How to Beat Procrastination is a battle we all want to win!

How to Beat Procrastination is easy once you know what the real enemy is.

We all have good intentions, but sitting down to do the work is another story.  Call it writer’s block, artistic agita, or general malaise; it’s that malignant entity that keeps us from our Calling which can be a killer.

I’ve read 2 books recently that have inspired me in my quest to become more productive, to earn more income and to help more people…and of course to do less procrastinating!

If these are some of your goals as well, then read on.  Both books I am referring to were written by Steven Pressfield and they are:

• The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
  

• Turning Pro: Tap Your Inner Power and Create Your Life’s Work
  

Here’s what procrastination looks like as described in the introduction of his book, “Turning Pro”:

“In The War of Art, Steve gave a name to this voice.  He called it Resistance.  Resistance STOPS us from committing to the important work of our lives — not just committing to it, but fighting like hell to get it done.”

Resistance.

That is the enemy and we are all fighting against it, so don’t think you’re the only one struggling out there.

Resistance is what wants to keep us shallow and unfocused.  The enemy to this resistance that we all have and fight against is “concentration, depth and focus.”

“The War of Art” talks about the strategies of fighting this enemy while the book, “Turning Pro” talks about becoming a “pro” (i.e., professional) as opposed to being an “amateur.”

So let’s talk a little more about what it means to “turn pro”…

“When we turn pro, we leave our amateur ways behind, and announce, if only to ourselves, that we have earned our battle scars and learned from our wayward ways to brand ourselves as professionals.”

The main difference between an Amateur and Pro is in their habits.  An amateur has amateur habits and a pro has professional habits.

Some of the habits of an amateur are:

• Distractions such as checking your email every 5 minutes, web surfing, playing games on your phone, wasting time with energy vampires, watching endless television programs, etc.
• Displacement activities such as drama, conflict and suffering.

The good news is in his book, Turning Pro, the author gives us some guidelines of what it means to turn pro:

1. The professional shows up every day;
2. The professional stays on the job all day;
3. The professional is committed over the long haul;
4. For the professional the stakes are high and real;
5. The professional is patient;
6. The professional seeks order;
7. The professional demystifies;
8. The professional acts in the face of fear;
9. The professional accepts no excuses;
10. The professional plays it as it lays;
11. The professional is prepared;
12. The professional does not show off;
13. The professional dedicates himself to mastering technique;
14. The professional does not hesitate to ask for help;
15. The professional does not take failure or success personally;
16. The professional does not identify with his or her instrument;
17. The professional endures adversity;
18. The professional self-validates;
19. The professional reinvents herself;
20. The professional is recognized by other professionals.

SUGGESTION:  Print this list of 20 guidelines out and tape it to the wall next to your computer where you should be doing your “work” and fulfilling your “calling.”

The benefits to turning pro are:

• We find our power;
• We find our will;
• We find our voice;
• We find our self-respect;
• We become who we always were, but were to afraid to embrace and live out;
• WE STOP HIDING!
• We face our Demons;
• WE GROW UP!
• We leave our amateur habits behind and embrace our professional habits;
• We wake up;
• We embrace the solitude and silence and we actually hear that still small voice within;

When you turn Pro…your life gets very simple because you leave behind the drama, distractions and displacement activities that kept you in the “amateur” world.

And it’s not that you no longer have fears (fear of success, fear of failure, fear of looking foolish, fear of poverty, fear of loneliness, etc), it’s just that as a Pro, you act in spite of your fears.

I’ll leave you with some great words of wisdom by the author:

“Turning pro is like kicking a drug habit or stopping drinking .  It’s a decision.  A decision we must re-commit to every day.”

I didn’t say it was easy, but when you get to that place when you’ve hit bottom and you’re ready to turn pro…and you need a little inspiration, pick up Steven Pressfield’s books and beat procrastination once and for all!