The Ryan Leak Podcast - Procastination Proof

Episode Date: April 13, 2026

We all say it. “I’ll start next week.”But next week has a funny way of turning into next month… or next year.In this episode, Ryan tackles one of the most universal struggles we all face: procrastination. Not as a time management issue, but as a starting problem. If you’ve ever delayed a conversation, avoided a decision, or kept putting off something you know matters, this one’s for you.Ryan unpacks why procrastination isn’t laziness, it’s protection and how waiting for the “right time” might be the very thing holding you back. You’ll walk away with a simple, practical mindset shift to help you stop overthinking and start moving.Because your life doesn’t change when you intend to act.It changes when you actually begin.Also, a quick shoutout to Ryan’s friend Jon Acuff, whose new book Procrastination Proof: Never Get Stuck Againinspired this conversation. If you want to go deeper, it’s a great resource.👉 Grab Jon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1540903804Start messy. Start small. Just start.

Welcome back to the Ryan League podcast where we love to keep things short and sweet for you each and every week. Every episode, I just want to add a little value to your life. I want to give you something that gets you outside of your comfort zone or perhaps gives you the tools that you need to have a difficult conversation or perhaps give you an idea that can add value to your meetings or maybe even your dinner table. Nevertheless, I believe today's episode is going to help you with a problem that I have. I'm going to assume that you perhaps struggle with this as well. But I recently came across a book that was sent to me by a friend. And I thought, this book is so good, I need to do an episode on it. Because it solves a problem that I have, which is procrastination.

Listen, I get a lot of things done, but not in the way that I wish I got them done. Like I wish I could just get up and just be that guy. Like that just crushes work, gets everything done, responds to every email. But there's times where I just wake up and, if I'm honest, I just want to go golfing. Yep. There are days where I wake up, I don't want to write a book. I want to go work on my swing.

I want to go play basketball. I want to go to the gym and not work. workout. I just want to go and just sit there and just get like a smoothie and look like I'm working hard. I sometimes instead of doing more research would rather watch NBA highlights or watch a TV show. Really? I think of so many other things that I would rather do. And so the only the reason I even get things done is because, you know, oftentimes people that have paid me money are waiting on things for me. And then that kind of scares me. And then I just like, go and like try and do something with my life. And so I, when I got this book called

procrastination proof by my friend John Acuff, I thought, this is it. This is the moment. Like this, this is, this is what I need. I would argue this is what, this is what you need. If you don't know who John Acuff is, he's a speaker and writer just like myself, a very good friend has helped me tremendously in the speaking industry, phenomenal, phenomenal communicator. And it comes out with a book, you know, about every year or so. And his latest book is procrastination proof.

In it, we discovered that studies show that up to 95% of people admit, too procrastinating. So maybe you're like in that top five percent, but nevertheless, everybody in some way, shape or another, is navigating this. I have something to do, but there is this like delay. And in his book, he discovers something, a framework that helps people navigate this procrastination problem. And in it, he impacts this idea that we don't actually procrastinate because we're lazy. We procrastinate because we've never been taught how to start. Think about that.

We've never been truly taught how to start. And that reframing just gave me something new. It unlocked something new for me because I've spent years thinking like, do something is wrong with you? Like your MBA highlights and now golf, YouTube problem is like, like, if you would just be more disciplined, you know, like, you look at these people who are just getting so much done, it feels like they have a secret superpower that I somehow just missed out on. But in this book, my friend John says, procrastination is not a character flaw.

It's a coping mechanism. And if it's learned, it can be unlearned. Isn't that awesome? All right, so here's a deal. Here is the framework that John lays out in his book. He calls it the four permissions, okay, four permissions, permission to dream, permission to plan, permission to do, permission to review. Okay, I'm going to take you through these four permissions. Okay, now these are simple enough to fit on a post-it note,

but they're powerful enough to actually change your life. Okay, so that first one, permission to dream. Let's talk about it. Most of us stopped dreaming a long time ago, not because we ran out of ideas, but because somebody told us our idea was dumb, that our idea was impractical or that's, that's not really who you are, right? I mean, is that what you're going to be doing now? It's what we did in that moment is we buried it. We settled. And then we wonder why we feel stuck. John says the first step to beating procrastination is giving yourself permission to want something again, even if it scares you, especially if it scares you.

The second permission, the permission to plan. John has this line and I love it. He says, planning is visiting the future and taking notes for when you get back. Think about that. Planning is visiting the future and taking notes for when you get back. And that is just such a great way to think about it because most of us skip this step entirely. We go straight from dreaming to doing. And then we get overwhelmed and we quit.

Or we plan so much that the planning becomes its own form of procrastination. John calls it procrastinating with a spreadsheet. I just love that line. Because if you've ever color-coded a to-do list instead of actually doing the to-do list, You know exactly what he's talking about. That third permission is the permission to do. And this is where it gets real. John says most people think that they have a time problem,

but what they actually have is a permission problem. You're waiting to feel ready. You're waiting for the conditions to be perfect. You're waiting for someone to say, go! But nobody's coming to give you permission. You have to give permission to yourself. And here's the thing. you don't have to start well you just have to start a bad first draft it's better than no first draft

a messy beginning is better than a clean nothing and you've heard me talk about this a lot especially on this podcast i'm consistently trying to get people to to do and so if you're a procrastinator like me will you hear this from me and hear this from my friend john today this is your permission to do. So we've got permission to dream. We've got permission to plan. We've got permission to do. And this last piece is huge.

The last permission, the fourth permission is the permission to review. The permission to review. This is the one that caught me by surprise in John's book. Because nobody really talks about reviewing in this context of procrastination. It's like after you do the thing, well, look back at it and review it. What worked?

What did not work? What would you do differently? Most people either celebrate and move on or beat themselves up and quit. John says the review is what turns a one-time win into a repeatable system. And that's the whole game. making progress you can actually sustain. I think what I love most about John's approach is what it doesn't require. It doesn't require you to wake up at 4 a.m.

It doesn't require an ice bath. It doesn't require more willpower or a personality transplant. Like if you've ever wished that you had somebody else's personality, you think I'd be awesome if I had their personality. No. Now, what I love about John's framework is it just requires you to stop waiting and give yourself permission to make a move. So here's what I want you to do this week. Number one, I want you to pick up a copy of John A. Cuff's book, procrastination proof, because I believe it will add value to your life.

The second thing I want you to do is I want you to pick one thing you've been putting off. Just one thing. and you don't have to overthink which one it is. There's probably something that popped in your head this entire episode. And then I want you to take that one thing, and I want you to walk through this framework with it. I want you to walk through the four permissions. I want you to dream about what finishing it would actually look like.

And then I just want you to make a simple plan, not a perfect one, but a plan and do the first small step today. Yeah, you can do that today. And then I want you to review how it went. That's it. That's the whole system. John says something in the book that I think everybody needs here. He says, procrastinators are not losers.

They just don't know that they're winners yet. Think about that. Procrastinators are not losers. They just don't know that they're winners yet. And I believe that about you and me. You're not stuck because you're broken. You're stuck because you've been sorry. the wrong problem. So stop trying harder. And I would say start trying different. Hey, go grab

John's book, procrastination proof. It's out this week. And while you're at it, start that thing today. My friends, thank you so much for listening to the Ryan Lake podcast. If today's episode inspired you, don't keep it to yourself. Share it with a friend. And hey, it would mean the world to me if you would take a moment to rate review and subscribe. Your support. Sharing all the things helps us reach even more people with these short and sweet nuggets of inspiration. Thanks for being a part of the journey, and we will catch you next time.