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How to Break Free from the Procrastination MindLoop
Procrastination feels like being stuck in a mental and emotional cycle, preventing you from taking action. This is the Procrastination MindLoop, and breaking it requires reprogramming your thoughts, feelings, and actions. Let’s simplify the process.
What is the Procrastination MindLoop?
1. Trigger: A challenging task, like calling a high-value prospect.
2. Thought: “I’ll do it later; I’m not ready.”
3. Feeling: Anxiety or overwhelm.
4. MindLoop: The thought feeds the feeling, which feeds the thought, creating a cycle.
5. Action: Avoidance—like scrolling emails or focusing on small tasks.
6. Result: Missed opportunities and a reinforced belief: “I can’t handle this.”
3 Steps to Break the Loop
1. Identify Your Current Loop
Write down your procrastination pattern:
• Trigger: What starts the loop? Example: Seeing a high-value prospect on your list.
• Thought: What are you telling yourself? Example: “I’m not ready for this.”
• Feeling: What emotion does that thought create? Example: Anxiety or fear.
• MindLoop: Thought + Feeling. Example: “I’ll fail” + Fear.
• Action: What do you do? Example: Avoid the call.
• Result: What happens? Example: Missed opportunities, less confidence.
2. Reprogram the Loop
Replace each part with an empowering alternative:
• New Thought: “Every call builds my confidence.”
• New Feeling: Confidence and curiosity.
• New MindLoop: “I grow with every call” + Excitement.
• Aligned Action: Make one call with curiosity.
• New Result: Engaged prospects, momentum, and renewed confidence.
3. Reinforce Your New Loop
• Write It Down Daily:
• Thought: “Every step forward is progress.”
• Feeling: Confidence.
• Track Progress
Trigger/Event New Thought New Feeling Action Taken Result
High-value prospect “I grow with every call.” Confidence Made 3 follow-up calls 1 positive response.
• Celebrate Small Wins: Acknowledge progress, even small steps, to reinforce confidence.
Final Thought
Procrastination thrives on inaction. Break the loop by starting small: rewrite your thought, pair it with a positive feeling, and take one step forward. Remember, every action builds momentum and confidence.
Ask yourself: What’s one step I can take right now to build a new MindLoop? Then take it—success starts there!
this also fits in well with a strategy I learned from another motivational speaker (Mel Robbins) i.e. - simply turning fear into exitement -, like embarking on an adventure...
she said, according to studies, fear and exitement produce almost the same type of physical and chemical processes in the body, except that exitement propells us to move forward...