Page 202 - End Procrastination Now Get it Done with a Proven Psychological Approach

166 End Procrastination Now!

interim deadlines for each activity make a positive difference? Will
mindfulness of procrastination and planning for procrastination
make a positive difference? These questions can be answered
through what you do to execute the plan.

Execution

Execution is easily seen. It is what you do to follow your plan out-
line. This is the time in the five-phase process where you test your
plan to see what works, what doesn’t, and what has potential if it
is modified to fit the situation. A payoff is that you achieve the goal
you set out to accomplish.
Execution implies motivation. However, where does the moti-
vation come from? Is it from a lifetime of conditioning in which
you learned to set and execute goals and then stretch to reach for
them? How does this achievement motivation differ from chip-
ping at a piece of flint to create a spearhead or gathering grain to
store for the winter? When does the motivation start?
A common procrastination trap is waiting to feel inspired be-
fore you start. This puts the start time out into an indefinite future
where the proximity of a deadline can trigger frenzied activity. You
are likely to experience motivation if you set a short start date and
then take the most basic steps. Even if you plod through the pro-
cess without feeling that motivated, you’ll have accomplished what
you set out to do.
When you accept the dual challenge of following though on
what you believe is important to do and facing an old procrastina-
tion foe, you can expect to experience reluctance and to resist get-
ting on the do-it-now path. However, when you voluntarily subject
yourself to the initial discomfort, you do so to help you achieve a
longer-term goal of plowing forward against a sea of resistance
until the resistance fades. Expecting and accepting discomfort as
a part of the start-up phase is a start in the direction of greater
self-efficacy. This step also helps train the mammalian brain (the
horse) that discomfort is not dangerous.