At School and University I used to procrastinate often, putting off studying for the exams in favour of more interesting past-times (pass-times?) like watching Cricket or reading or just hanging out with friends. Unsurprisingly, over 70% of University students admit to procrastinating and over 20% of “grown-ups” procrastinate regularly. This has an enormous impact on self-esteem, relationships and of course on their results at work. There is also a large and uncountable opportunity cost – not getting in the job application on time, paying penalties for late tax-returns, extra charges for unpaid parking tickets, not getting the girl because you delayed asking her out and the other guy did… the list goes on and on.

I found that there is not only one way to beat procrastinating because there are many reasons why I procrastinate. Some of the reasons are truly shocking and deep-rooted, not something getting an electronic diary or PDA will fix.

Some of the more obvious reasons are that sometime, we just don’t want to do something because the task itself is not appealing; sometimes we don’t like the person who is requesting it, so we feel less inclined to do it and sometimes (wait for it) we are “not in the mood”! Other reasons are less obvious and go deeper into our beliefs such as not knowing how to do something but not wanting to own up to it because we believe it’s not OK to not know. Sometimes we just don’t believe we can do what’s required and cannot face up to that perceived inadequacy.

Often procrastination is an old habit that refuses to go even when we want it to – it’s something we practice for so long it becomes first nature and is hard to overcome because our brains have become wired that way.

the good news is that procrastination is a learned habit and can be unlearned and replaced with more helpful behaviours.

How??? Like I said, there is no “one magic solution”. Depending on the cause or reason why we procrastinate, the solution may be different. If the task appears too big or overwhelming, one solution may be to break it down into bite-sized chunks. Another may be to examine the underlying beliefs of the individual to modify them if needed and make them more empowering and helpful.

Another very powerful technique is to get someone to hold you accountable, like a Coach or a friend – a good example is a gym-buddy.

There are at least 10 reasons why people procrastinate and as many if not more strategies to overcome them.

Just don’t put off figuring out what makes you procrastinate and do something about it!!!

Yunus recounted the story of the Grameen Bank and how he decided to create an institutional solution to deal with the problems of the super-poor by loaning them small amounts of money (under $100). These are the people that banks deemed to be “Not Credit – Worthy”, high-risk clients. Yunus however realised that they wanted to do well, to have a better life than society was allowing them to - on their terms and merit. He saw them as capable people with the ability to do well and repay the loans – people of integrity and courage with a strong desire to succeed.

He then proceeded to break all the rules of the Banking establishment (he did not know them so how was he to know he was even breaking them he asked?), lend money to the poorest of the poor, and lo and behold – a “fluke” happened – people paid back the loans! This fluke eventually became the norm and now the bank loans approximately 100 Million USD a day with a 97% return rate. All this in the face of a global banking collapse, a major recession and a loss of faith in the world financial system. Who is credit worthy now??

What struck me about this beautiful story is that Yunus saw people as whole, capable, willing and able to succeed – and they rose to meet his expectations of them. Other people and institutions saw them as parasites on the system, losers and incapable of anything – that was how they experienced these people by not giving them a chance. I remember reading an article about school boys in England and how they behave when on the football (soccer) pitch and the Cricket field. When playing football, apparently a large number of boys act like “yobs”, abusive, aggressive and unruly, even with the referees. The same boys when playing Cricket apparently are perfect gentlemen and play with decorum and listen tot he Umpire without a murmer. After all, behaving badly is “not Cricket” and will not be tolerated. Another study comes to mind, about an inner city US school where 2 teachers were sent to teach 2 classes, one an under-achieving class of unruly kids, one class of straight-A students. The twist in the tale is that the teacher who was teaching the A students was told they were under-achievers, the one teaching the under-achievers was told they were straight A students.

What do you think happened? Funnily enough, the formerly under-achieving class excelled in all ways and the formerly high-achievers grades plummetted! Again, the major factor appears to be the expectation of the teachers concerned.

So I’m led to believe people rise (or not) to meet our expectations of them – if we expect the best from them, the chances are they will likely live up to that expectation and prove us right. If we expect the worst from them , guess what, they will probably prove us right again!

Back to Yunus – I’m inspired by the fact that he treats every one as a whole, capable person and expects them to succeed – now that is vision.

Check out his speech on the Duke University website at: http://ondemand.duke.edu/video/22268/nobel-laureate-yunus-urges-duk

Back in the UK tomorrow-yay!

Piya

What really screamed out for me like a neon sign was that apparently pupils there are instilled with the belief that one day you will run the country, or something to that effect. An extraordinarily large number do go on to take leadership roles in various aspects of UK public life. But this blog is not about Eton, its about belief. How fascinating that these boys have motivational speakers coming to them on a regular basis and telling them  they can achieve anything they dream of! Carpe Diem and all that. Co-incidence? I think not.

Now I’m not a parent or an educator and yet in my experience and perception most kids get the message (either explicitly or implicitly) they should work hard, the world is a difficult/dangerous place and they need to be able to look after themselves so they should study hard, get a good job and make sure they are safe and secure, so nothing bad can happen to them. That’s certainly the gist of the messages my fellow pupils and I got at school (along with a big dollop of God will be angry if you do/don’t do x incidentally).

Big difference in the message? HUGE! We take actions (or not) based on our beliefs and world-views.So if my core belief is “I can do anything, greatness can be mine if I choose” – what actions will I take? How will I behave? How will I pursue opportunities??? On the other hand if I believe “this world is a tough place, better get my head down and make sure I am safe” – what dispositions for action are available for me from this space? How will I behave? What opportunities will I pursue and perhaps more importantly, what might I reject because it’s “too risky”?

How big do you let yourself dream? Why? What do you believe is in your way? Is that true? Is the world doing things “to you”??? Are you telling the story “this is what happened to me” – your TooMe story, OR do you decide what you want to do, write the story of how you want your life to be and go out there and create it that way?

As Henry Ford said “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, either way you’re right”.

Lots of pundits are predicting “dire consequences” and I just think – here we go again. Thats what they said for Y2K (The Millennium bug – remember that?), 9/11, the recession – that the world’s coming to an end very rapidly or “we will never recover”.

The thing is though, that we did recover from all the above, even though it was painful, arduous and downright difficult, we recovered. Why do we keep arguing for our limitations??? In the long term, things do always get better and some day we will all look back and maybe eve chuckle at how a little known volcano caused so much disruption.

Even though Optimism appears to be so unfashionable as to be frowned upon these days, I for one am going to be the last holdout!

Guess it could be worse – sometimes the only thing to do is just let go, relax and enjoy the ride, even if it was not how you planned.

Check out the Volcano at http://eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-valahnjuk/

One evening at the bar he came and sat next to me and we got talking. He offered to buy me a drink, I declined politely and asked him what he did. He laughed and said he was Lou Holtz and used to Coach Notre Dame. (I had never heard of Notre Dame, I gather its a University team). I had no idea that he was an absolute legend and is a regular TV presenter, acclaimed author and motivational speaker.

We got talking and when Lou found out I was a coach as well, he said “I can help you!” and gave me an impromptu session which was truly inspirational and extraordinary!  A remarkable and kind man, Lou shared with me some of his tips for what it takes to achieve greatness in any field. Attitude is the number one success factor that differentiates winners from losers, according to Lou and I have to say I wholeheartedly agree.

No matter how skilled or talented someone is, without a positive mindset, focus and determination, they cannot achieve the big league. He also shared his ideas on what it takes to be an exceptional coach and I definitely took it all on board.

A wonderful man, it was great to meet him and I truly appreciate his time and his wisdom.

Inspiration comes in the most unexpected places sometimes