Procrastination and perfectionism hold us back from reaching our goals. I’m sharing how they are two sides of the same “fear” coin and what to do to manage your mind so you no longer let them hold you back from your next big leap.
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Welcome to she coaches coaches. I'm your host,
Candy Motzek:Candy Motzek. And I'm going to help you find the clarity,
Candy Motzek:confidence and courage to become the coach that you are meant to
Candy Motzek:be. If you're a new coach, or if you've always wanted to be a
Candy Motzek:life coach, then this is the place for you. We're going to
Candy Motzek:talk all about mindset and strategies and how to, because
Candy Motzek:step by step only works when you have the clarity, courage and
Candy Motzek:confidence to take action. Let's get started. Hey, everybody,
Candy Motzek:welcome back. So pleased that you're here. Today,
Candy Motzek:I'm continuing on a few episodes where I talk about this central
Candy Motzek:topic of fear. I explained to you guys a couple of weeks ago,
Candy Motzek:that I've been doing a lot of thinking about this. And I see
Candy Motzek:where fear has held me back. And fear still continues to hold my
Candy Motzek:clients back. And guess what, it's because we're human, go
Candy Motzek:figure, right. But it doesn't mean that we can't find new ways
Candy Motzek:of managing ourselves so that our lives are easier, so that we
Candy Motzek:know how to manage fear so that we learn how to do it in a way
Candy Motzek:that works for us, so that we acknowledge our humaneness,
Candy Motzek:except ourselves and continued to grow. Today, we're talking
Candy Motzek:about two things, procrastination, and
Candy Motzek:perfectionism. Two super common topics that come up in my life,
Candy Motzek:and in all the conversations that I have with my wonderful
Candy Motzek:clients. And I got to thinking about it. And I realized that
Candy Motzek:they are two sides of the same coin. So we're going to talk
Candy Motzek:about that today. And I'm going to share a three step strategy B
Candy Motzek:strategy about what you can do to overcome them. So you can get
Candy Motzek:moving towards feeling more like yourself feeling more authentic,
Candy Motzek:and getting closer to your goals. The other day, I realized
Candy Motzek:I was procrastinating, I was spinning my wheels, I was
Candy Motzek:creating content that is going to help coaches start and build
Candy Motzek:their coaching practice in a super easy and authentic way, in
Candy Motzek:a way that is supportive and encouraging to and where
Candy Motzek:possible, I always include the step by step like exactly what
Candy Motzek:to do and when to do it. And then I like to include a whole
Candy Motzek:bunch of mindset stuff too, because most of the time when
Candy Motzek:we're becoming coaches is something that you've never done
Candy Motzek:before. So it's really normal to run up against fear and
Candy Motzek:expectation. And the places where you're just unsure, you
Candy Motzek:don't quite know what to do. So we often self sabotage. And I
Candy Motzek:was experiencing procrastination, because of all
Candy Motzek:of this. And it really made me think of this concept,
Candy Motzek:procrastination and perfectionism. Now, for me,
Candy Motzek:procrastination means you put off starting something, you're
Candy Motzek:committed to it, you might even want to do it, but you put off
Candy Motzek:the start of it, it might be from the very beginning, or it
Candy Motzek:might be the next stage that you're starting. So it's like
Candy Motzek:the beginning of a continuum. Procrastination, putting off
Candy Motzek:starting. And then farther down the continuum is perfectionism.
Candy Motzek:And it's the thing that says, It's not good enough, I need to
Candy Motzek:make this thing perfect. Before I can call it done, I need it to
Candy Motzek:be perfect for me to finish it and put it out in the world. So
Candy Motzek:procrastination is starting the journey or any step of the
Candy Motzek:journey. And perfectionism is saying, it's not good enough, so
Candy Motzek:I can't be finished with it yet. Where I think this really
Candy Motzek:hinders us. And where it really has an impact on our lives in
Candy Motzek:the world, is that so many of the things that you want to do
Candy Motzek:in your life are wonderful, amazing, inspired things. Maybe
Candy Motzek:you want to write a book, maybe you want to become a coach,
Candy Motzek:maybe you want to quit your day job. All those things that you
Candy Motzek:dream about, they sit in your mind, they take up space, you
Candy Motzek:think about them over and over and over again, and something
Candy Motzek:that you really want to do. But then procrastination and
Candy Motzek:perfectionism show up. So we never actually fully bring them
Candy Motzek:truly into the world. So you may dream, for instance, about
Candy Motzek:writing and publishing a book. Maybe you've always wanted to
Candy Motzek:write your family legacy story and you dream about it. But then
Candy Motzek:you procrastinate. About the starting, because you don't know
Candy Motzek:exactly how you're going to do it, you've never done it before.
Candy Motzek:Or you start your outline. And now it's time to start writing
Candy Motzek:that first draft, the individual chapters over and over and over
Candy Motzek:each chapter, you may run into procrastination right at the
Candy Motzek:start. Now you're at the starting place, right?
Candy Motzek:Perfectionism says, it shows up like this. Your first draft is
Candy Motzek:done, it's being edited, and it's time to get that covered
Candy Motzek:design. Now it's time to put it out there in the world. It's
Candy Motzek:time to tell people it's done. It's time to share it. But
Candy Motzek:perfectionism says, Oh, that's not good enough. No, I don't
Candy Motzek:think I'm quite ready to publish it. Maybe I should edit it one
Candy Motzek:more time, maybe I should read it through one more time. You
Candy Motzek:know, that cover isn't quite right. Or even this, nobody's
Candy Motzek:going to like it in this way. Anyway, I should fix it. So it's
Candy Motzek:perfect. So you want to make it perfect. So this is where
Candy Motzek:procrastination stops you from starting. And starting every
Candy Motzek:single step. And perfectionism doesn't let you finish? Do you
Candy Motzek:see what I mean? Two sides of the same coin. So they're both
Candy Motzek:safety triggers, the way our mind works to keep us safe, is
Candy Motzek:to keep us from stretching from trying something new, or to
Candy Motzek:putting something out there in the world. So at the heart of
Candy Motzek:it, there is fear here. And it's wanting you to hold back from
Candy Motzek:starting, or it's wanting to hold you back from completing.
Candy Motzek:But it's still fear. Who knows what the fear is about? It might
Candy Motzek:be fear of not fitting in, it might be fear of not being good
Candy Motzek:enough. It might be fear of what people might say, but at the
Candy Motzek:heart of it, it's fear. And so yes, underlying fear often stops
Candy Motzek:us from starting or completing. But that dream will still sit
Candy Motzek:there in your head, and it won't go away. So what do you do,
Candy Motzek:right? That's why I've got these three little strategies that you
Candy Motzek:can use to help overcome both procrastination and
Candy Motzek:perfectionism. And all three strategies start with the letter
Candy Motzek:A. The first is acceptance. The second is accountability. And
Candy Motzek:the third is anticipation. So those are my three steps to help
Candy Motzek:you deal with both procrastination and
Candy Motzek:perfectionism. Let's talk a little bit about them. Starting
Candy Motzek:with number one, acceptance, acceptance is where I want to
Candy Motzek:remind you, your human accepting that you are going to do the
Candy Motzek:best you can, given the resources that you have, given
Candy Motzek:where you are in your life, and to allow that it's okay, that
Candy Motzek:you are enough exactly how you are right now. It is accepting
Candy Motzek:that what you create will be good, maybe even great, and
Candy Motzek:accepting that if you have that dream, it's meant to be created
Candy Motzek:in this world by you. That there is something there that says
Candy Motzek:it's up to you to bring this into the world. Your voice is
Candy Motzek:important. Your message is important. This is important.
Candy Motzek:Accepting that you bring it into the world for yourself, to
Candy Motzek:fulfill your dream, and others will benefit to accepting you're
Candy Motzek:good enough, excepting that your dream is meant to be here. So
Candy Motzek:that is the first day excepting the second is accountable. The
Candy Motzek:second being accountable, the best way to do it is find
Candy Motzek:yourself an accountability partner, or a tool. I prefer
Candy Motzek:accountability partners, grab yourself a coach or a friend or
Candy Motzek:a family member, somebody that you know, that will hold you
Candy Motzek:accountable. It's going to be so much harder to procrastinate and
Candy Motzek:not finish. If you've got somebody else checking in on
Candy Motzek:your right, grab an apart accountability partner, ask for
Candy Motzek:their help offer your help to them to do you need to be
Candy Motzek:accountable for the week, for the day, for the task for your
Candy Motzek:dream, you know, how could you use yourself as an
Candy Motzek:accountability partner as well? Could you keep a checklist?
Candy Motzek:Could you track your progress? Can you track your steps and
Candy Motzek:your completion? Yeah, you can do this for yourself too. So
Candy Motzek:maybe this is a place where you can do both. Help yourself and
Candy Motzek:work with somebody else to help you be accountable.
Candy Motzek:It might even be something like you exchange DMS every day and
Candy Motzek:started the day you say yep today my goal is to write two
Candy Motzek:pages in my book. At the end of the day, you send them the note,
Candy Motzek:I did it, and you're receiving their accountability too. There
Candy Motzek:is so much synergy and power in helping each other. And then you
Candy Motzek:can be each other's cheering squad as well. The most
Candy Motzek:important thing about this is that you are learning to keep
Candy Motzek:your commitments to yourself, This is a big deal. So often, it
Candy Motzek:is easy for us to keep our commitment to somebody else. And
Candy Motzek:we would never in a million years think of breaking that
Candy Motzek:commitment. If I give you my word, I know I will honor it.
Candy Motzek:But when I give myself my word, do I honor it with the same
Candy Motzek:intention. And this is one of the things that you're learning
Candy Motzek:in this place of accountability. The third A is anticipation. And
Candy Motzek:I love this idea. I got this idea from the book finished by
Candy Motzek:Jon Acuff and his recommendation. In the book,
Candy Motzek:I've used it myself, and I really, I really like it. So
Candy Motzek:what you do is you use the dream of the next thing, your next
Candy Motzek:fun, shiny thing that you're going to do, as the reward for
Candy Motzek:finishing this task. So use your dream of the next thing, your
Candy Motzek:anticipation of doing that next fun thing as your motivation to
Candy Motzek:finish the current task that you want to do. So an example like
Candy Motzek:this might be, maybe you want to run a marathon, and you want to
Candy Motzek:go to Hawaii and run a marathon there, but you've never even run
Candy Motzek:10k. So maybe, before you will allow yourself to travel to
Candy Motzek:Hawaii to run that marathon, maybe your deal with yourself is
Candy Motzek:that I have to be able to run those miles. So I have to focus
Candy Motzek:on learning how to run those miles before I allow myself the
Candy Motzek:travel of going to the fun place. So before you can reach
Candy Motzek:the dream of the marathon in Hawaii, your first dream is
Candy Motzek:actually to be able to run those miles in your own hometown. And
Candy Motzek:the motivation to get to that eventual dream of running in the
Candy Motzek:place of warps in Hawaii, tropical paradise says I can do
Candy Motzek:that. But only after I've run this in my hometown too. So keep
Candy Motzek:that next dream alive for yourself as the motivation to
Candy Motzek:get over your perfectionism and finish what you started. So
Candy Motzek:let's quickly recap the three strategies that you can use to
Candy Motzek:overcome procrastination and perfectionism. The first is
Candy Motzek:acceptance. Accept who you are, that you're human, that you're a
Candy Motzek:person. And that if you've got a dream, it's meant to be created
Candy Motzek:by you in your life. The second is accountability, being
Candy Motzek:accountable for your word, being accountable to take the actions
Candy Motzek:that you say you're going to do, have an accountability partner,
Candy Motzek:and learn to keep your commitments to yourself. And the
Candy Motzek:third is anticipation. When you get into the tough times, maybe
Candy Motzek:there's some setbacks in bringing your current dream to
Candy Motzek:life. What's that next stream that you won't let yourself
Candy Motzek:start until this one is finished. So I hope you're
Candy Motzek:finding this useful. And I would love to know what exactly you're
Candy Motzek:putting into play, send me a DM or comment on the blog post. I'd
Candy Motzek:love to hear from you. And I've got one more thing for you. If
Candy Motzek:you've always been curious about what it takes to become a
Candy Motzek:successful life coach, I wrote you an ultimate guide. There's a
Candy Motzek:link in the Episode Notes, I'd encourage you to go click that
Candy Motzek:link and download the guide and have a read, especially if this
Candy Motzek:is a dream that you've been holding for months or even
Candy Motzek:years. If you have been dreaming of becoming a coach. You've been
Candy Motzek:saying things to yourself, like I'd love to do that. Then go and
Candy Motzek:download that guide, have a read through it. It gives you some
Candy Motzek:great ideas that I know you'll love and encouragement and a
Candy Motzek:stepping stone path. So you'll know how to go about it and what
Candy Motzek:your next step is. Now if you want even more help, maybe
Candy Motzek:you've had enough of trying to figure this all out on your own
Candy Motzek:by yourself. We should talk I've got a few space open in my
Candy Motzek:calendar for private clients. as I record this, I've got two
Candy Motzek:spaces, but you know, people grow and graduate all the time.
Candy Motzek:So click the link in the Episode Notes to find out how to apply
Candy Motzek:to work with me. And I'll be back and speak with you again.
Candy Motzek:Thanks again for listening today. Please hop on over to
Candy Motzek:Apple podcasts and leave Have a review. Also, I would love to
Candy Motzek:hear from you did something that I say resonate? What else would
Candy Motzek:you like to learn about? Click the link in the player and leave
Candy Motzek:a comment on the post. This is going to give me great ideas for
Candy Motzek:future episodes so I can help you best. Join me again next
Candy Motzek:week for more coaching, support and teaching to help you become
Candy Motzek:the confident coach. You are meant to be