Excitement Will Get You Past Procrastination

If you’ve been stalling, procrastinating, or have just not been able to get enough wind in your sails to commit to a new career direction, perhaps it could be that your new career dream is not exciting enough for you. Often fear can be the culprit of procrastination, or a sense of confusion about pursuing the ‘right’ thing. But in some cases it is simply that the vision or option you are giving yourself for your next career move is not motivating enough for you. I know that I’m the kind of person who will move mountains if I really want something, so if something isn’t happening for me it means I don’t want it enough. Could this be the same for you, too?

If you feel stuck or have made some plans that you feel unmotivated to follow through whole-heartedly with, set these plans and ideas to one side for a moment, and think about how you can either crank them up to be even more inspiring. Or, take some time out to consider other ideas, inklings, and passions that could propel your career change more easily. If your current career vision isn’t propelling you forward, it’s vital to paint a brighter picture for yourself so you can start moving forward again.

Here are some suggestions for how to get back in the zone:

Tap back in to pie-in-the-sky thinking

Putting limits to one side, what would you truly love to be doing? Is it travelling the world, participating in sports, pursuing a creative dream, running your own business? When are you at your happiest? What matters to you? What would make you literally leap out of bed to do? If you had this scheduled in your diary, would you be excited to be doing it? A little terrified, even? Hold on to that feeling of inspiration, excitement and 'looking forward to'. That's the feeling you want your career dream to supply you with. It will be the fuel to get you to take action and get you out of procrastination.

Don't extinguish or water down your exciting dream

A lot of us take the exciting dream then pour cold water over it as we think about 'being realistic'. Or we may water down the exciting dream to the point where it loses it's appeal.

For example, you might really want to be a music teacher but think it will be too much of a struggle to secure a job, so opt to train as a science teacher instead. This modification of the original dream could completely kill the initial spark and enthusiasm of the dream.

If you have a golden dream that seems unrealistic, start down the path anyway! You never know where you may arrive. Through pursuing what you really want, you will develop yourself along the way, meet new people, be able to course-correct as you go along, and at the very least feel proud of yourself for giving it a go. Never let yourself have a 'what if' regret.

Trade up for a more thrilling dream

If your original new career direction idea leaves you feeling flat, and no amount of bells and whistles can make it really inspire you, then trade it in for a better dream - one that really does get you going. Take some time to get really honest with yourself about what ignites your happiness and makes you want to move forward. What dreams might you be holding yourself back from? Do you have inklings or desires you are pushing to the side as they seem too far-fetched? Allow yourself to submit to those desires for a while. Give yourself permission to feel passionate, and claim that these are your core dreams. Dwell in the possibility and let the inspiration motivate you to dream bigger, reach further, and live passionately.

Let us know what your super dreams are - declare your new career direction visions in the comments!