Procastination is probably major cause of failure- agree?

I won't even procrastinate later, I'll still be working on my goals and building up my business. But please, by all means, keep procrastinating .

I agree 100% that procrastination is the MAIN reason why people either fail or do not even get started.

Best of Luck to everyone!

Go out there and work!

I don't about THE major cause of failure, but I'd say it's in the top 5.

Ankur, your sales letter is not bad at all for the anxiety you have over it.
So what if it's not 'perfect'? Next week, if you want, I'll Skype with you and help you make some 'small changes' for 'big results' on that copy.

*Not 'believing' in yourself will cause more failure than anything else.:rolleyes:

Hi Ankur,

If you are interested in considering outsourcing writing your sales letter, PM me. I may be able to help - depends on the product, but if it's got a self help angle I can do a pretty good job.

We could talk about terms, affiliate commissions or whatever, if we decide to work together. I'm pretty flexible.

Hope that's useful.
Trevor.

Yeah. Focus, focus, focus... waaait, what?

I stopped procrastinating when I realized that I've wasted over 4 years "learning" and not "doing". That was a bit scarry, so I started "doing".

A month later I started seeing small results and then thought to myself - damn, had I been working this whole time (last four years) for at least 2 hours/day, I would be sitting on a ton of cash now. So I continued working.

But to answer the OPs question - no idea how to "cure" procrastination. It kind of just happens, sooner or later.

exactly what I wanted to say.....When I catch myself ''doing it'' I start with the most difficult task, thinking how good will I feel when accomplished!

I agree completely. I've saved myself from some serious mistakes by being a 'good' procrastinator. Thinking seriously about why you aren't doing something is important. Your subconscious may have identified a problem that your conscious mind isn't noticing or is brushing aside. Anyway, I don't know if 'beating yourself up' works for some people-- but it never has for me.

I wrote a post some time ago about procrastination. It's here: Ten Reasons People Procrastinate If you're procrastinating on something, see if any of these reasons ring true for you.

Worry over failure is probably the cause of procrastination - or unsure of the results it will bring.

For me, I feel this is the major cause, especially so when you only have a limited budget to play with; so you wanted to hit a home run but yet at the same time afraid of losing.

I'm like a lot of people. I'm often tempted to procrastinate and give in to this temptation endlessly, it seems. But every time I'm tempted like that, I remember my mom saying, "S--- or get off the pot." In other words, stop focusing on deciding whether to put off doing something and just do it, or just forget about it.

Warriors, learn to say "I'll do it today" instead of "tomorrow", this is a particularly good trick when it's 5 minutes after midnight.

This is a good idea if it actually works for you... but I've found myself even procrastinating schedule-following in the past.

That's a very good point... if we're afraid of something not working the way we expect it to work, there's more reason (in our mind) to put it off a little longer.

I totally agree with you,
I am going through that right now and need to get unstuck,

thanks for bringing it up

You've got to develop a strong work ethic if you're going to succeed in Internet marketing.

Procrastination is poisonous to the growth of your business and is generally the result of associating pain to doing a particular task (or set of tasks). You put it off even though you know that you 'need' to do it, even though you know that completing that task / action will bring about beneficial results.

In these situations you either have lost sight of the 'reason why' you must succeed, or you haven't developed a compelling 'reason why' to begin with.

In my experience a compelling 'reason why' carries within it the seeds of motivation.

Any time you feel a bout of procrastination coming on try turning your focus toward the 'reason why' you must succeed and imagine the pleasure that achieving that success will bring to you and your loved ones.

If your 'reason why' is compelling enough it will set you alight and burn that procrastination to dust. Taking the required action from that place is easy.

Gotta keep them fires burning and unleash the unstoppable creative force that lies within!

My thoughts exactly! Procrastination is not a cause, it is a result of something else! Find what is causing you to procrastinate and change that.

This is true! It may be the fear or just the fact that deep inside you are not motivated enough (you really don't want something that much after all), to take action.

I am learning a bit more about myself here. I like that because I am a soup sandwich. My focus is easily interrupted by anything. I think I am afraid I might miss something, so I go off on to that tangent, then I see the latest whizbang gadjet and meanwhile, I never get anything done. My problem is blocking out and staying on track until follow through.

As I stated several posts back, procrastination is an indicator of a problem. However, the problem is not the same for everyone.

For some it is a lack of focus, for others it is lack of self-confidence, others it is lack of knowledge, others it is lack of goals/targets, yata-yata-yata...

So how how do you fix your problem?

I suggest:

First, fix your mindset - Your mind determines your outcome. You get what you think whether consciously or subconsciously. Your mind will help you get what you believe. As the saying goes "what you believe is what you achieve".

Your tools for this are: a) pure will-power b) self-help materials, and/or c) hypnosis. Use one or more to get your mind right. This is not optional. Until you fix this, you won't enjoy long-term success.

Second, set goals and targets - You need to have clearly defined targets to shoot at and guide you. They are your purpose and direction. Without them you are just wandering from place to place or thing to thing. Sound familiar? Hint - you are a warrior who can;t seem to make any money despite all of WSO's you have bought, the time you spend reading this forum and buying the next latest greatest IM offering. When you have a clearly identified and achievable target, it makes all of your decisions much easier - they either advance you toward the target or they don't.

Your tools for this are: a) a sheet of paper or a electronic document with your long and short term goals on it and b) post your goals in your primary workspace so you see them.


Third, daily task list - your tactics or steps to hit your target. Your tools for this are: a) spreadsheet or sheet of paper with the recurring items you need to do everyday and the priority items you need to do once to move toward target or attain a goal. Prioritization is important. Do first things first. You know what I mean!


Fourth, tracking - record your progress. Your tools for this are: a) chart or spreadsheet of the major and minor items you need to achieve and b) a pencil or mouse cursor to mark them off as you achieve them. don't skip this - record your progress. It is a powerful tool that will contribute to your success.

I hope this helps you reach success.

John

I realize this post was made several months ago now, but this is dead on the money for where I have been in my own journey to overcome fear and stop procrastinating. It seems like the mountain of challenges is so high that there is no point in going forward, even when the opportunities to excel are clearly right in front of my face. The best thing is to make a plan of action and stick to it, and see the small accomplishments in each day as building blocks for total success.

Now that's funny!

I saw a quote today on this subject:

"Nobody ever plowed a field by turning it over in their mind."

Paul

Good advice. It certainly is true that a person will tend to be more productive with the work they are doing if it's something they enjoy. The more you dread doing the task, the more difficult it becomes to rationalize to yourself why it's something you need to do now--rather than put it off until later (or just completely dropping-the-ball all together).

I have struggled with a feeling of being overwhelmed at times. There is so much to learn. So much to do. Where do I start?

I believe that the answer is to decide on the fundamental things that you most need to do, and then determine to achieve one thing (or more if possible) each day.

There is the old question: How do you eat an elephant? Answer: One bite at a time.

Choose the tasty piece, and take that first bite today!

Nice topic! I will read it later

I agree with this 100% and may I add the plan needs to be written down. The only way I overcame procrastination was with a plan I written down a week ahead of time of what I was going to do. Otherwise, I would get never get around doing what I needed to do.

So true, many times you only need to start doing the task, and you'll find that it wasn't anywhere near as difficult or intimidating as you had originally thought. In fact, worrying and procrastination often end up taking more time and energy than just doing something without overthinking it!

Paul

Procrastination is the main reason many people don't succeed in life.

I remember when i wasn't active in IM industry.

I had always known that i had the flare for product creation and thinking out of the box to do old things in newer ways but i was wasting time thinking that one day will be right for me to start.

This continued for two years till i took the bold step to start and the rest is now history.

If you are reading this now and still believes that you have a major project you will start tomorrow, i want to tell you that the best time to begin such project is RIGHT NOW.

I believe in what you said.

Procrastinate now. Don't wait.