It's starting early this year. Even earlier than last year, and certainly earlier than when I was younger. No, I'm not talking about the Christmas decorations in the shopping malls, although that seems to happen as soon as we leave our halloween parties.
I'm talking about what I like to call the "After the Holidays" syndrome, which is a symptom of the underlying disease of addiction to procrastination.
I've hosted numerous webinars and workshops about the dangers of waiting to take action until we perceive we have "less going on" in our life.
This year, I met with several prospects, and had discussions with several clients in October, and the first week of November which led to decisions on their part to wait until January to get started on something, whether it be with my services, or with something they wanted to do in their own life or business.
While they didn't actually say they wanted to wait until "after the holidays", most did say they would "really get started in January" because it was a new year and a fresh start.
My response to that is always the same. I ask, "When do you want the results to appear? Do you want the results in the new year? If the answer is yes, then you must get started on the work and the planning now, so that the fruits of your labor will appear in January. If you wait until January to get started, you will see results in March or April, and well, I suspect then that's cutting it awfully close to summer, which gives you another reason not to take action until "after Labor Day"
Look, I'm very understanding of the fact that sometimes you DO need to wait, and gather more information, save more money, or legitimately just have too much going on right now to add more to your plate. In these cases, it may be prudent to wait, and follow your instincts.
I'm talking about the times when we (myself included sometimes), seem to just default to procrastinating until some predetermined date in the future, when we know full well that when that date comes, we probably won't take action either.
This idea that someday in the future we will somehow have "less going on" in our life is also false. How can we possibly predict that? The only time we can be certain about is now. The fact is that we will always have "stuff" going on. There will always be ups, downs, challenges, setbacks, new opportunities, and projects that start and end.
So, why not just be clear on what we'd like to manifest in our life, and make it happen now, instead of staying in old habits which are preventing us from taking action?
Why are we sometimes addicted to procrastination? I have lots of theories on that, and it's probably a subject for another blog. The biggest reason however is usually fear. It could be a fear that we are going to lose something we have, or not get something we want. Or, fear of failure or even fear of success.
My challenge to you is this…If you find yourself needing to make a decision, no matter how minor, make it today. If that decision is to wait, because you have a legitimate reason to wait, then fine. I am certainly not going to tell you that you don't know what's best for your family, but whatever you do, take action today on something that is going to advance your personal or professional life.
If you catch yourself putting it off until "after the holidays", ask yourself why. How come you need to wait? Is the reason real? Or is it based in fear? Be hard on yourself when making these evaluations, because I promise you if you break the pattern of procrastination, and end this terrible addiction, you will accomplish far more of your goals, and experience more of what makes you happy.
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Photo Credit: Katpreston
Sean, I love your underlying message, which I see as “why not just be clear on what we’d like to manifest in our life, and make it happen now, instead of staying in old habits which are preventing us from taking action?”
It feels like the holidays will be here and over any minute from now, but in fact we are 6 weeks away from the beginning of the coming year. 6 weeks is a little bit more than 10% of an entire year. That’s not insignificant when it comes to any gap between what one has now and what one really wants in life.
Joan, that is so true. I always try to show people that by setting these time delays can really add up fast. If we do it at the holidays, and again in the summer, we are basically saying that for 20-30% of the year, we are not going to take action on anything that might be difficult. That is really going to slow one’s growth.
If there is something I want to improve or change, the time is now! I can stil enjoy the holidays, and get a lot of work done on my life. Thanks for commenting!
Most of my life I always felt December to be the month that we wind down and just wait until the week long vacation until New Years. Everything starts after New Years (actually a couple days after to recover from binge eating and drinking).
But now that changes! I do not see the holidays as times to take off but times to work harder (One does not have to worry about clients and deadlines on Black Friday), SO Thanksgiving day is for my family and the weekend is to clear out those business cards, messy file cabinet, and receipts (as an example of course)! I will relax when I actually take a vacation, Not after long weekends!
Orville, thanks for sharing your experience on this topic. Like you, I used to see December as time to “coast”, but now I use it as a great opportunity to set up a strong first quarter for next year. The more intentional we are about how we spend our time, especially during this time of year, the better our results will be in the months ahead. When many other people are just starting to take action in January, we will be experiencing results already.