How I Beat Procrastination Every Day.

I just hit 650 articles this morning. About one article every other day for five years*. WOW.

Here's the hard truth — there are two types of people in the world:

1. One who quickly writes a blog post every day. Easily. It flows out of them like a skittles rainbow.
2. One who tries to write every day. It's hard. You start to question yourself — did I write this already? Definitely not a rainbow happening here.

I'm #2. But to have a growing and robust practice, I made a commitment to myself, my clients, and my readers that I would write every other day.

I get up every morning at 4:30 AM, sit down at my laptop, and write (okay — I shower first). And I say this mantra to myself:

• Get it done.
• Don't put it off.
• Make it happen.

And at first, my 'worry' brain takes over and begins to toss out obstacles:

• You have NO ideas. You have an empty brain.
• No one is reading your stuff. Why write it and waste your time?
• You're wasting time on this. Don't you have to check email?
• You are a failure. Think of all the times you screwed up . . .
• Your old friend Procrastination stops by for a visit (the guest who would never leave). Do it later — you'll be better at it.

But then, I wipe all those BS thoughts out of my brain (because they aren't true) and TAKE ACTION. I sit down, open my laptop, and start writing. And guess what? Withing 20-30 minutes, I have a article to edit!

Yes, it's that easy.

As Eckhart Tolle calls it, The Power of Now. "Be present as the watcher of your mind -- of your thoughts and emotions as well as your reactions in various situations."

My interpretation — Don't let the 'busyness' of your worries take over, don't let fear creep in, and above all, don't procrastinate.

As Nike says, "Just Do It." So I write. And write. And write. And guess what?

It sucked at first. But after six months, it's a lot easier. So I keep at it.

Now to YOU:

What one thing are you procrastinating on right now? What are you putting off?

Take the first step and start getting it done. You'll find it's not that hard, or time consuming.

That's just your ego speaking.

*Here's my math:

• 104 Saturdays/Sundays and two weeks vacation give me an approximate balance of 250 working days each year.
• Total working days in 5 years: 1250.
• 1250 days divided by 650 articles equals 1.92 days. So rounding up we get every other day.

Why Bad Things Happen When We Least Expect It.

"Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge." — Eckhart Tolle For many years, I felt bad things just happen in our lives. I'm not talking about a sudden death in the family, or a severe illness. That's truly unfortunate.

I'm talking about a bad boss, a missed job offer, or a client who got away at the last minute. These are situations thrust into our lives to not only teach us to appreciate the good times, but to also clearly understand something better is probably around the corner.

First off, I'm not trying to be mystical here. There are too many people in this world who expect a cavalcade of good things to be driven and deposited to their door. That's unrealistic and more often than not, an unreasonable frame of mind to live with.

But too many times I've found in my life, with my clients, and my colleagues a loss coupled with a better change right around the corner. For me, a bad boss was thrust into my life — I had to endure his unprofessional antics for about six months until one day, it delivered a clear decision for me to move on from that organization. I left the position and never looked back. Best decision I've ever made.

Are you in a similar position at work? Do you put up with unprofessional shenanigans that impact your position and your work?

This clearly comes into play when interviewing for a new position. How many times have you been passed over for a prime opportunity to then ultimately find a great position offered just a few weeks or months later? If you originally got the first job, the second would never have materialized. Has this ever happened to you?

Finally, clients are a fickle fish to fry. They come and go at a moment's notice. You might put in an enormous amount of work into getting their business and then — poof — they slip away at the last second.

Some people say working with Walmart is like owning a boat — you celebrate the first day of receiving the business and you celebrate the last day you do business.

I feel the client who gets away deserves to stay in the pond for another person to handle their business. Someone else will trundle along for you who is bigger, better, and more fun to do business with.

It took years for me to fully understand and appreciate this passage. I hope I helped you today.

What job, position, or client went away and then the universe suddenly opened up a new perspective to your career?