11. Procrastination Killer: The Acronym You Need

But here's the caveat. Sometimes we let things just fizzle out, and without knowing it, we start becoming someone that's irresponsible. My wife says this intro sounds like a conspiracy mystery. So I'll stop that voice and tell you, this show is for you, to get you on the track you want for your life. I'm going to share encouraging educational content, hopefully entertaining, that will help you direct your life. Hey, can I be honest with you, right now I'm a little bit— yeah, I'm procrastinating a little bit. And that's why I made this episode, to get me on track, to help you stay on track, to put you on track if you fell off track. Let's go. Today I want to talk about an acronym that can serve you, and that acronym is DIRECT. The first and only D is don't overthink. When we overthink, we pause, We procrastinate. We just do everything but the thing we know we need to do. And that was what's happening a little bit today with me. So after this episode, after I share this acronym, I'm going to do this project that I need to get done. I'm so close. I put in a lot of work and sometimes I'm just not wanting to do those final little minute things. It's an editing project. Anyone, an editor out there, any video editors, that thing. I need to get excited about it. But to say nothing more about it, let's go into why overthinking is the problem. The Tao Te Ching always says, stop thinking and end your problems. I have it somewhere on my wall over here, and I've been practicing that since 15. And man, it's hard still, especially when you want to do all these things in life and you're excited every day. It still is true that if you can slow your thinking, stop your thinking, and just move, it will serve you, and it will serve the thing that you're going after. And really, this can halt— this can procrastinate the procrastination. So let's procrastinate tomorrow. Let's do it today. Get it done. So let's procrastinate now by procrastinating tomorrow, so then I get things done now. You feel it? Okay, now. The I. Integrity over irresponsibility. Integrity over irresponsibility. This is a question to you. This is a question to me. Do I want to be an irresponsible person that doesn't finish the project that I said I was going to do? Or the thing I was supposed to start? I don't want to be known as an irresponsible person. I don't think anyone does. But here's the caveat. Sometimes we let things just fizzle out, and without knowing it, we start becoming someone that's irresponsible to ourselves, which is worse. In the end, who cares as much what other people think of you? It's what you think about you that dictates your actions and your decisions. So what are you going to choose? Are you going to have integrity and just Get going. I think that this will build trust with yourself and help you procrastinate less over time. Now, we're all going to have a little bit of this procrastination in us, probably for the rest of our lives, but we can maintain it. We could bring it down. Do less of that and more of what you want. More of what you need to do. That brings us to the R. Recite your reasons. Why do I want to get this editing project done? Because amazing people are waiting to see it. They're excited. They've sent me messages. They're excited to see it. And I'm so close. Okay. I also put in so much time in creating the project, and now I'm just— I'm right there at the end. No more procrastination, Tony. What are your reasons? What and why do you want to start? Do you want to get back To where you're going. Why do you want to direct your life? And what is it in your life that you're after? And if you verbalize it, say it out loud, say why you want to complete or start the task, start the hard challenge, the goal, just win that race. Why do you want to do it? And when you verbalize it, you're at least giving some accountability to yourself. And go steps further and please get a pen, write it down. Write this acronym down. Please grab a pen right now. Okay, moving into the E: elevate through elation. And the word elation just means let's think about how good it's gonna feel. Ah, you're gonna feel good. I'm elated. I am so happy that I started that. I'm so happy I finished that. If we remind ourselves How the end's gonna feel? It's gonna feel much better than now, the procrastination phase. Just keep reminding yourself. The key is awareness. Are you aware? Are you writing down in your journal things that bring you more awareness? So when you're about to procrastinate, you think, "Oh, wait a minute! I gotta think about the end feeling." Yeah, you know what? I'm not procrastinating today because I know I'm gonna feel so much better when I finish the thing. I want to finish. I'm saying that to you as much as I'm saying it to me. I need to finish this editing project. And after this video, I'm going straight into it, baby. Moving into the next one. C. This is important. This is the one that has taken me years to even address. And it stands for care for yourself deeply. I used to have a lot of low self-esteem. And it didn't help me, and it helped me if I was going to help me procrastinate more. So think about how much are you caring for yourself, and that doesn't just mean oh I better have great self esteem. I better write down all the cool things about myself and ask people you know when I need that that motivation. It could just mean hey things are going good. You feel good about yourself. You're pretty confident, but. Are you caring for yourself? That's the question. Are you taking care of yourself? Are you giving yourself breaks? Are you taking away things that rob you of your energy? Because if you have things that take your energy, you don't take enough breaks, guess what? You're maybe just doing the things you have to do, and you're not doing the things you really, really want to do. You're not directing your life. So think about, are you caring for yourself? It's foundational. And when we set hard goals, we need to remember, if we care about ourselves, that means we deserve to go after these awesome goals we have because we made— we won the race. We won the race and we're here on Earth with the opportunity to go after those things. So give yourself the love and say, yeah, I deserve to go after it. I deserve to start it today. I deserve to go through the process even though it's hard. I deserve to just see the outcome. Who knows? And who cares if it's gonna be a positive outcome or a negative outcome? As long as you put your effort in, you did your best, you will learn from it. You will grow from it. That's C. Moving on to the T. Time is precious. And thank you for being here and taking your time to help better your life. And it means a lot to me because when you better your life, If I'm around you in the future, it's going to be more of a joy. I'm going to enjoy my life more. That's why I practice personal development every day because I know sometimes I'm not a joy to be around. And I don't like that Tony. I like the Tony that is patient. I like the Tony that gets things done. I like the Tony that helps people. And I hope this is helping you. A recap. DIRECT is the acronym. Get the pen if you didn't get the pen, write it down. Don't overthink, just move. The minute you start overthinking, if you can get this in your brain to pop up and say, just move, stop thinking, end your problems. Tao Te Ching. If you don't know the Tao Te Ching, check it out. It's just a lot of philosophy about how this universe and this world just works naturally. The I stands for integrity over irresponsibility. Be responsible. Respect yourself, respect others. Stop procrastinating. Do the thing. Do the must, the must that you need to do. If it's not a must, it might not be worth it, and maybe you can scrap it. Maybe you just had this idea you were supposed to do it, or someone told you you're supposed to start that thing. Maybe it's not for you. Figure out if it's a must, and then if it is, be responsible. R, recite your reasons. Verbalize it, write it down, put it on your wall. You know, you know it helps. It's not a little positive thinking thing. It is an ingrained in your brain thing. So you're more thinking about it, you're filtering about it, and you will start going about it. And the E, elevate through elation. Remember the end. How is it going to feel? It's going to feel better than now. So don't procrastinate now. Don't put off your dreams now because you're gonna feel worse and worse and worse, and then you look back and go, oh, I wish I did that. I wonder what I could have been. You don't ever want to feel that. You want to know you put in your all, you went for it, you put in the effort. And the way you do that is to think with the end in mind. Stephen Covey, amazing book, 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. He, he says that one of the chapters, start with the end in mind. This helps you do it. This helps you take the action, feel good about it, get the energy that I have, and just go. We have C, care for yourself deeply. This thing is what you need to do. Start that today so then you can go to the D and not overthink yourself to death. And the T, time is running out. It is precious. It is so important. Guard your time. Give your time as a gift. And make sure you're not wasting it. And when you start to know you're wasting it, we all do here and there, just try to snap out of it and say, hey, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa. I think this is robbing me of energy. I don't think it's a good use of my time. That doesn't mean jump off a cliff. That doesn't mean drink yourself to death, eat bad food all the time. No, you want to feel the best now. You want to be present now. You want to give the gift of presence. So then you're going through your life this short life and you just get to the end and you feel like, oh yeah, I'm ready for sleep. That is the acronym today, DIRECT. I hope it serves you. Let me know if it did. Please comment. Thanks again. Go out there and direct your life every single day. Hey again, it's me, Tony. I hope you enjoyed the free show and I hope it served you. And if it did, Please do me a little favor and give it a review, a like, and most importantly, share it with that someone that needs to hear the message today. Because being the director of your own life involves contribution. So give it back and help others create their vision, break through their barriers, and find their magic too. And lastly, don't forget to check out my free weekly newsletter at tonysuriano.com. That's S-U-R-I-A-N-O. This is where I share exclusive tips, behind-the-scenes insights, and the kind of content I don't post anywhere else. If you're serious about leveling up and staying inspired, connecting with me, that's the place to be. Thank you once again. Now get out there and direct your life, or I'm gonna get you.