Dec 7

Written by: recomcdaniel
Sunday, December 07, 2008

People often ask me how I became successful in this 7 year period of time while many of the people I knew did not. The answer is simple: The things I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do.

I found it easy to set the goals that could change my life. They found it easy not to. I found it easy to read the books that could affect my thinking and my ideas. They found that easy not to. I found it easy to attend the classes and the seminars, and to get around other successful people. They said it probably really wouldn't matter.

If I had to sum it up, I would say what I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. Six years later, I'm a million dollar producer and they are all still blaming the economy, the government and company policies, yet they neglected to do the basic, easy things.

In fact, the primary reason most people are not doing as well as they could and should, can be summed up in a single word: neglect.

It is not the lack of money - banks are full of money. It is not the lack of opportunity - America, and much of the free World, continues to offer the most unprecedented and abundant opportunities in the last six thousand years of recorded history.

It is not the lack of books – libraries are full of books - and they are free! It is not the schools - the classrooms are full of good teachers. We have plenty of ministers, leaders, counselors and advisors.

Everything we would ever need to become rich and powerful and sophisticated is within our reach. The major reason that so few take advantage of all that we have is simply, neglect.

Neglect is like an infection. Left unchecked it will spread throughout our entire system of disciplines and eventually lead to a complete breakdown of a potentially joy-filled and prosperous human life.

Not doing the things we know we should do causes us to feel guilty and guilt leads to an erosion of self-confidence. As our self-confidence diminishes, so does the level of our activity. And as our activity diminishes, our results inevitably decline. And as our results suffer, our attitude begins to weaken. And as our attitude begins the slow shift from positive to negative, our self-confidence diminishes even more ... and on and on it goes.

So my suggestion is that when giving the choice of "easy to" and "easy not to" that you do not neglect to do the simple, basic, "easy"; but potentially life-changing activities and disciplines.

Here are seven techniques to overcome neglect and procrastination:

1. Take five minutes to identify what you are putting off…
On a blank sheet of paper, note several important activities that you realize you are delaying or have put on hold.

2. Look at your list of tasks and do one of them right now…
Put the energy you’ve been directing toward excuses into the activity you’ve been avoiding. You’ll discover that action eliminates anxiety.

3. If getting started is the hard part for you, set a designated time slot in the day to work on the list…
Set aside thirty minutes of your lunch hour for work specifically on one job, project, or personal goal that you’ve been avoiding or find difficult to start.

4. Don’t worry about perfection…
What counts is quality of effort, not perfect results. Don’t let yourself get bogged down with a preoccupation for perfectionism.

5. If what you are putting off involves other people, consult with them…
Your reasons for delaying action may be imaginary. Lack of communication often turns molehills into mountains.

6. If you fear the consequences associated with the action you’ve been avoiding, ask yourself, what’s the worst thing that could happen if I did this today?
The worst-case scenario most likely would be a minor inconvenience or a temporary setback.

7. Finally, Vividly picture how you’ll feel once the task is done.
Freedom from anxiety. Freedom from nagging pressures. Freedom from self-doubt. Accomplishing put-off tasks will give you a great boost of confidence and energy!

Ground breaking requires TNT. To blast your way out of apathy and overcoming procrastination. Remember what TNT means: Today! Not Tomorrow!

God Bless and Good Luck in your Endeavors,

Reco McDaniel

Sources: Jim Rohn, Dennis Whatley

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