Why you procrastinate on your own practice (when you know what to do)

You procrastinate on your practice because action runs on a feeling, and knowing what to do lives in your head. Part of you fears being seen, so it pulls back. To get moving, turn that fear down and judge yourself on small actions you control.

Why do I procrastinate when I know what to do?

Action comes from emotion, and most of us try to think our way into it. I tell members, "Taking action is an emotion." You can know every step of a sales page and still not write a word.

I learned that the hard way. When I started my business almost 19 years ago, I was a chronic procrastinator. I'd sit down at the computer and couldn't get myself to type, and I felt so much shame about it.

It took me years to see it as a tug of war. One part of you wants the goal. Another part wants you safe, so it pulls back. On a recent group call I called it "two opposing parts going in two different directions."

Joanna, from a Complete Practitioner cohort, said this at the end of a live session on her goal: "I feel like I have all of the tools, and I just need to do the thing, and I can do that."

She had those tools before the session. What changed was how doing the thing felt. For a lot of practitioners, the part that pulls back is worried about being seen.

Where does the fear of putting myself out there as a coach come from?

Most of the time it comes from your own judgment of yourself, turned outward. You expect other people to think what part of you already thinks.

Before one group call I read our members' intake forms. These lines were in there: "It's not safe to be seen." "I'm not ready yet." "It's too late for me." "Selling is pushing." We rated each out of 10 and worked on them in turn.

To find what sits under a goal, I ask what's the worst thing that could happen if you reached it, and what that would mean about you. You'll often land on "I'm not good enough" or the fear of being seen.

The worst that can happen is a feeling in your body. A post nobody likes is a feeling. A no on a sales call is a feeling. And a feeling can be turned down.

I've watched people move once it gets quieter. Clark Kegley, who has 1.9M YouTube subscribers, was stuck with imposter syndrome. After one session with me, he filmed five videos that week, and one went viral with 100,000 views that month.

That's one person, and some people need more than one session. On the intake-form call, one member noticed they'd started tidying their desk mid-session without deciding to.

Do I need to feel confident before I put myself out there?

No. Waiting to feel confident is one of the best places procrastination has to hide. For me, real confidence is an empty mind, and you can act while the nerves are still there.

I tell members there is no ready. Being ready means waiting for all the stars to line up. If you'd told me I had to feel confident first, I'd never have started.

Watch a baby learning to walk. It doesn't wonder if it's good enough. It falls and gets straight back up. That's No Mind, and it's still you under everything you've learned since.

Early on I sold on the phone and got upset about every call that didn't close. Then my mentor showed me my numbers. Every call I took was worth $2,888, whether that person bought or not.

So I stopped caring about each call and kept getting on the phone. That month I did $83,000, nervous and shaking on some of those calls. That's my story, and it's no promise about your income.

Nothing about my skill changed. I stopped feeding the pendulum, an idea from the book Reality Transurfing. It only swings when you give it your energy. Worry about failing pushes it, and so does needing to succeed.

Ignoring a feeling feeds it too. At the start of a recent group call, after 19 years of doing this, I felt nerves come in. I let them be there and taught the call anyway.

How do I stop procrastinating as a coach?

Judge yourself on your inputs, and make the next step so easy you take it while the feeling is fresh. Inputs are what you control, like posting 30 videos in 30 days. Outputs, like who buys, aren't yours to control.

As I put it in the course, "You control the fifty. You don't control who says yes." When an ad flops, or five people get on a call and nobody buys, that's normal. It says nothing about who you are.

For years I wanted a YouTube video out every day and beat myself up when I missed. What stopped me was setting up the camera and lights each time. Once they stayed set up and I only had to press record, I became consistent.

A client who wanted to write a book came in sure he was a procrastinator. He couldn't sit still, so I suggested he record it on his phone while walking. It was a shift in how he did the thing.

Some days you need a push from outside. For a 30-day video challenge, I agreed to pay my coach $50 every time I missed my 10 p.m. deadline. I made the damn video, because I didn't want to pay $50.

Keep each step small, one step every day towards your goal. Then confirm it out loud: "I'm the type of person to put myself out there." You do the thing first, then you say who you are.

Allen Levings said this a week after I worked with him live on a call: "Every time, I end up with 'let's f*cking do this' instead." I still use willpower to get started some days. Once I'm going, the momentum carries me.

How The Complete Practitioner handles this

In The Complete Practitioner, the identity work comes first, before anyone builds an offer. Members start with the Reverse Identity System, a 21-day workbook, and run the coaching protocols on themselves before using them with clients.

Internal Conflict Resolution is for that tug of war between wanting a goal and holding back. If what holds you back feels bigger than everyday nerves, see a therapist or licensed professional. We teach members to refer clients the same way.

Questions people ask