Achieve your goals and avoid procrastination with these 8 essential beliefs

​In order to achieve your goals, you need to be able to avoid procrastination and take action. I have previously discussed reasons why you might be procrastinating. In this post I will focus on beliefs which help you to avoid procrastination. When it comes to getting things done; most people fall into one of two categories – talkers and doers. Talkers discuss their goals in a hopeful, passive manner e.g.

​Doers discuss their goals in an active manner and in the present tense i.e. the specific action they are taking towards their goals.

​You don’t have to be a genius to work out who is more likely to achieve their goals. Talkers are still talking about their goals long after the doers have completed theirs and moved onto new goals. Rather than waste time talking and dreaming, doers identify the actions they need to take and set to work. One of the reasons they do this is that they hold beliefs which encourage them to avoid procrastination and take action.

​We all have goals we would like to achieve. Even when we are happy with our life, there are always improvements which we would like to make. So, if everybody has goals; why do so few people ever achieve them. The answer is that they struggle to avoid procrastination and take consistent action towards the achievement of their goals.

You see, it’s all well and good having goals, but if you are not prepared to invest your time, money (where necessary) and energy into pursuing your goals, then those goals are nothing more than fanciful wishes. You might as well hope to find a genie's lamp.

Goal achievers are doers. They don’t talk about what they hope to achieve. They talk about their goals in the present tense. They tell you all about the action they are taking to achieve their goals and the progress they are making. Not only do they avoid procrastination; they barely even know what it is.

Talkers don’t avoid procrastination; they live a life ruled by it. They could tell you some fantastic tales about what their life will be like when they achieve their goals but they couldn’t tell you one action they have taken to achieve those goals.

​The following infographic provides you with 8 beliefs which you need to understand and embrace to ensure that you avoid procrastination and take action on your goals.

​The following beliefs help you to understand the dangers of procrastination and, the benefits of action. When they become embedded in your mindset, you are more likely to avoid procrastination and become a consistent action taker.

​Talk is useful for detailing your goals and asking for advice from those in a position to help. However, unless your goal is to act, deliver a speech, or give detailed instructions etc., talking alone will not bring you any closer to fulfilling your goals.

As a coach, I regularly meet clients who have been talking about doing stuff for a long time. The reason they hire a coach is because that talk has never turned into action.

Being able to talk clearly about your goals does help you to set out what you need to do to achieve those goals. However, unless you learn to avoid procrastination and take action, talking about those goals is the closest you will ever come to achieving them.

​For more on the importance of action in overcoming procrastination; read 5 Reasons why action overcomes procrastination.

​Having a clear vision of what you want to achieve is an essential step towards realising your goals. But, without taking specific action, your vision will remain nothing but a daydream. Daydreaming is one of the more common forms of procrastination while taking positive action is the most effective way to avoid procrastination.

When you want to design your life, there are a number of important things you need to do which require talking, thinking and clarifying. They include:

​These are important steps but they alone will not create the life you want. If you look back through history, you will realise that great plans only became great plans when those plans were put into action. Nobody goes to Paris to see a plan of the Eifel Tower; they go to see the tower itself. And, that tower exists because the right people knew how to avoid procrastination, take action and get results.

Many people procrastinate because they are perfectionists. They fear that they won’t be able to do a perfect job so they fail to make a start. Of course, if they never make a start; they can never get the job done and experience the benefits that completing the job will bring.

When it comes to perfectionism, you need to remember the following:

Perfection isn’t possible. It will always be possible to improve on any job in the future. Remember, they used to have to make all telephone calls via an operator. Now we have mobile technology.

Perfection isn’t necessary. All that you can is the best job you can do, at that time, with the time, knowledge and resources available to you.

You can always strive to improve. You can always revisit a job and try to improve it e.g. I have a number of sales pages on my websites. Each page will have its own conversion rate i.e. ‘X’ out of every 100 people will buy. There is no doubt that each page can be improved but if I waited for perfection, I wouldn’t have any sales pages up and, therefore, I wouldn’t make any sales. Better to have a poorly performing sales page than no sales page at all.

Perfection is subjective. Everybody has their own opinion of what is and isn’t perfect. It is impossible to please everyone so, just do the best you can do.

​To learn more about the dangers of perfectionism, read Perfectionism sucks - take action, gain wisdom, get better.

​Nobody else is going to take the time to inspire you to achieve your goals. They are your goals and you are the one who will benefit from achieving them. The thought of how your life will be improved by achieving them should be enough to inspire you. If it is not then I would suggest that you are not dreaming big enough.

The great thing about goal setting is that you can focus on what you want from life; the things which bring you joy and happiness and allow you to be the person you want to be. The downside to this is that nobody else cares about your goals. Unless they are going to benefit from you achieving your goal, why should they care?

Sure, you will have some friends who will give you a helping hand, if you ask, but nobody else is going to motivate, inspire or drive you on to achieve your goals.

You are the one who is going to benefit so your goals should inspire you. If they don’t, you need better goals.

​Nobody can predict the future. There are no guarantees that your endeavours will be without risk. Every attempt at progress is accompanied with a certain level of risk. The best you can do is to prepare for the risk and try to minimise it. The one thing you can be extremely confident of is that failure to take action will not bring you any closer to your goals.

No matter what aspect of your life you are trying to improve, there are risks and costs associated. People tend to think that self-improvement will only ever bring improvements but that is not always the case. Things may not work out and, you need to understand that taking on something new in your life will mean that you give up something else; knowingly or unknowingly.

I remember going travelling (New Zealand and Australia) in 2005. Before I went, my travel agent warned me that things are never quite the same when you get back. As he put i​t:

You need to remember that your friends and family will just get on with their life and you won’t be a part of it’.

He wasn’t trying to be negative; he was just making sure that I was aware of all of the impacts of spending a couple of years travelling at the other end of the world. Here are some of the costs that travelling brought:

I don’t regret travelling; I am delighted with my experience but it is important to remember that every step in the direction of your dreams does come with a cost. When you are aware of the costs, you are actually better able to determine that they are costs you are willing to accept.

​For more on dealing with risk, read 5 Simple steps to controlled risk taking.

​Other people will not change just because you would like things to be different. What you can change is how you relate to them which in turn will require them to change how they relate to you. Your desired change will never happen unless you change. You can avoid procrastination by taking responsibility for the changes you want to see.

Remember it is you who will benefit from achieving your goals so; if somebody else is standing between you and your goal; it is unlikely that they will volunteer to change. If they won’t change, it is you who must change.

Any relationship is a combination of the two people involved. So, if one person changes how they communicate, behave, act; this changes the entire dynamic of the relationship. When you change the dynamic of the relationship, the other person will be required to change how they behave.

Many people defer pursuing their goals until they feel confident enough to see it through. They forget to ask themselves the all-important question:

​How can you be confident at something you have never done?

​Confidence doesn’t come before you take action. If you are waiting for confidence to arrive; you might as well be waiting for the Hogwarts Express.

Instead, take action on your goal and with each positive step you take and; each action you complete; your confidence will begin to grow. Avoid procrastination, take action and watch your confidence climb to new heights.

​For more on buiding your self-confidence, read 11 Simple strategies to build self-confidence.

​You are unique. Nobody else has your purpose, values, vision, dreams and aspirations. There may be people who will share part of your journey but nobody will share your entire journey. This means that nobody else can give you a blueprint for living your life; you must carve your own path. Others can offer help and advice for parts of the journey but it is you who must decide what will help you and what will not.

You can avoid procrastination by realising that you can set the course of your life and, change that course, anytime you please. Therefore, there is no right and wrong; just learning experiences.

There is no map to follow. You must create the path to live the life you want. Then, when you are at the end of your journey, you can look back to see the path you took but until then, life must be lived in the present moment where you decide the right course of action in each moment.

Of course you should remember that as with any journey, you will take some wrong turns on your life journey. This is not somethng to be afraid of. You just have to make some adjustments, change direction and get back on track.

​When you want to make major changes in your life; it all starts in your head. You define your purpose, clarify your values, create your vision, set your goals and make plans. However, at some point, your life plan needs to step out of your head and into the real world. You need to take action. If you don’t take action, you will never achieve your goals. You can’t make improvements if you haven’t done anything to improve on. ​

​These fundamental beliefs can help anyone to avoid procrastination. When you accept them and live by them you will see that it is much better to be a doer than a talker. Talkers can seem convincing and command attention, but doers get the results. It is the results that bring the reward and the happiness, so avoid procrastination, take action and fulfil your goals and dreams.