Have you ever procrastinated over doing something because you didn’t feel inspired to do it and then the next day, something happened that seemed to explain why you didn’t have to do it in the first place?
This happened to me last week and got me thinking – how can we differentiate between the real messages our intuition through feelings is giving us and pure procrastination because we don’t want to do something?
I believe it comes down to going deep, to really listening to ourselves and knowing our values and what we are wanting from life in that moment.
Now, I understand that we can’t procrastinate all over the place at work when we have deadlines to meet and other people depending on us for our input into a project. What I’m referring to in this post is those more personal situations where you just don’t feel inspired to take action.
One of the most powerful tools that we often don’t make use of is self questioning. A great question to ask yourself when you don’t want to do something that you feel you should, is: What will this get for me? Initially the answer to that question could be something tangible or not. However, what we really need to drill down to is something intangible, and specifically a value that is core to us, because if we can’t connect what we are doing to core values, we won’t be motivated to complete the task. A further question would be: how important is it to take this action right now?
So perhaps you’re still not motivated to take action, it just doesn’t seem to be the right moment. Perhaps it isn’t. I think that it’s at these times when we need to let go. Let go and trust that what we are looking for will come to us by another means than our own action. Be alert to what is happening around you and what you are drawn to.
In a nutshell it’s about changing the focus and asking yourself not “what do I think about this?” (so what should I logically do?) but, “how do I feel about this”? You may be surprised at how this change of focus can lead you down a quite different path.