Something the majority of us are guilty of is procrastination, which is “the action of delaying or postponing something”, so essentially something that is important or something that will help us progress we find a way of putting it off! This can come back to the fact that we value more what’s happening in the now rather than long-term success. And the goals we set out tend to be long term so we must work on them in the short term.
Example: we have a goal of losing weight over the next 12 months but it is the current work you put in that will help you to achieve that goal. But this is difficult when we don’t see an immediate change in our bodies, for example, and therefore having a good time drinking and eating out will satisfy the now but won’t necessarily help us towards our future goal. This can become a vicious circle of focusing on that instant feeling of gratitude rather than putting in the work now and getting the reward down the line. This doesn’t just apply to exercise and nutrition it can apply to our work/friendships/projects etc. So, how can we stop procrastinating?
One thing to try out is alternatively to instant success/gratification and switch it to an instant repercussion. For example – you want to change your diet to eat more fruit and veg aim to involve a friend or your partner and make a deal that you will cook at home 95% of the week that way you can focus on healthier eating habits to help you achieve your long term goal. But obviously, if you don’t do this, you’re not going to see any drastic change in your body or health, but you will be letting someone else down that you promised to help also. This can be applied to anything from having a running partner to joining a book club. It’s subjective to your goal but you’re creating an instant repercussion rather than an instant gratification.