Today we continue to help Paula, a savvy, sharp businesswoman who has had a successful business offline for many years, determine why she has not completed a very important task necessary to launch her online business. We shared the points regarding fear of success, failure and completion with her and while she acknowledged she had some fears, she did not feel they were enough to paralyze her.

Could it be that even though Paula knows this activity needs to be done she has not wrapped her mind around that it needs to be given high priority?  The fact that it is on her “Most Important Things to Do” list means that it is important and in talking with Paula she recognizes that someone has to do it.  She also realizes that it is not something that should be assigned to someone else; it’s something that she needs to do.  But what has happened everyday so far?  She has found something else to do in that time slot, which means that she has procrastinated each day and given something else priority.

If failure to set a high enough priority on the task is causing Paula to procrastinate, perhaps she could benefit from the following suggestions:

• Use positive affirmations, such as, “I am a competent, successful businesswoman who is capable of reaching my goals by setting priorities in my online business.”
• Use positive statements with a positive outcome. For example, “If I complete this task today I will be one steps closer to the goal of launching my online business,” NOT “If I don’t do this task, I’ll never launch my online business.”
• Reflect on the benefits of taking action now and future results.  It will be one more item that you can cross off your list and that will give you a feeling of accomplishment.

If Paula’s procrastination is due to not setting priorities in her online business, what other recommendations or suggestions would you make to her?  Please share your thoughts in the “Comments” field.

I invite you to join me as we explore Paula’s world.  Paula is a 40 something, sharp, savvy entrepreneur who’s managed a successful offline business for several years and has decided to start an online business.  She’s recently discovered that she has become familiar with someone who was a stranger to her before.  She’s not happy with this relationship and knows that she needs to correct the situation urgently, but before she can do so she has to identify why she has admitted this stranger into her life.  The stranger is procrastination.

Paula has dutifully worked on her “To Do” list on Sunday evening and listed the 6-10 most important things she needs to do for her business during the week.  Each evening she selects her three most important items for the next day but on Friday when she goes over her list she realizes that one task has been carried forward every day and still has not been completed.  It needs to be done but she has been putting it off.  Does she even know why?

Is fear causing Paula to procrastinate?  If so, fear of what?  Here are 3 of the basic fears that generally lead to procrastination:

1.  Fear of Success:  This may seem to be a paradox because normally everyone wants to succeed.  Paul has been successful in her offline business.  Could she be afraid that if she is succeeds in her online business it’s going to take her out of her comfort zone, and more will be required of her to maintain the level of success?

2.  Fear of Failure:  Paula could also be thinking, “What if I do not do well?  What if I lose my reputation as a successful entrepreneur because my online business is not a success?  What if I am not able to attract subscribers to grow my list?”  and the list of negatives multiply.

3.  Fear of Completion:  Paula knows that if she completes that one task she will need to move on to some other aspect of her online business.  By putting it off she is stuck at a certain point before she can move ahead.

Fear in any form can be crippling to you as an individual, to your personal life, and your business.  In order to deal with it, you must identify the fear and its source so that you can view the consequences of giving in, or overcoming the fear objectively. Do not allow fear to cause you to procrastinate!  Set goals with a deadline on how you will deal with your fears so that you can move ahead.

What suggestions do you have for Paula if fears are what’s causing her to procrastinate?  Please click on ‘comments’ and share your thoughts.