Procrastination // Perfectionism.

Let me tell you the story of my 55+ unpublished blog posts.

The list of lead magnets that never saw the light of day.

The detailed plans in multiple notebooks, left in a box somewhere.

The hours and weeks spent planning and agonising over tiny decisions…

And I never took action.

The stress and frustration of constantly *feeling* busy but never seeing results (because I never took action) is a huge factor that led me to burnout and the hospital.

I now publish content, videos, hop on Lives spontaneously when I feel like it, do trainings, publish lead magnets, run live events, masterminds, and small group programmes.

What changed?

Here’s what worked for me, i.e. literally how I get anything done and haven’t remained forever stuck in perfectionism/ procrastination-land. Have you tried any of these steps already?

1. Focus on a shorter-term vision.

I find many of my clients get stuck between the lofty 5 – 10 year goals of their multiple books, podcasts, huge audience and revenue goals…. and between the minutiae of the day-to-day Instagram posts and newsletters.

Because they aren’t consistently taking intentional action towards shorter term goals, they end up spinning in circles with ideas – and never actually getting closer to those lofty, long-term goals.

The solution?

Focus on quarterly or 6-month goals first! Break those long-term goals down to (challenging yet realistic) milestones that feel a lot more realistic and closer to where you are now, so you can *see* the results and push from your day-to-day action.

2. What kind of style fits best with your personality, strengths and weaknesses?

I have tried every kind of method of planning my days – usually to the minute.

My beautifully planned weeks tend to dissolve into disaster and frustration by lunchtime on Mondays.

I have ADD. I adore flexibility and freedom. I do my best thinking and writing works in the late mornings. I can get hyper-focused and inspired, but I sometimes can’t choose about what!

And if I set my own deadlines… I tend to watch them fly by as I work on eeeeverything else.

For me, what works:
1. tight deadlines where I don’t have time to be distracted
2. a strong belief in the purpose of what I was doing (e.g. it leading to an event, an offer, a launch, a specific goal)
3. loads and loads of external accountability.

External accountability can come in many forms: a coach or strategist to hold you accountable, your mastermind to ask about this, an assistant waiting on deliverables, or simply publicly announcing something you’re doing so people know it’s happening.

Exercise: be brutally honest and examine your weaknesses and strengths. What makes you do something and what makes you avoid it?

3. Trusted people for validation, feedback, accountability and cheerleading.

Sometimes you just need a group of people in a similar situation, who gets the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, to cheer you on and tell you you’re a rockstar.

The biggest thing?
A lot of the time, this perfectionism/procrastination cycle is to do with FEAR.

Your fear of:
– being judged
– what will people think of me
– if it’s not good enough, I’m going to lose clients
– I will be seen as a fraud
– no one will ever work with me again
Spoiler alert: I’ve had ALL of the above thoughts myself.

Part of getting over that fear is having a supportive group of people who cheerlead you on, a mentor who helps you set realistic yet challenging goals, and the community and structure to hold you accountable.

So you get off your procrastination/ perfectionism hamster wheel.

So you stop feeling so damn frustrated with yourself all the time.

So you hit your goals in months, not years.

P.S. Last chance for the Unlock Your Magic mastermind. Doors close May 2. Send me a message via the chat, I’m really there!