Procrastination
I was thinking of putting off writing this post — haaa, just kidding. Seriously though, I suffered with terrible procrastination, or putting things off. I excused putting things off that were vital to my growth, using the excuse “I am weighing all options.” When in fact, I just plain didn't want to deal with it. I wasn't waiting and weighing my options — I was forestalling the inevitable. It was just plain stalling. Stalling in hopes of some magic change that would never occur.
So what is it that keeps us from “doing the thing” we know we need to do? Well, I'll tell you: it is FEAR. Usually it's mostly unfounded. It is the acronym F.E.A.R. I love to use to explain what I mean: False Evidence Appearing Real.
Let's say you get a letter from the IRS and it says “please contact us at your earliest convenience.” Well, most people never think talking to the IRS is convenient. So you keep putting it off — the call, that is — because your mind is now fabricating the worst-case scenarios, creating false evidence that appears real. Finally you make the IRS call, after maybe a potential heart attack, no sleep, and a boatload of anxiety… and all they wanted to know was that they had your correct mailing address. Yes, a stinking address confirmation, now confirmed by your call.
Looking back on my bouts with procrastination, I lost out on so many opportunities that could have served me well. How did I remedy this? Well, I love to be the best that I can be. So I decided to be the best PROCRASTINATOR I could be: I put off putting things off.