I’ve always been this
extroverted person so I guess that goes
right along with that but my parents
were not very happy that I got pregnant
at 16 as most parents would not be happy
that this happened you know that their
child made this this choice well my
father did what was best for
and said to me you know what Linda you
decided to get pregnant I’m pulling you
out of school you should save whatever
honor you have left whatever little
honor you have left and you should get
married because if you don’t get married
then it’s gonna be very hard for you to
find the man that will marry you with a
kid because this was these were his
values they were very important to him
and so remember I was only 16 at the
time so what happened was at that moment
my father was successful in transferring
a story to me and I need to know how
many of you here have been living a
story that someone else gave you and you
have adopted it as if it were your own
because at that moment I adopted that
story I’m gonna be nothing else but a
mom that’s what I need to focus on and
you know thank you so much only one mom
here awesome
so so so one thing did not happen though
even though I adopted his story my
dreams did not go away I still wanted to
go to college I had really good grades
when my father decided that I needed to
come out of school I had really good
grades and so for the rest of my life 16
17 18 20 25 30 35 my father passed away
when I was 21 and it wasn’t until I was
36 that I decided to go back to college
because the dream would keep me up at
I would have mentioned myself walking
across the stage picking up a diploma I
would envision myself doing this because
when I was growing up I was told you
talk too much your mouth is gonna get
you in trouble but my mouth empowers
people and that was a gift that I was
born with and instead of my parents
saying hey she got that from us that’s a
bad thing let’s let’s stop that let’s
kill that let’s stop on that dream but
you can’t kill the dream you can’t you
can’t and if you try you’re just gonna
take yourself to the procrastination
that I showed you in a couple of slides
ago and you’re gonna be there unhappy
unhappy so why am I telling you my story
am i telling you my story because I
really want you all this is so great no
I’m telling you my story because up
until I went to college at 36 I really
didn’t know anyone else at my family
that went to college I didn’t have any
mentors in my own Family Circle I didn’t
have any friends I took that leap of
faith on my own and so most of us can’t
relate to stories of success but the
most of us can relate to a story of
struggle a story of pain and I’m sure
you have your own story of struggle and
your own story of pain which is very
real
I just want to be able to relate to you
today and this morning I want to give
you permission to leave it behind
leave your story behind because it’s
really not your story it’s the story
that someone else told you when you
decided that you were gonna let them
drive that vehicle called your life when
you let people get behind the wheel of
your life
you learn to saddle you learn to accept
their story what they told you is what
you’re gonna do and you know at first at
first it feels comfortable when someone
else solves you a problem for you my
father solved my problem for me we’re
gonna get you married and you just
missed a home well that felt kind of
good at the time well that’s a problem
it’s all
but when somebody else solves your
problems for you then they drive the
vehicle called your life and then that
you go to whatever destination they take
you to and they’re in control of
whatever happens to you and whatever you
do and so that’s not a good place
it really isn’t I know that you’re
listening to me and you can relate I’m
not telling you some story that I read
five years ago or that I read in some
history book when I went to college I’m
telling you my story which is the same
as yours with just a different character
and slightly very different variation in
in you know in the dynamics of it it
really is I know you can relate your
life has been recalculating every
morning when you drive to work every
night when you take a shower after you
have an argument with that person that
you love so much but you’re like why do
we argue so much you keep yourself stuck
in that comfortable place you got
married because you thought you know
what it’s easier to get married let me
just do this let me leave my parents
house or let me get out of this other
problem if I marry this person they’re
working full-time I’m working full-time
we’ll be able to make life it’s better
to or better than one I know I’m not the
only person here who has ever said that
or better than one too bit of wood right
or maybe since you’re married well you
have permission to have kids now so now
you have yourself a couple of kids but
you’re not financially ready to support
them so you keep yourself stuck in a
financial place is it is it impossible
to come out of that financial place it
is not but it is hard because you you
put kids on that timeline of your life
before you know before you are ready or
you stay in that bad relationship far
too long maybe you are really sick you
do have an illness you had surgery you
do wake up every morning and your back
is stiff that’s very true
or maybe you’ve developed some eating
disorder or a drug addiction or
alcoholism or all the other problems
that come when you have these addictions
and these issues in your life health
problems financial problems and more
relationship problems and you did all
that because of fear
all of these things that I mentioned
your marriage your kids they’re not
imaginary they’re very real but you
created all of them nobody gave them to
you nobody like force to you here take
these kids here marry this guy
hey have this food addiction no you did
that to yourself and you did it to
procrastinate because we all need a
boogeyman we need somebody to blame it’s
my mom’s fault
it’s I’m too overweight I can’t do it
because I’m too tired I’m too old
all of that is just fear okay and today
please take action readjust your own
life’s GPS get out of the passenger side
get out of the passenger side that’s up
past that place and walk around walk
around the car walk around to the
driver’s side get behind the wheel grab
it before you start driving put your
lipstick on be first are driving and
take action do something different go to
the destination that you were supposed
to be at when those dreams started
coming at you when you were 16 and 17
how do you do that today not tomorrow
today on the lunch break go to the
website and apply for the for school go
hire the personal coach go buy the
course get the life coach go to therapy
I don’t know lose weight whatever it is
that you need to do how do you become an
entrepreneur Google that find somebody
here locally that can help you but take
action today thank you
[Applause] you