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Stop Procrastination and Take Action

Written by: Lorraine Pirihi

Article Overview: Mary was a 'gunna'. She was 'gunna' do this and 'gunna' do that. Unfortunately all she can and still does do is talk about it. She won't make a decision. Money wasn't the issue, after all she had invested thousands of dollars attending an American guru's week long "life changing" bootcamp. She thought that would be her "magic lifechanging pill". Unfortunately Mary did not action what she had learned. She got caught up in her chaotic life immediately on her return.

Stop Procrastination and Take Action

Hi,

..... How are you progressing with the goals you set yourself this year? Have you made a start? Or are you still procrastinating or caught the very popular "I'm too busy" epidemic?

Mary's Story
..... Mary runs her own publishing company employing 5 people. She is married with two teenagers. When I first met Mary she told me how stressed out she was trying to juggle work and home effectively. Her business although surviving (just) could have achieved major growth except for one major factor… Mary. She was very disorganised and ran her business that way.

..... Mary was always complaining about the pressures of running her business and having a life. I suggested to her that by having a business coach she would dramatically improve her situation…guaranteed, providing she actioned the ideas, insights and solutions she would gain through the process.

She's A 'Gunna'
..... Mary was a 'gunna'. She was 'gunna' do this and 'gunna' do that. Unfortunately all she can and still does do is talk about it. She won't make a decision. Money wasn't the issue, after all she had invested thousands of dollars attending an American guru's week long "life changing" bootcamp. She thought that would be her "magic lifechanging pill". Unfortunately Mary did not action what she had learned. She got caught up in her chaotic life immediately on her return.

..... It's interesting to note that many people believe that the more they spend on some of these seminars, the better the results will be. However they will only achieve the results if they take consistent action on what they learn.

The Latest Crisis
..... I have spoken with Mary a few times and suggested the best course of action to take and she always responds with "not right now, I have this to do and that to do (and everything else to do)". Mary always procrastinates and says to call her back in a few weeks' time when the current major crisis should be over.

..... One month her database was completely wiped out. It had mistakenly been deleted by a temporary assistant she had hired. Of course there was no back up. It took many hours to reproduce it. Mary had to hire an extra person for the next month to establish a new database. In real terms this latest crisis cost her business thousands of dollars in lost productivity, not to mention the effect it had on her stress levels.

..... People often only think of having a back up when something goes wrong. They don't worry about their own business and systems. As long as they are 'busy', who needs to 'waste time' on systems?

..... Specialist skills are required and they are not just acquired by experience. Mary needs to equip herself with some basic life skills so she can live and work effectively. She has to be able to put those skills into action! At the rate she's going, she won't be living long enough to enjoy the years of hard work she has contributed to her business.

..... It's been a couple of years since we first spoke and I'd forgotten all about Mary until I bumped into one of her former employees who had stayed with her for six months. Jan told me it was extremely stressful and unrewarding working for Mary. She could never complete her work as her duties were always changing. Mary made promises to clients which she would often break and Jan, being her personal assistant was the person the clients would go to make sure the work was done on time. She was also the key person who kept the peace with the rest of the staff.

..... Jan had given Mary one month's notice when she handed in her resignation, so Mary had plenty of time to find a replacement. When Jan left, Mary still hadn't found a replacement as she left it to the week before Jan exited to advertise the position. Of course she did all the recruiting herself, advertised in the local paper and had 50 replies. No doubt she wasted the next month interviewing suitable applicants. If Mary had been a member of our Productivity Coaching Club she would have learned How to Take The Gamble Out Of Hiring Staff and saved herself many hours of her time. This powerful interview was with profiling expert Nathan Chanesman who shared his powerful tips in finding the right people.

..... Procrastination and her disorganisation made such a dramatic impact on all aspects of her life.

When Is The Right Time?
..... When is the right time to take action? Is it at Christmas, the new year, the beginning of the financial year, when you've got nothing else to do, when your spouse leaves you, when your business is on its last legs, when the kids finally go to school, when the boss leaves or when you become so sick from the stress of your life that you cannot get out of bed?

The Final Word
..... Henry Ford said "The hardest work known to man is thinking". I say "the second hardest work known to man is taking action".

..... So take a stand today. Stop procrastinating and get moving.

Have a great week!

Related Articles
  3 Easy Tips To Stop Procrastinating And Launch Your Marketing Strategy
  Pushing Past Procrastination - The Revelation
  Marketing strategies: Procrastination and the Fear of Failure
  Successful People Beat Procrastination
  The P Word

Article Tags: Mary



Related Forum Posts
Re: What is your biggest challenge? Today? - My biggest challenge is focusing. There are so many things I want to do and ideas that I have. I can never decide what to do next and when I do decide it's hard to focus on it and get it done. Procrastination is the resulting outcome.
Decide your market first - Stop for a second and decide exactly who it is that you want to sell your product to. Once you've done this you'll have a far better idea of where to find them and what it is that they're interested in Cheers
Re: Blog sells for up to $15 million - Action speaks louder than dream. What are we doing about GT suggestion? We can make this work in 2010
Other Great Books... - Feel The Fear And Do It AnyWay - Susan Jeffers How To Stop Worrying And Do It Anyway - Dale Carnegie ('What's the worst that could happen - the worst?' Then prepare yourself for that and reality is such a relief!).
Advertisement that sales - Plan your marketing programme. It should include commitment to capital resources. If you run a small business, you aren't likely to have a generous enough advertising budget that will allow you to run costly branding or campaign ads. Every advertisement you run must convey to your prospect a solid offer and attractive reasons to act quickly, and result in increased sales and an enhanced image of your company. Good advertising always pays its own way through increased sales and profits, improved cost-effectiveness, reduced selling costs and shortened selling cycles. A useful formula that will help you increase the effectiveness of your advertising efforts is A-I-D-A, which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. When creating an advertisement, always remind yourself that it should: (1) capture your prospects' Attention, (2) arouse their Interest in your offer, (3) create their Desire for your product or service, and (4) provide a powerful spur to Action, that is, turn your prospect into buyers. Remember, bad advertising is an unproductive expense, and good advertising is an investment in future profits!


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