Ready... set... I'll do it tomorrow. Does this sound familiar at all? Check lists, to do lists, planners, calendars all filled with things we would like to accomplish each day. Procrastination tends to whisper in our ear, "oh just do it tomorrow... do you really need to do that right now... it will get done later... just ten more minutes".
As humans in 2020, it is much more pleasurable to go on Instagram for an hour in comparison to reading a book for an hour. Why is this? Well, our brains are always searching for the activity that would give us satisfaction the fastest. This is why we tend to go towards the candy instead of the healthy meal that would take time and effort to cook. Social media, processed foods, and Netflix are prime examples of things that light up the pleasure part of our brain very quickly. This indicates why it seems so difficult to start that home project, ten page paper, painting, etc. These actions give us long term satisfaction at the end of their completion in comparison to a quick, short term satisfaction. We can become addicted to Dopamine from short term happiness, and quickly become afraid of starting a journey of who we really want to become. A lot of reasons why people do not do what they really would like to be doing, is because they are afraid of their own success. Yes, you can read that again. This is an example relating to the "impostor syndrome". This syndrome is basically someone who does not believe that they deserve their achievements despite the hard work they have put in to get their desired outcome.
Often times, we do not believe that we deserve to achieve our dream life and accomplish our goals. This is not a quick fix, no matter how you look at it. The only true fix is filled with self love. We must realize that of course there are things we cannot control, but overall you and only you can decide to make changes to better your life and choose that you deserve to achieve your dreams.
How might this look? This looks different for everyone honestly in whatever area they are struggling in. For me personally, this looks like taking breaks from social media for days at a time, putting my phone in a different room when I want to get something done, and meditating/yoga/journaling daily. Meditation, yoga, and journaling are things that are vital in my creativity. These actions involve looking inward at my own thoughts without any outside noise. Keeping those three things in my daily life has made me want to try new things and be more open to saying "yes" to opportunities that come my way because I believe I deserve them. Believing that you deserve to have a great life is an amazing first start in developing a better mindset toward completing small steps that have an even greater outcome.
Many of us catch ourselves saying, "I'm fine once I actually get started, I just don't have motivation to do it right now". Relying solely on motivation is honestly a trap. If everyone simply waited until they had motivation to do things, then many projects or inventions that were started would have never been finished. Start because you know you deserve to complete something that benefits you. Motivation comes and goes, but mindset and habits stay.
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