Guided meditation to help you stop procrastinating

Welcome to the meditation on procrastination.

And somewhat ironically, I've been procrastinating making this meditation, so we're all in the same boat together.

So, as with all meditations, posture and breathing makes a big difference.

I really encourage you to find a nice firm seat to sit on. If your legs don't fall asleep, you could sit on the ground as well, but try to sit with your back upright, really good posture.

Breathe in, breathe out a little bit slower, a little bit deeper every time. You could lay your hands on your lap. I like to leave them face up, and when you're ready, you can soften your gaze and slowly close your eyes, breathing in, breathing out.

Now, procrastination is an interesting thing. I'm not sure whether we human beings are the only animals we know of that procrastinate. It's maybe worth some research for somebody to figure that out. But we clearly do it, and a lot of meditation is about becoming aware of our thoughts and observing our thoughts, and realizing that we are not our thoughts. Even though many times our thoughts seem to control us or even overwhelm us.

And so let's do that. Let's try to observe those thoughts that are making us put off something that we know we need to do. Why do you think you are putting that thing off?

I'll tell you what it happens to be. Usually, from my experience, it usually is: I'm afraid to start because I might realize it's harder than I expected, or I might not do as well as I expected, or I might make a mistake. Maybe I don't think I'm prepared enough to start.

Another way to think about it is we're getting too caught up in the outcome versus enjoying the journey or enjoying whatever the thing is that you're putting off because that's just a part of this fun experience. And so I find that when I tell myself: "Self, define yourself by the action, not the outcome. Don't define yourself by whether you succeed or fail. Define yourself as making the effort, showing up, and enjoying it."

Laughing at yourself, laughing at this mystery that we call life, and just putting one foot in front of the other and realizing it's not so bad. And then you could put the other foot in front of that one and keep going.

Slowly but surely, you realize that you're making a lot of progress. The more you make that progress, the more that you actually enjoy it, especially if you're not doing it at the last minute.

And now I'll give you about a minute for you to repeat something in your mind that can hopefully short-circuit any of those thoughts that have been keeping you from taking action.

For the next minute or so, repeat to yourself that you really enjoy taking action. You're lucky that you're in a position to be able to take action. The outcome: it is what it is. You enjoy action; you are lucky to be able to take action. The outcome is what it is.

Keep thinking that for the next minute or so, and I'll be back. Don't worry.

Alright, so when you're ready, really at your own time, just become a little bit more aware of your surroundings, a little bit more aware of your body, a little bit more aware of your breaths, and slowly open your eyes.

And so I'll finish with one last tip. Sometimes we put something off because it just feels big or overwhelming. What I like to do then is say, "Hey, let me just put 20 minutes towards it and see where I am at the end of 20 minutes."

If I didn't make any progress, no big deal; it was just 20 minutes. But if I did make some progress, great! I did the 20 minutes; I deserve a break.

If after a 5 or 10 minute break I'm ready to put in another 20 minutes, awesome! If at the end of the 20 minutes I want to keep going, I shouldn't stop myself; I should keep going.

But when you view things as, "Hey, I'm just committing 20 minutes to something," it doesn't feel as intimidating. You just own it. You say, "Hey, I can do anything for 20 minutes, and I can enjoy anything for 20 minutes."

And then you'll want to do it. Put on a smile on your face and own that action. Not only will you make progress, but you're going to have a good time.

So take it with that playful mindset. Enjoy it, smile, and just get started. I think you'll find you'll be procrastinating a lot less.