The Mindset Mentor - 3 Steps to Stop Procrastinating

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to today's episode of the Mindset Mentor Podcast. I'm your host, Rob Dial. And if you have not yet done so, hit that subscribe button so that you never miss another podcast episode. And if you've been listening to this for a while and you've never given us a rating and review, please do me a favor, give us a rating and review, however you listen to us. iTunes and Apple, when you go out there and you give us a rating review, it boosts the algorithm so that more people can organically find this. So the way that you can help me out if you've ever gotten value from this is take two minutes right now, pop your phone out, give us a rating review. I would greatly, greatly appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. Today, I'm going to give you three keys

Starting point is 00:00:39 to stop procrastinating. Ooh, boys and girls, let's talk about this. This is one thing that I love because we spend so much damn time not doing things and thinking about doing things versus actually doing the things we're supposed to be doing. It's really kind of odd. And this is what I say to a lot of people is whatever it is that you want in your life, whatever it is that you want to create, you know what you need to do. You have about a 90% to 95%. You pretty much know what needs to be done. Maybe not 100% exactly what needs to be done, but you're pretty damn close. You know what you need to do to create the life that you want. You know what you need to do to be successful. You know what you need to do. You just probably aren't doing it. And so what we really need to become good at

Starting point is 00:01:23 is not procrastinating into taking action. And when I look at procrastination, I start talking to people about this. I see two parts to procrastination. And the key here is discipline, is to have discipline in these two parts. Number one is starting, which is usually the easiest for people.

Starting point is 00:01:40 And number two is finishing, which is usually the hard part for people. So I see a lot of people, they get really excited of, oh, I'm going to go do this new thing. I'm going to start this new business. And they get super excited to go start this business. And they're all excited on day one. And I got my logo. I've got my name figured out. I'm going to go get a website. They get excited about starting this business. And they're excited on day one. And they're like, look at me. I'm a new entrepreneur. I went and got myself a new MacBook.

Starting point is 00:02:08 And now I'm working from this favorite coffee shop. I'm going to work here every single day. And they start and they get all excited. And then as time goes on, they stop being as motivated. And it's crazy that a lot of people are decently good at starting things, but usually really terrible at finishing them. And so that's what we're going to talk about today is the discipline between the two parts of starting something and then also finishing it as well, because you got to finish what you start. So I'm going to give you the three tips to stop

Starting point is 00:02:33 procrastinating and to get past your procrastination. Okay. Number one is to just listen, listen to this. Stop negotiating with your mind. Just stop. If you notice yourself thinking too much, just stop thinking. Just fucking take action. I'm just going to be real with you today. Just take action. That's all that it is. No one's ever thought their way to success. No one's ever thought their perfect life into reality. There's action that has to be done. So your mind is going to sit there and go, oh, well, maybe you should be doing this. Maybe this isn't the right industry. Maybe, oh, you shouldn't make that cold call because what if somebody says no to you?

Starting point is 00:03:15 And your mind will often bring up all of these stupid things. And those stupid things are all brought into your mind to keep you from taking action. The beautiful thing about if you do or don't believe in yourself or if you have fear or any of that stuff, is if you feel fear, you can still take action. If you don't believe in yourself, you can still take action. So just freaking take action. It's not as hard as we make it out to be. Life and success, it's actually really not that hard. What makes it hard is the thinking that we do behind all of the action taken that we should be doing. That's about it. So what you need to do is, how often do you notice yourself on the couch? You don't feel like moving. Or you're on Instagram and you're like, oh God, I've got such a busy day. I've had many, many days in my life where I'm like, oh God,

Starting point is 00:04:01 I've got so much shit to do. And you've got so much stuff to do that you're just like, I don't, it's like paralysis by analysis. Where do I start? Like, what do I, I know I should be doing this thing, but like, it's so much easier not to do this thing. And you've heard me say this a million times. If you listen to this, inaction creates more inaction. Action creates more action. You've just got to get up. You can't negotiate with your mind. You've got to push yourself and push yourself and push yourself. When you notice that your mind is popping in, that's the immediate moment that you need to jump off the couch, that you need to get out of wherever it is that you are. And you've just got to put your foot in the water. Just dip those little toes in the water. What do I mean by that? Just a little bit of action, whatever that

Starting point is 00:04:42 action is. I've talked about this in podcasts two months ago of one of the things that you should do is just start doing something that's kind of close to it. So I'll give you an example of what I mean. Let's say that you want to go work out. We'll use working out as an example first. You want to work out and you're like, God, I'll be honest with you. The majority of days that I have to work out, I'm not like, yo, I'm so excited to work out. It's usually like, I don't want to fucking work out. If I'll be honest with you. The majority of days that I have to work out, I'm not like, yo, I'm so excited to work out. It's usually like, I don't want to fucking work out. Like, I'm being honest with you. That's usually how it is. And so I have to, I have a gym that's inside of my garage now. I didn't always have a gym. So if you don't have a gym inside of your garage,

Starting point is 00:05:15 not a big deal. You can still do pushups on your floor. You've all got floors in your house. Well, I hope you have floors in your house, right? But I'll give you an example. I will force myself to get up and just get dressed first. And I've got to dip my toes in. I've got to go get, all right, I got to get my gym clothes on. And then I'll force myself just to walk into my garage and then just start moving my body a little bit. I don't go in there and just start picking up the biggest weights I possibly can or pushing myself to the extreme. It's literally like I'm going to baby step my way into it. And eventually, the mental resistance starts to fade a little bit.

Starting point is 00:05:45 It might take five minutes. It might take 10 minutes. It's not that I'm super stoked to be there the whole time, but the resistance to actually doing what it is that I want to do starts to go away. Why? Because I'm already doing it. So there can't be resistance to going and starting something when I've already started that thing. So that's an example of working out. Another example, and this is actually, I've talked about this in past episodes with this, is that I had a conversation with neurobiologist Dr. Andrew Huberman. And we were talking about how there's always a resistance to your mind switching to a new thing. And so if you feel resistance, it's not really a big deal. But what you got to do is just start doing it. And so let's say that I have to sit down and,

Starting point is 00:06:22 you know, I'm in college or, and I have to write a paper or I've got to go through my emails or whatever it is. What I'm going to do is I'm going to start something that's similar to that task. So I can literally pull up a Word document and I can just start typing. So instead of having the resistance to going and doing something, I'm going to dip my toes in. What does it look like to dip your toes in if you know you've got to write a paper, if you know you've got to write an article, if you know you've got to write an article, if you know you've got to write a blog, if you know you've got to go through emails? I'm going to pull up a Word document and say, today is Monday. I am wearing a gray shirt. I am currently in Austin, Texas. I am here. I am doing this. Today is a sunny day.

Starting point is 00:07:00 It is 1114 AM. And for breakfast, I ate this. And for lunch, I'm going to eat this. And just start typing. I'm dipping my toes in. Am I going to keep any of that stuff? I mean, probably not unless you're writing a diary of what it is that you do each day, what you wear, what the weather's like, and what it is that you eat. But what it's doing is it's getting you past that little moment of resistance of not wanting to do it. And so when I say don't negotiate with your mind, when you notice your mind starting to get in your way, immediately jump up and start doing something different. You can start doing pushups. You can do jumping jacks. You can go for a run. You can just force yourself to start whatever it

Starting point is 00:07:39 is you need to do. Action creates more action. Inaction creates more inaction. If you're inactive at this moment, get up and start doing something and your body and your brain will start to eventually get onto your side a little bit more. So that's number one, the first part. The second piece is to finish what you start. You have to have the decision from this moment on that whenever you start something, no matter what, you're going to finish it. Following through is one of the most understated parts of success that I never hear people really talk about. You have to really focus on your follow through. I remember when I had an office, my very first company that I had, one of the things that I hated, I hated it, was that so

Starting point is 00:08:20 many people would not follow through on what it is that they wanted to do. So I was 22, 23 years old. And I had a few hundred sales reps that were working under me. And they would come in and they'd say, hey, I want to make 75 phone calls today. So they'd come in to make 75 phone calls. Great. And then they'd be like, okay, I'm done for the day. And they would leave to go get lunch or whatever it was. And, or they'd leave to go, you know, because, you know, there wasn't like, hey, you have to work nine to five for us. It was like, you'd come in, you make your phone calls, you leave when you were done. So their goal would be 75, say for instance, right? And they't like, hey, you have to work nine to five for us. It was like, you'd come in, you make your phone calls, you leave when you're done. So their goal would be 75, say, for instance, right? And they're like, okay, I'm done for the day. I'd be like, cool. How'd your calls go?

Starting point is 00:08:50 Oh, I'm doing good. How many did you do? Oh, I did 37. Okay. What was your goal? 75. Why are you leaving? Oh, well, because I got to go do this thing. And they always had some excuse, right? And so what I did was in order to walk out of the door, you had to walk obviously through a door. And above that door, I printed out this huge laminated sign and it said, follow through. And I started talking to my sales reps about how the most important thing is that you follow through with what you say you're going to do. Because when you say you're going to do something and you don't do it, you lose confidence in yourself. And guess what? Next time that you set a goal, there's a little bit of you in the

Starting point is 00:09:28 subconscious going, yeah, dude, you're not going to fucking do it. Why? Because you didn't do it in the last one. And you start losing confidence in yourself simply because you're not following through on the things that you know you should be following through on. And so you have to finish what you start. When you wake up in the morning, do you finish that? Do you make your bed? start? When you wake up in the morning, do you finish that? Do you make your bed? When you do the little tiny things, when you are putting your clothes away and you're trying on all of your clothes, you're like, oh, I'm going to go try this thing out to go wear tonight. And then you have a bed that's got three different outfits on it. Do you just leave them there and then you go out? Or do you decide, you know what, I'm going to take all those clothes, I'm going to hang them back up.

Starting point is 00:10:02 Can you get used to doing everything that you need to do, being very particular on following through on finishing everything that you do? Hey, beautiful people. This episode is brought to you by Four Sigmatic, a wellness company that's known for its delicious mushroom coffee. Four Sigmatic's mushroom coffee is real organic, fair trade, single origin coffee with lion's mane mushrooms for productivity and chaga mushroom for immune support. For the last few months, I've been starting my day with Four Sigmatic ground mushroom coffee and lion's mane instead of just regular coffee. And I just love how it helps me focus and just get shit done. And it's amazing. I absolutely feel an uptick in my productivity

Starting point is 00:10:38 when I drink it. And the mushroom coffee is easy on my gut and doesn't leave me without awful jittery feeling in that midday crash. All of Four Sigmatic products are also organic, vegan, and gluten-free. Plus, every single batch is third-party lab tested to ensure its purity and safety so you know you're getting the highest quality coffee and mushrooms available. And we've worked an exclusive offer with Four Sigmatic for their best-selling mushroom coffee. Just for Mindset Mentor listeners, get up to 40% off plus free shipping on the mushroom coffee bundles. To claim this deal, you must go to foursigmatic.com slash dial. This offer is only available to Mindset Mentor listeners and is not available on their regular website. You'll save 40% and get free shipping

Starting point is 00:11:19 when you go to foursigmatic.com slash dial and fuel your productivity and creativity with some delicious mushroom coffee. Hey, do you feel drained after a big workout or run or after a long day's work? You need to try out TruNiagen. TruNiagen fuels the body's energy engines and maintains cellular metabolism and even supports heart health. With 11 published human clinical studies and backed by Nobel Prize winners, TruNiagen is a supplement that's clinically proven to boost NAD levels, an essential coenzyme required for cellular metabolism and repair. An essential coenzyme required for cellular energy and repair. It's also a big component to anti-aging, according to an episode that I have with Dr. David Sinclair, if you listen to that podcast

Starting point is 00:12:04 with him. TruNiagen will help your muscles recover after a workout and just all in all give you more zest for life. Add more vitality to your life today with TruNiagen. Right now, new customers can save 10% off their first purchase by going to truniagen.com slash dial and use the code dial, that's T-R-U-N-I-A-G-E-N.com slash dial or use the code dial to save 10% off your first purchase. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Think about that for a second. If you don't have discipline, it's because you haven't trained yourself to have discipline. That's it. It's not just because you're like, oh, well, you know what? I was not born with discipline and I just happen to be one of those people that doesn't have discipline. That's it. It's not just because you're like, oh, well, you know what? I'm just, I was not born with discipline and I just happen to be one of those people that doesn't

Starting point is 00:12:47 have discipline. No, there's nobody born with discipline. It's something, it's like a muscle. It's something that you train into yourself. And so you have to learn to start finishing what you start. You have to learn to do exactly what you say you're going to do. Because here's the thing, if you don't do it for yourself and you're also not doing it for other people, you're not showing up the way that you're supposed to, I guarantee you this. If you say you're going to do something to somebody else, and then you don't do it, you're starting to break your trust with somebody, and that's really hard to get back. And then who wants to be known as a person that doesn't follow through for other people? And so you have to learn to start finishing what you start, whatever it is. Finish every single activity. If you say you're going to do 100 phone calls

Starting point is 00:13:26 every single day, well, then you don't go to bed until you make 100 phone calls for the day. If you say that you're going to do something for somebody, well, then you don't go to bed until you get that thing done. And there's got to be just this mental commitment of I am the type of person that does what they say they're going to do. I'm going to follow through with every single thing that I'm supposed to follow through. So number one, don't negotiate with your mind. Just get started. Number two, finish what you start. And number three, ready, is to do more than you said. So if we go back to the example I just gave and I talk about following through, well, once you start following through, what if you do a little bit more than you said you're going to do? And you start pushing yourself past. And so instead of having the habit of not

Starting point is 00:14:10 finishing, because if you say, oh, I'm going to make 100 phone calls, and then you only make 70, you have a habit of not following through. What if you created a habit of not just following through and doing what you say you're going to do, but to actually do more? And what I always say is, can you do 10% more than you said you're going to do? So I'll give you an example. If you say that you're going to work out for 60 minutes, don't work out for 60 minutes. What's 10% more? 66 minutes. You work out for an extra six minutes. If you say, hey, you know what? I'm going to do a warmup on the treadmill for 10 minutes. Well, then you don't stop at 10 minutes. You go for 11 minutes and you start doing 10% more in every single thing that you're going to do. Oh, I'm supposed to do

Starting point is 00:14:49 eight reps. Let's say, make the math easy. I'm supposed to do 10 reps. All right, well, then do 11 reps. Do one more. Do 10% more in every single thing that you do. You got one mile that you're going to run? Okay, instead of running one mile and stopping at one mile, why don't you stop at 1.1 miles? If you say you're going to do 10 reps, do 11 reps. If you say you're going to do 20 pounds, do 22 pounds, do 25 pounds. And this isn't obviously just in working out. It's just easy because it's quantitative and we can put a number to it. But in every single thing that you do, do 10% more. Get used to building the habit, building the muscle of doing more than you say you're 10% more. Get used to building the habit, building the

Starting point is 00:15:25 muscle of doing more than you say you're going to do. Because going back to the first example of not doing what you say you're going to do and how that's going to break your own trust and how that's going to lower your confidence. Well, if you start doing more than you say you're going to do every single time, guess what that does to your confidence? It raises it because you know that anytime you take action, you're going to follow through and you're going to go over and above. Guess what? Everybody else around you will start trusting you with more

Starting point is 00:15:52 and you'll start getting more because of the fact that you're going to be seen as the person that everybody knows. You don't just do what you say you're going to do. You go over and above for every single thing that you say. And so you have to start pushing yourself to do more than you say you're going to do. Okay. You know what I was going to do? I was going to study for an hour. I decided to study for an hour and 15 minutes. I was going to write for an hour. I decided to write for an hour and 15 minutes. I told them that I would get done at four o'clock. I decided to finish it at 3.30. So that was even earlier than when I said I was going to. We had a meeting at 5.00.

Starting point is 00:16:26 I showed up at 3.45. Just think about, number one, how everybody else is going to start seeing you when you start showing up this way. You're going to be seen as a different person. People are going to be inspired by that. They're going to go, you know what? I can freaking trust this person. That's how you want to be seen.

Starting point is 00:16:41 When people can start trusting you with more, that's how you start getting more. And then think about how you're going to start thinking about yourself. When you know that you don't just give up. When you know that you finish everything that you start. When you know that you're the type of person that can be counted on. That other people can count on you and you can count on you. That's how you start building your confidence. Is by doing little teeny tiny things like that.

Starting point is 00:17:01 People think that people are born with confidence. Nobody's born with confidence. Like nobody's born confident. It doesn't happen. Confidence is something that you build by the way that you show up in the world because you know what you said you were going to do. You know what your goal was. And every single time that you come up short, it's like taking a little chip of confidence away, little chip of confidence away, little chip of confidence away. But every single confidence away, little chip of confidence away. But every single time that you go, not only hit your goals,

Starting point is 00:17:29 but go over and above your goals, it's like stacking another block of confidence, stacking another block of confidence, stacking another block of confidence. So when you see somebody who walks into a room and you're like, damn, you can tell that person's confident, it's not something they were born with. It's something that they were able to get

Starting point is 00:17:41 and earn and build because of the fact that they showed up for themselves and for other people for years and years and years. And eventually what happened? They woke up one day and they were a completely different person. And so when I say that procrastinating is one of the things that's going to destroy your life and destroy your dreams, I'm not being sarcastic in that. And so if you notice yourself procrastinating, you have to just force yourself to get up and start moving. Don't negotiate with your mind. You have to force yourself to finish what you started and you have to force yourself to go over and above. And if you do that consistently day in, day out, day in, day out, day in, day out, you'll wake up one day, a year, two years,

Starting point is 00:18:20 five years, 10 years down the road, and your life will be drastically different than it is right now. But it doesn't change unless you change. So you have to make the decision of, you know what, I am the type of person that's going to show up. I am the type of person that's going to do this. I am no longer the type of person that breaks promises to other people. I'm no longer the type of person that breaks promises to myself. I'm going to show up for other people. I'm going to show up for myself. I'm going to go over and above for every single thing that I do And i'm gonna stop thinking about things and i'm just gonna start taking action on things because once again The beautiful thing about fear and the beautiful thing about belief is you don't have to believe in yourself in order to take action And you don't have to not feel fear in order to take action

Starting point is 00:18:58 So your procrastination is holding you back from the life that you want Stop procrastinating by doing what you say you're going to do And going over and above and every single thing every single doing what you say you're going to do and going over and above and every single thing that you say you're going to do. And that is how you start taking action and stop freaking procrastinating. So if you love this episode, please do me a favor. Please go ahead and share it on your Instagram stories and tag me in it. Rob Dow Jr. R-O-B-D-I-A-L-J-R. If you don't follow me, you should follow me. I'm in Italy right now. You can see my journeys and you can see all the motivational stuff that I put out by post two to three times a day. And if you want to live vicariously through me and see my five-week

Starting point is 00:19:32 journey throughout Italy, go ahead and follow me, Rob Dow Jr., R-O-B-D-I-A-L-J-R. And I'm going to leave you the same way I leave you every single episode, making sure I make someone else's day better. I appreciate you and I hope that you have an amazing day.

Your Ad Here

The Mindset Mentor - 3 Steps to Stop Procrastinating

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.