Self Motivator or Procrastinator?

Which are you?  The differences in lifestyles, happiness, success, ideals, and friendships are affected depending on which type of personality you possess and exude.  I use both possess and exude because I've learned someone could possess one, yet overcome it and exude the opposite.

What is a self motivator?  It's pretty much just like the word describes as one who motivates themselves.  It's great when other people, things, and circumstances are used to motivate us, because we all need it sometimes.  But the best motivation will come from that inner cheerleader, the voice we listen to most often, the thing inside we call - drive.

We can't depend on outside forces to keep up steadily moving forward. This is where most of us fail when trying to reach or maintain a goal.  We go strong as long as our motivation for the action or behavioral change is there to push us forward.  But as soon as that outside motivation gets old or dissolves, so does our resolve - and thus the reason we fail and fall back into old habits.  We do this because we return to listening to our regular motivator - the same inner voice that got us where we are in the first place.

This idea reminds me of an Einstein quote:  "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting a different result."  We have to change our mindset, our inner motivator, or we won't stick to the changes in our lives.  It's human nature to be habitual, fall into a routine, build our own little comfortable boxes, but it's not beneficial for success.  I'd even venture to say that it's detrimental to real living - placing the human soul in the realm of existence, but without life - a  modern-day zombie.  I've been a zombie. I know plenty of zombies.   I refuse to be a member of the walking dead.

What is procrastination?  It's  pretty much putting off what needs to be done for another day or another time, postponing the inevitable.  I recently went through a season of procrastination, mostly so that I could heal.  The pain of the major life changes I experienced was often too much for me to handle at once, and as a way to cope, I'd ignore what needed to be faced.  It didn't make the situation go away, it just gave me a little more time to deal with it.

But that time is over now, and I can no longer put off the goals, dreams, ideals, and expectations I have for my life.  I've dried my tears and I'm plowing ahead.  I can't afford to procrastinate any longer.  While it served to allow me time to heal, I also saw the direct effect it  had on my goals and dreams - it kills them, drowns them, and bogs them down.

Life is meant to be lived.  We only get one.  Quit waiting for something to happen, quit procrastinating, quit hanging out with other procrastinators, change your environment, make things happen, move, do, dream, but most all - learn to love yourself and become your biggest motivator.  If you believe in you, then you can do anything.

Till next time,
~T.L. Gray