Scientists Find Cause (and Cure) for Procrastination

And let's talk about procrastination. And scientists have discovered the cause and the cure for procrastination. So first question is, are you ready to let go of procrastination in 2021? Let me know if you are ready to let go of procrastination in 21. Give me a like a love a note or something. I hope you had a great holiday season. I hope you have got all your goals about what happens when you are procrastinating. Am I the only one who procrastinates at times? I don't think so. Right. So scientists have discovered a cause and a cure for procrastination. Can you maybe help me out? What do you think is the number one cause of procrastination? I'm going to take you to a couple of different places around procrastination. But what do you think is the number one cause of procrastination? Anybody? Guess. There's actually three real reasons for procrastination, right? So being afraid. So fear is one. Hi there Shane. And hi there Sandra. By the way. Say hi to me. Tell me John. Nice to see you. Here's where I'm from. I want to see where everybody's from. Hi Mahesh. Hi there, Grace. Nice to see you. Shana. Avoiding feelings. Yeah, feelings that you don't like. So fear of failing. Fear of succeeding and failing. Fear of disappointment. There's three main reasons that we procrastinate and there's some cures for it also. So I'm going to give you some of those cures. But before I give you the cures, tell me where you're from. That would be great. When we talk about scientists discovered the cause and the cure for procrastination, what I'm referring to specifically is obviously what's happening in the brain. What's happening in the brain, Right? And with the brain's working on circuits that turn on or off. Right. So what do you think happens when you have a goal, 20, 21, brand new goals, brand new you and you start to procrastinate like you're procrastinating? I want you to answer this question, okay? Is it possible that procrastination is actually giving you a reward? Is it possible that procrastination is giving you a reward of some kind? So I want you to think about this question, okay? When you procrastinate, what's the reward you're getting? When you procrastinate, what is the reward you are actually getting? Think about that. Right? What is the reward you get? When you procrastinate, like, listen, you have goals, right? You have goals. You want to achieve X or Y or Z. You want to look better, lose weight, make more money, start your business, write a book, have a better relationship, right? So what is the reward that you're getting? Right? The reward, somebody just said, is safety. So by procrastinating, for some people, you feel safe, right? And when we talk about procrastination, right, I want you to always come back to your brain. And, Andrea, if you can get my brain out of my bag or over there where it's at, I want you to think about circuits that turn on and off in your brain. Automatic circuits, okay, that are wired into, okay, your brain. Whether it is the instinctual brain, the emotional brain, or the logical brain. But think about your brain as circuits turning on and off. So one circuit that goes on when you have a goal. Is anybody guess which circuit is going on when you set a goal and you share it with your friends? All right, Is it the motivational circuit? And is it possible that that releases through this place called the nucleus accumbens and insula, which is part of the ventral tegmental area of your brain, is it possible that that releases a neurochemical called dopamine? There you go. We catch flights, and that makes you feel good, but then you procrastinate. Why? Why would we procrastinate on a goal that we want to achieve? Right? And many of you said safety. So the reward for procrastination is safety. Think about this. What do you do more for to avoid pain and discomfort? Do you do more to avoid pain or discomfort or to do more to gain pleasure? What do you think you do more of? Just think of, again, the biological part of your brain. Is it to be safe or is it to gain pleasure? Which one happens first in your beautiful brain? And guess what the answer is. From a scientific perspective, we do more to avoid pain or discomfort than we do to gain pleasure. So we have goals and we are excited about them. We tell our friends about them. We high five each other. But then another part of our brain goes, but what if you fail? What if you succeed and you lose your friends? What if you fail and one of your friends or family members embarrasses you, you are ashamed of yourself, you are judged by your friend, your children, whatever the case is. So when we have neurological systems that are there to protect us, and the reward for procrastination is safety and comfort, can you see why our brain will cause us to procrastinate even Though we're capable of achieving more. Can you understand that? Can you see that? Does that make any sense? Right. So it's not that you're lacking the ability to, but maybe you're missing some techniques. And would you like me to give you some inner sizes to do? Right. Based on my new best selling book, Inner size. So does that make sense? Fundamentally. So there's only three reasons that we will procrastinate. Can anybody help me list out the three? Let's do a little bit of fun learning together. You can see what everybody is typing into the chat, whether it's on Instagram or YouTube or, or LinkedIn or Facebook. I'm streaming everywhere today. So there's only three reasons that we procrastinate. A very small percentage of the population, like less than 1%, they actually procrastinate because it's actually an arousal mechanism in their brain. They actually release dopamine, okay, by procrastinating. And they procrastinate as a way to build up the tension which excites them mentally so that they take action and take off like a rocket. Very, very few people. Number two reason that people procrastinate is fear. Fear of what? Fear of what? Fear of failing. Fear of being embarrassed, ashamed, ridiculed, judged. Fear of having to face themselves or their significant others or family or friends knowing that they failed. So fear and fear is an automatic trigger in our brain that is also focused on our safety. There's nothing wrong with the circuits, but in the absence of what should I do then? People just revert back to safety, safety face, safety, safety, safety and comfort zone. So why do we have thermostats in our car? Why do we have thermostats in, in our homes? To maintain comfort zone. Homeostasis is what it's called. And so we are biologically, millions of years of evolution are biologically wired for safety and comfort first before we gain pleasure. So the number two cause is fear. And then number three. Can anybody guess number three? Arousal is number one. Fear is number two. What is number three? What is number three? Here's the good news. In 2020, we know more about the neural circuits in our brain and what turns them on and what turns them off. The motivational circuit, the fear circuit, the anxiety circuit, the stress circuit, the panic circuit, the spiritual circuit. We know more about that now than ever before. So what is the third reason people procrastinate? One is arousal. Two is fear. Can anybody share with me the third one? All right, so Muhammad says habits, and that's right, Andrea can we post some of these up there? There we go. Laziness. Nope, not laziness. Number three, the unknown. No, that's a fear. Don't know where to start though. That's lack of knowledge and skills which causes fear and self doubt. Okay, let's see. Avoid pain, distractions. Well, that's part of fear. All right. Nobody's got it yet. Nobody's got it yet. By the way, do you like this topic Procrastination? Procrastination. Would you agree that procrastination is a behavior, right? Procrastinating is a behavior, right? If we do something or if we don't do something, that's a behavior, right? All right, here's the third one. There we go. Karen King. Hi there, Karen King. So Karen King said low self esteem. But I'm going to give you three interlaced parts that this works on. It's either low self worth, low self image, or low self esteem. Those are all interrelated, right? So let's say we want to have a goal. Whether it's to release weight and get into the best shape of your life, whether it's to make more money, whether it's to be an author, whether it's to start your own business. The conscious decision of wanting to do this is great. There's nothing wrong with that. That's using your Einstein brain, right? I've got my little Einstein up there on my wall, Einstein brain to choose the goal. But if at the subconscious level you secretly don't believe you deserve that body, that energy, that relationship, that business, that status, that image, then you will automatically procrastinate. Thank you, Brian Karoff. So procrastination number one. Arousal, fear, low self esteem, self worth. So would you like me to give you one or two tips on what to do? And Anna, what book are you reading? Are you reading Inner Size? Having It All? The answer? Which one? So does this make sense? First of all, I love to focus on cause versus effect. Right? Cause versus effect. Let's be smarter than focusing on the effect. Let's not focus on procrastinating. I'm procrastinating. I'm procrastinating. And reducing our self worth and self image and self esteem and self confidence. Let's figure out why am I procrastinating and then let me fix the why. I'm procrastinating. All right? By the way, there's a training that you can attend for free if you like. It's about an hour and 15 minutes of deeper level understanding of procrastination I'll have my team put a link on all of my social media challenge on three steps to stopping procrastination. And I'll go a little bit deeper, a lot of deep, a lot deeper into this for those of you who want it. It's free. It'll be our joy. And watch the videos, get some of the extra training. If you want, my team will put a link in Instagram, will be up in my bio and on all the other channels. There'll be links below this video. So let me give you a little bit of scientific information on eliminating procrastination. So you can start it today. Okay? So first and foremost is procrastination in many cases a habit for many people. Is it a habit? Is it a pattern that repeats itself? Right? Is it possible that procrastination is a habit? We become habituated to procrastinating as a way to protect our self image, as a way to avoid pain or discomfort or fear or self doubt, et cetera. Would you agree with that? So all of the research around habits is that every single habit has a trigger, something that triggers it. The procrastination is the behavior. And then in procrastinating specifically, we get a reward because we're now back in safety. So whenever we have a habit loop that is called trigger behavior, reward, trigger behavior, reward, that's happening automatically, something is triggering, okay, the behavior of procrastination. And so here's what I want you to do. There's a lot of research on something called mindfulness, right? So would you agree and type in your answer to this. Would you agree that you have a brain but you're not your brain? Would you agree that you can be aware of your thoughts? Would you agree with that? Would you agree that you could be aware of your feelings? Would you agree with that? Would you agree that you could be aware of the sensations in your body? Would you agree that you could be aware of the behaviors that you're taking or not taking? Would you agree that you have a brain, you are not your brain. You have a heart, you're not your heart, you have hands, you're not your hands, would you agree with that? So let's understand the fundamental understanding first is I have a $100 billion brain, right? 100 billion dollar brain, right? So if you have a brain, but you're not your brain, you're not your thoughts, emotions, feelings, sensations or behaviors. What if the first part of eliminating procrastination is just to be in a state of awareness? What if the first Part is to become aware of the pattern first. So what if you, like me, kept a sheet of paper by your side, by your desk, or if you like to use on a computer, and you started to become aware of when you are procrastinating? Would you agree with this? Awareness can give me choice, and choice is what can give me the freedom that I want. Think about this. Awareness gives me choice. Choice gives me freedom. What do most people do day to day? They just go about day to day, right? Without any thought, without any reflection, without any deliberate evolution of their thoughts or feelings or behaviors. So what if when you procrastinate, instead of judging yourself, blaming yourself, feeling guilty, instead of giving any justification for why you are procrastinating, why not level up to a higher cortical function of awareness in the last five to eight years? Mindfulness, being aware without judgment, blame, shame, guilt, or justification is the. I mean, that's what they're teaching in every medical school and every corporation in anywhere that's teaching people personal growth and development of self. Deliberate conscious evolution, I call it. So what if the first step of procrastination and eliminating it is just pure awareness without any judgment of yourself. Could you do that and go, wow, I'm procrastinating writing my book. I'm procrastinating on the diet. I'm procrastinating on starting my business or my book, whatever it is that you want to do. Now, what if the very next question that you asked yourself, all right, is, what reward am I getting in procrastinating? What reward am I getting in procrastinating? What if we were just aware the reward I'm getting is I feel safe. The reward I'm getting is, you know, I'm in my comfort zone. Now, here's a question. Can you be comfortable and miserable? Can you be comfortable and miserable? You know, of course you can, right? So in awareness and in asking ourselves, what reward am I getting in procrastinating now, we can elevate from having thoughts and emotions that are automatically causing a reaction called procrastination to being aware so we can respond differently, so that we can be aware, so we can respond differently. So when we ask ourselves, what is the reward that I'm getting and procrastinating, we go, okay, I'm saving energy, I'm saving time. I'm feeling safe, I'm feeling secure. I'm reducing my stress, whatever that is, then we could say, okay, now that I see that pattern, what is my real intention? Now, this is where you have to have Some goals. And you know, you have to have reasons why you want to achieve your goals, right? So when we have goals and reasons why we must achieve them, the why we must achieve our goals has to be, pay close attention. Has to be bigger than the reward you're getting right now for remaining the same and procrastinating. Does that make sense? The reward for achieving your goals, the reason why you must achieve your goals and has to be bigger than the reward you are getting right now for procrastinating. Does that make sense? Again, we're talking about neurochemistry in our brains and lighting up of neurons. So then when we have our awareness and we say to ourselves, okay, what's my intention? Well, my intention is to achieve my goal. My intention is to be healthier. My intention is to have a better relationship. My intention is to start my business. My intention is to make more money. My intention is to write that book. My intention is to become a coach, whatever the case is now, you recalibrate and you move away from that fear, stress, anxiety center in our brain. And then we shift over to the intention of what it is that I want. And then here is the cherry on the top, by the way. If you like this training, sign up for the three keys to procrastination. I'll go way deeper than I am today and it's a free training that I'm doing. You're more than welcome to sign up. My team will put up a link for you. But the third most important key. All right, what is one, not five. One small easy action step that you can take towards the vision or the goal that you have. What is one little step? I don't care if it's for one minute, for 30 seconds, I don't care if it's. If it's as easy as reading one chapter, doing one little bit of research, it doesn't make a difference. When we are in a state of awareness of the pattern, when we understand what is the reward we're getting, when we contrast it, confront that pattern against the goals that we want and why we must achieve those goals. We're operating from an elevated functioning of our brain. It's what I call the Einstein part of your brain instead of the Frankenstein part of your brain, the fear and limiting beliefs and self image part of our brain, that's going to hold you back. And then when we take one small action step, are we not changing the pattern? Are we not teaching ourselves that even in a state of procrastination, my why is bigger than the procrastination and then because I take one action step, small one, do I not change the neurological pattern in my brain from one of I'm a procrastinator to one that I take small, consistent action steps towards my goals and dreams, even when I feel uncomfortable? Now, here's what happens. If you're older than 25 or 30, you've got neural patterns that have been reinforced. And those neural patterns that have been reinforced, those are just the easy ones for your brain to. To fire off that causes automatic behaviors. And so what do we want to do? Be aware. Without judgment, blame, shame, guilt or justification. Just pure awareness. Because it's awareness that gives us choice. Choice gives us the freedom we want. And the freedom we want is what? To develop self confidence, to develop self trust. I trust myself to set a goal, to overcome any obstacles so that I can become the person that I want to become, that I know I'm capable of becoming, that I dream of becoming. See, if you want to achieve your goals, okay, pay close attention. Setting goals is easy. A monkey can do that. Achieving goals requires some higher cortical functions. And for us adults, we have to become aware of the habitual patterns that cause our behaviors or cause us to procrastinate. And then we want to interrupt the patterns slowly, easily, without. I'm going to keep saying jug or blame, shame, guilt or justification. And then we just take one little action step. And in taking one little action step, now guess what? You start to think about yourself. Then what do you think you start to believe about yourself? Then what do you think you start to feel about yourself? Are you now somebody who overcomes her or his procrastination habit? Are you somebody who takes inspired action? Even a little bit of inspired action? Of course. And then what do you start doing that starts to change your self image and your self worth? It reduces the fear that you have. It increases your positivity, self affirmation of yourself. So when we are in a state of observation, awareness, intention, deliberate. And then one little action step. Wow. Now I am making forward progress. And who cares if the progress is a little bit at a time, inch by inch, It's a cinch, right? Does that make sense? So, Marcia. Yeah. You've got to be aware of old patterns, interrupt them, and then create a new pattern. That's a constructive, positive, empowering pattern. Constructive, positive, empowering pattern. Instead of destructive, disempowering, negative pattern. Procrastination is a negative disempowering pattern. We want to shut that down and we want to create new Patterns. All right. Does that make sense? All right. So every Tuesday I'm here on my Achieve Even More channel. I gave you lots of stuff to help you achieve your goals faster and easier than ever before using the latest in neuroscience research so that you're not wasting time, energy on airy fairy stuff that may or may not work, but real stuff that will work. So if you want to go deeper on this, my team will put a link on there. I've got another, I think 75 minute training for free for you. I wish you the best year of your life in health. And when I talk about health, I talk about spiritual, emotional, mental and physical health. Right? That is the semp model that I teach all my students. I want you to focus on your health, your wellbeing, your family, financial wellbeing, charitable contributions, fun and experiences that you can enjoy in your life. Health, wealth, relationships, career, business, fun experiences, charity. Create magical experiences this year. I know it's a challenging time out there, but you know what? We can create magical experiences at home, with our family outside. Do what you can. Focus on what you can versus what you cannot. All right. I appreciate you. Every Tuesday at 9:00 clock Pacific Time, 12:00', clock, New York. I do this live. And then we also do a lot of stuff where we invite our, you know, people that follow my work to zoom meetings and so keep in my environment. Share this if you enjoyed it and how about a high five for the rest of the day and the rest of the week. Boom, boom, boom, boom. I appreciate you. And if you want to go deeper, sign up for the three keys to eliminate procrastination. I'll go even deeper on some tools and techniques. I appreciate you so much. Bye. Ariva Deji. Please share this.