I had a friend ask me what she could do to make sure she finished her novel this year. I asked her what she'd tried. She gave me a laundry list of false promises she'd made to herself, tales of calendars she'd set up with special write dates and finally, tears of woe at feeling she'd failed herself because she had no discipline. It was that comment that really made me sit up and take notice.
The fact is, this girl has discipline. She'd written the novel already, she was just struggling with the concept of doing rewrites. So, I realized that the real issue was, she probably didn't want to let go of the dream. I told her that what she needed to do was finish the book by the beginning of 2008 or she had to give me all copies and could not work on it again until 2009. Her eyes widened. Her face flushed. Her head nodded, involuntarily. It was on.
The fact is, if you are trying to stick to a schedule, accomplish something youve been putting off, its important to get to the root of the reason. WHY do you always find something better to do than sand down your furniture and re-stain them' Is it really that hard of a job? Or is it that, secretly, you're hoping to win the lottery and move to a palace that will have furniture made of gold so your should-have-been-stained ones will just end up in the trash anyway?
Sometimes, we are putting off what we want to do because it lets us keep our dreams. Sanding down that furniture and staining it black may as well be admitting that you couldn't pick the winning numbers on a Bingo game, let alone the lotto. And that kinda sucks, cause you're giving up a dream.
For my friend, working on her novel in perpetuity helps her keep alive the idea that she's a busy and important writer. Having a completed project she's trying to get published is a much less romantic notion. However, imagining a year without writing in her novel is not romantic either.
Coming face to face with a personal ultimatum is a great way to end the cycle of putting something off. Figure out what your real reason is for procrastinating and find a personal consequence equal to the one you were trying to avoid. This technique can help you get in gear and grow as a person when you finally realize that sometimes, it's your dreams that are holding you back.
Dreaming the Impossible Dream? On Purpose
Posted by C.L. R.
I had a friend ask me what she could do to make sure she finished her novel this year. I asked her what she'd tried. She gave me a laundry list of false promises she'd made to herself, tales of calendars she'd set up with special write dates and finally, tears of woe at feeling she'd failed herself because she had no discipline. It was that comment that really made me sit up and take notice. The fact is, this girl has discipline. She'd written the novel already, she was just struggling with the concept of doing rewrites. So, I realized that the real issue was, she probably didn't want to let go of the dream. I told her that what she needed to do was finish the book by the beginning of 2008 or she had to give me all copies and could not work on it again until 2009. Her eyes widened. Her face flushed. Her head nodded, involuntarily. It was on. The fact is, if you are trying to stick to a schedule, accomplish something youve been putting off, its important to get to the root of the reason. WHY do you always find something better to do than sand down your furniture and re-stain them' Is it really that hard of a job? Or is it that, secretly, you're hoping to win the lottery and move to a palace that will have furniture made of gold so your should-have-been-stained ones will just end up in the trash anyway? Sometimes, we are putting off what we want to do because it lets us keep our dreams. Sanding down that furniture and staining it black may as well be admitting that you couldn't pick the winning numbers on a Bingo game, let alone the lotto. And that kinda sucks, cause you're giving up a dream. For my friend, working on her novel in perpetuity helps her keep alive the idea that she's a busy and important writer. Having a completed project she's trying to get published is a much less romantic notion. However, imagining a year without writing in her novel is not romantic either. Coming face to face with a personal ultimatum is a great way to end the cycle of putting something off. Figure out what your real reason is for procrastinating and find a personal consequence equal to the one you were trying to avoid. This technique can help you get in gear and grow as a person when you finally realize that sometimes, it's your dreams that are holding you back.