How to be more disciplined without it sucking
So….
✔ You have some New Year’s resolutions that you’ve turned into actionable goals (if not, read this!).
✔ The next steps are on your calendar.
✔ You know how to get Butt In Chair.
LET’S DO THIS!!!
But then…
A quiet little voice chimes in your head with:
“I don’t feel like doing it right now.”
“I’ll do it later.”
Hmmm….Let’s do THIS instead…
This voice.
THIS VOICE!!!
This is the voice of your inner procrastinator.
She speaks in your voice and sounds so believable.
I call her my Fun Lazy Girlfriend.
She is the reason you’re being held back from achieving everything you want to achieve.
Don’t believe me?
See how it plays out:
You sit down to work at your desk, ready to work.
You fiddle on your phone for a second, plug it in to charge. You see an email notification, maybe some social notifications.
The Fun Lazy Girlfriend in your head:
“We don’t want to work right now – let’s look at your phone instead!”
→ You check your phone for 15 minutes (or 45….no judgments here, people).
“OK – let me get to work now…where was I?”
Again, Fun Lazy Girlfriend:
“We don’t feel like working right now though. Let’s just do it later.”
→ You tell yourself you’ll do it later, and move on.
But, honestly – DO you do it “later”?
Or does it become a task that you chronically procrastinate and put off?
You’ll know if you have a long to-do list that never seems to get done.
Or you keep missing deadlines/pushing them back.
You might argue, “Hey! I DO know how to get stuff done. I do stuff for my clients ALL the time!”
That may be true that you show up FOR OTHERS, consistently.
But are you showing up for YOURSELF, consistently?
Even when you don’t feel like it?
Here’s how to practice discipline
First, discipline to me ISN’T forcing yourself to do something through resistance and feels exhausting.
It’s not fighting against the current and trying to swim upstream.
That’s called RESISTANCE and working against your own will – NOT discipline.
It’s not sustainable and it doesn’t work long-term.
Discipline means I sit down, notice the desire to procrastinate, acknowledge that my Fun Lazy Girlfriend has showed up today, and proceed to work anyways.
It looks like this:
Fun Lazy Girlfriend:
“I don’t want to work today.”
Me: “I. Know. I’d rather be sitting on the couch, amirite?”
Fun Lazy Girlfriend: “Let’s go do that!”
Me: “Let’s do it later after we work. Veggies and then dessert, right?”
FLG: “Otay. Fine”
And then I GET AFTER IT and I WORK.
I didn’t have to PUSH THROUGH (grrrr!).
I just met my inner procrastinator with grace, didn’t let her talk me out of my intentions, and MOVED ON.
No resistance.
No forcing myself to work.
It takes almost zero time and energy out of my day.
Try it for yourself.
See where your Fun Lazy Girlfriend shows up.
How can you acknowledge her, but not believe her and be influenced by her?
What can you tell her instead of automatically believing her?
A note:
Sometimes what’s underneath the procrastination is fear and perfectionism.
If you think this is you, exploring that with a life coach could be really helpful for you.
Other times, the voice of the Fun Lazy Girlfriend is SO LOUD that she drowns you out and takes over.
If either of these is you, I’m inviting you to a free discovery session where we can talk about how to strengthen your discipline. I’m waiting to hear from YOU! Schedule a consult by CLICKING HERE.
Hi! I’m Pearl, and I’m a life coach for overwhelmed entrepreneurs. Life coaches help you strengthen your skills, achieve your goals and improve your life. If you want any of those things for yourself, book a free consult with me by CLICKING HERE. If you’re a good candidate for coaching, we can coach over Zoom weekly to help get you where you want to be!
Hi! That’s me - Pearl! I loooove helping entrepreneurs get out of overwhelm and step into their full potential. Want help? Let’s chat.
