One of the reasons why our progress is slow is because there is a lot of friction in our day. Imagine driving your car with your handbrake on, that's friction.
Below are some common patterns.
I am waiting for something or someone.
Oh this is such a common reason why people lack progress. In 90% of cases I would say that people wait not because they actually have to, but because they use waiting as an excuse to not put in the work and continue.
It's so easy to blame a situation or another person for your lack of action. If you ever find yourself in this situation ask yourself if you are absolutely sure you have to wait, or you could do something to advance no matter how little.
I am indecisive or hesitant.
Indecision can have many causes and if you want to make a decision you have to first understand why you are indecisive in the first place. If you find the reason, you found the key.
I am unsure or lack clarity.
Great! You need to clarify what exactly you are unsure about, run different scenarios in your head and see how things would play out, find what's the worse case and prepare for it.
Being confused about something is the perfect excuse for people to not lift a finger. If you find yourself in this situation please remember that clarity is your responsibility. If you are unsure about something it means you didn't do your homework, so you have to go back to the drawing board and shed some light on the things that make you confused.
I am procrastinating, avoiding or resisting.
This is where you, yourself stand in your way. You are the obstacle, so you might as well get yourself out of the way.
Procrastination is not something that happens to you, it's something that you actively do, and therefore you also have the power to stop.
When you resist taking action, it's you who is creating the friction. When you avoid something, it's you who is doing the avoidance. All of that sounds like a great news to me, because now you're in control.
I am worried or concerned.
Being worried or concerned it's not a bad thing unless you let it stop you or to keep you stuck. If you are worried about something make sure you clarify what you are worried about and then find how to navigate that in a way that allows you to move forward.
There is an unexpected problem.
You have to love problems because that's what you're going to get more of, guaranteed. So what's the problem, and was the solution?
Something is not working right.
That's great information now you know something is not working, so how are you going to fix it?
I realized I was wrong about something.
Finding you were wrong about something, is actually great information that if used right can propel you forward
We make plans based on our understanding of the world and things might work just fine until a point where we realize we were missing something.
After this point you're not going to feel so great about your plans anymore, and that creates friction between what you would like to do, and what you feel you should do.
What's important here, is to process this new information, integrate and make new plans based on it.
I am distracted or lack motivation.
When your perception gets hijacked you get distracted, if you stay or allow yourself to be distracted for long enough your perception will change slightly, you'll start seeing things in a different light and then it's a matter of time until you'll feel differently.
Now from this perspective, your goal doesn't seem so important anymore, and you feel you lost your motivation. If you ever find yourself in this spot ask yourself this: how come I lost my motivation, why, what changed?
When you trace your lack of motivation back to its origins you are going to either find a renewed sense of motivation or you are going to realize it lost forever because it happened for a good reason. Either way, you are now more informed on how to go from here
Something happened and things have changed.
When situations change it's because important constituents parts rearranged in a way that seem to interfere with your current plans. You need to take note of that, and change or adapt your plans based on the new layout.
There is a new important piece of information that changes everything.
Everything was running smoothly but there is this new critical piece of information that seem to change everything, and you are not so sure what to do next. The solution here is to process and integrate that new piece of information so you can resume your progress -otherwise you are going to remain stuck.
You have habits or daily routines that don't go well together.
For example, you go to the gym late at night, you cannot fall asleep easily because your body feels pumped, next day in the morning you wake up tired and so you experience a lot of friction -you might feel indecisive, confused or frustrated
The problem here is that there is a mismatch between what I want and what ayou are able to do.
On a daily basis you're not going to do the things you want, but the things that you are able to do. You might want to do a lot of work tomorrow but if you're going to be tired you're going to accomplish a lot less.
So if you're not making a lot of progress it might be because there is a lot of friction in your life, instead of focusing on acceleration make sure the handbrake is not on.
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I plan to write an article every day this year so thank you for your support. Alin.