After tens of therapy sessions left her frustrated and hopeless, Lucy, 34, finally discovered how to overcome procrastination, start being productive, and live her life to the fullest. Today she shares her story with us.
One evening in September, I found myself hanging on for dear life in a mess of my own making because I just couldn’t seem to stop procrastinating…
I wouldn’t wish that nauseating anxiety and stress on anyone.
I’ve been a procrastinator for as far back as I can remember.
Those first few years working in sales, things came pretty easily. I was good at what I did, and my company rewarded my performance accordingly.
Eventually, though, I started to notice that I was essentially spinning my wheels. Though I was a good performer, I was no longer the best, and I noticed my peers being rewarded with opportunities that weren’t coming to me.
I finally had a talk with my boss about what was going on, and it floored me.
He told me that he had tried for months and months to give me chances to accelerate my career but that I had not responded to any of them.
And when I took the time to look back, I realized that he was right. I was utterly paralyzed with indecision when these avenues for advancement came up, so I simply chose not to decide at all, and worse, this was happening without me even realizing it.
Further, he told me that if he didn’t start to see some initiative on my part, he was going to have to make room for someone with a little more ambition.
I couldn’t believe it! Where the hell had I been? After all the work I had put in, could I really lose everything and be forced to start from near the bottom somewhere else?
This sent me into a tailspin of self-loathing and self-doubt that nearly ruined my career. Was I really cut out for this? How could I prove to my boss and myself that I really could excel?
So, I put everything I had into my work. My performance improved, and I got several congratulations from my colleagues and my boss.
Dropping The Ball
But at the same time, my personal life was coming unraveled.
I was supposed to be getting married in six months, but all of a sudden, I had no time and no inclination to participate in the wedding preparations.
I began to wonder whether getting married right now was really what I wanted to do, and I started giving my fiancé the cold shoulder, which really hurt him. He couldn’t figure out what was going on with me, and he suggested I try therapy to help me figure myself out, as he put it.
I had known I was a procrastinator for a long time, but I never dreamed that my habit could manifest itself in this way: Disrupting my relationship, causing me to miss or outright ignore opportunities at work.
Of course, I procrastinated on my therapy sessions, too, telling myself and my fiancée that I simply didn’t have the time for that.
Finally, having exhausted himself trying to reach me, my fiancée told me he was leaving.
He remarked that at least he had figured out where my real priorities lied before we actually got married.
I was devastated. I told him I knew I could do both; succeed at work and have a happy and full personal life.
He told me to prove it.
Discovering The True Obstacle
Well, at this point I had been to several therapy sessions, and we had identified my habit of procrastination as a major hurdle that was preventing me from achieving what I wanted in life.
But as for getting over it, my therapist was suggesting time and patience. It would take months, more than likely more than a year, before I would be in a position to overcome my procrastination, and that simply wasn’t good enough. So, I began searching for other solutions that were more applicable to a woman in my position.
Eventually, I stumbled upon a page that began by simply asking me questions designed to delve deeper into the origins of my procrastination habit. As this was something my therapist had never bothered to do, this approach intrigued me.
Here’s how I finally overcame my procrastination…
With just a 3-minute quiz, the psychologists and wellness experts behind the Virtue Map program were able to create a fully customized three-month plan designed to enable me to overcome my procrastination. The price was right – far below what I had been paying for therapy – so I decided to give it a go.
The first week was solely dedicated to getting to the bottom of what was responsible for my procrastination. Though I wanted to get right to the meat of the matter and flip a switch and be procrastination-free, it was this methodical approach more than anything else that was responsible for the success I eventually achieved.
After thoroughly examining the underpinnings of my bad habits, the program then set about replacing those habits with a routine in which procrastination wasn’t even really an option.
This didn’t happen overnight; it took another three weeks until I was fully ensconced in my new way of thinking. But as things began to change, my would-be fiancée was the first to notice one day when we were meeting over a drink to try to determine whether we had a future together.
“Hey, you don’t have that stressed-out look like you’re trying to juggle 50 things at once,” he remarked. “Whatever this program has you doing, please, keep it up!”
And so, I did.
I was finally able to reach an equilibrium between my private life and work-life where I could tenaciously pursue my sales goals without going totally overboard and casting aside my personal life and with it my fiancée, who saw the woman he loved once again.
Did it work?
Looking back on it six months later, (after a glorious wedding and honeymoon,) it’s amazing and at the same time appalling that my procrastination took such a toll on every aspect of my life. At this point, I’m simply grateful that I stumbled upon Virtue Map when I did.
If you’re here, you already know that your procrastination is a problem. Don’t let it get to the point of interfering with your life and your livelihood as I did; I urge you, do something about it now, before you find your life spinning out of your control and are powerless to stop it.
Results may vary due to personal features