Progress Over Perfection: Overcoming Procrastination

Are you a perfectionist who struggles with procrastination and burnout? Learn how focusing on progress over perfection can help you break the cycle and lead a more positive and fulfilling life. This talk covers practical tips and strategies for setting realistic goals, practicing self-compassion, and finding direction and purpose in life.

Transcript

Welcome to the Soul Growth Sessions,

A place to nurture your soul and awaken your potential.

So today I wanted to talk about how to overcome procrastination and chronic burnout.

We all want to be the best versions of ourselves but here's the thing,

Perfection is overrated.

If you focus on progress and direction instead,

You are more likely to achieve things beyond your expectations.

Like most of us,

Each new year we often find determination to be the best version of ourselves and hit the reset button to wipe away the feelings of disappointment or regret from the previous year.

Each time I have tried to move out of just surviving and work towards thriving,

I have ended up burning out and crashing into a heap of disappointment and failure.

I would lose all motivation and wonder if I should just resign myself to never amounting to anything,

To anything that I want to become or have in my life.

Burnout and procrastination has left me feeling overwhelmed and stuck in a never-ending cycle.

I have found myself putting off important tasks,

Struggling to focus and feeling drained both physically and mentally.

If this is a familiar experience for you too,

Then just know that it doesn't have to be this way.

With the right tools and strategies you can break free from these patterns and find peace and a sense of accomplishment in your life.

You can even achieve things beyond your previous expectations.

I'd like to share my experiences around this with you and offer some practical steps that you can take to overcome procrastination and burnout to rediscover a sense of achievement,

Purpose and peace.

So my experience around this cycle of procrastination and burnout comes from being a chronic procrastinator my whole life.

I would always put off important tasks until the last minute,

Fearing that I wouldn't be able to complete them to my high standards.

Over the last six or more years I experienced some of the most difficult and stressful times of my life.

My procrastination hit a new level of intensity.

I was stuck in a cycle of stress and burnout.

I was now procrastinating in almost every important area of my life because I knew that the things that were most important to me would take more energy than I ever had to offer.

I was constantly worried about burning out and falling apart time after time just from trying to get my life together.

So I would put things off indefinitely,

Was left to feel lost and powerless about my circumstances.

It wasn't until I started to focus on progress over perfection and direction over speed that my life started to change.

I began to I began to set realistic and achievable goals for myself and I started to celebrate small wins along the way.

This helped me to break the cycle of procrastination as I began to feel more motivated by the progress I was making.

My blind spot at the time was that I hadn't realized how obsessively focused I was on the big goals or the end results.

I was completely missing that boost of satisfaction from completing small tasks throughout the day that I needed to keep me going and feed my motivation.

Instead I would let the harsh dialogue of my inner critic take over and give me their assessment of my progress instead.

Once I realized this I started to practice more self-compassion and kindness towards myself.

This helped me to let go of the pressure to be perfect and to be more forgiving of myself when I didn't meet my own expectations.

I refocused on paying attention to the journey rather than just the destination.

I began to appreciate the small moments of progress and joy that were there the whole time.

This helped me to find fulfillment and feel more content about my life and what I had already achieved.

So little by little awareness of these small wins became second nature and helped me to overcome my fear of burnout and failure.

From my practice of noticing the small and quiet wins every day I became more aware of the subtle voice of my intuition and inner guidance.

This helped me to find direction and purpose in my life again and make better decisions for my overall well-being.

It helped me to prioritize self-care and cleared my mind so that my focus would effortlessly settle on what I needed most to look after myself and move forward effectively.

Overall,

Shifting my mindset from perfectionism to progress has allowed me to overcome my chronic pattern of procrastination and fear of burnout.

From the unrealistic pressures I was putting myself under I was finally able to find the feeling of fulfillment.

By neglecting this philosophy of progress over perfection and direction over speed our choices can lead us to a variety of problems and painful experiences.

From feelings of inadequacy,

Low self-esteem,

Lack of fulfillment,

Burnout,

Exhaustion and relationship problems.

However,

By embracing the emphasis of progress we naturally find our sense of direction in life again.

By focusing on progress over perfection you'll learn to be proud of yourself for the steps you're taking rather than criticizing yourself for not being where you feel you should be.

This simple mindset shift can drastically lower the volume of your inner critic or even silence it altogether.

This shift helped me to finally get out of my own way and move forward with clarity and confidence.

So what steps can we take to effectively integrate the benefits of this philosophy and finally overcome the patterns of procrastination and burnout?

Step one is to reflect on your patterns.

Take some time to think about the areas of your life where you've been feeling stuck and ask yourself what are the common themes?

Are there certain tasks or projects that you tend to put off?

Are there certain times of the day or week when you feel more drained?

By gaining insight into your patterns you'll be able to better equip yourself and make the necessary changes.

Take some time to reflect on your thoughts,

Feelings and actions.

Be honest with yourself about where you're holding yourself back and where you're putting way too much pressure on yourself to be perfect.

If you reflect on your progress regularly and allow yourself to reassess your goals and priorities whenever you need to,

This will help you stay on track and easily make any necessary adjustments without the feeling of being overwhelmed from getting too stuck in patterns you feel you have to be following.

Seeking guidance from a trusted friend,

A mentor or therapist to help you gain a greater understanding of yourself can work wonders for helping you see the bigger picture in your life and discover your blind spots.

With greater self-awareness comes the ability to make better decisions.

Step two,

Set realistic goals.

Setting realistic goals is key to overcoming procrastination and burnout.

When you're feeling overwhelmed it can be easy to set unrealistic expectations for yourself.

Instead try setting small achievable goals that you can work towards over time.

Celebrate each small win along the way and this will help you stay motivated and on track.

One way of doing this is writing out what you have achieved at the end of each day or week and this will help you to actually notice the progress you're making.

Without it the sense of satisfaction from your progress can easily be overlooked.

Journaling is one way that has really helped me to notice and capture these small victories that can easily be missed.

Step three,

Practice mindfulness.

Mindfulness can be a powerful tool when you're feeling stressed or overwhelmed.

It's easy to get caught up in our thoughts and feelings but by practicing mindfulness you can learn to observe your thoughts and feelings without getting caught up in them.

Whenever you feel overwhelmed or powerless mindfulness can help you stay grounded and focused on the power you actually have.

Practicing mindfulness techniques such as meditation and deep breathing helps you stay present in the moment and let go of the attachment to the outcome.

Practicing gratitude is also an excellent way to appreciate your progress and give you a clearer perspective.

Step four,

Connect with your inner guidance.

Everyone has an inner voice that can guide them towards their purpose and direction in life but when you're feeling stressed and burnt out it can be easy to miss the wisdom that this inner voice offers.

To connect with your inner guidance try to quiet your mind and listen for that sense that says yes this way feels right to me.

You can do this through meditation,

Journaling and other mindfulness practices.

Connecting with your higher self and trusting in your soul's wisdom can bring a sense of peace and contentment in your life knowing that you're always moving in the direction that is true to you on a soul level.

Step number five,

Prioritize self-care.

So last but not least it's important to prioritize self-care in order to avoid burnout.

This means taking care of your physical,

Emotional and mental health.

Ultimately we all know what to do.

It's the simple yet powerful things such as making sure you're getting enough sleep,

Eating well and getting regular exercise,

Making time for the things that bring you joy or help you to relax and remember you don't have to do everything on your own.

Don't be afraid to ask for help whenever you need it.

Part of self-care is self-compassion.

When we learn to be more compassionate towards ourselves instead of criticizing where we are,

Something that really works for me for practicing self-compassion was realizing that you have been through more than most people know and you are also much stronger than you realize.

Just remember how far you've already come and know that you're already doing great.

So in conclusion we all know that burnout and procrastination can be extremely challenging to overcome but by reflecting on your patterns,

Setting realistic goals,

Practicing mindfulness,

Connecting with your inner guidance and prioritizing self-care you can find a strong sense of peace and purpose in your journey.

So I'd like to leave you with this.

If you're ever feeling frustrated with yourself or feel like you're not where you want to be,

Just remember progress over perfection and direction over speed gets us where we want to go and gives us what we need.

Thank you for listening and until next time,

Take care.

Reviews

Very helpful, enlightening, thank you

Progress over perfection 😊 celebrating small wins. I can see this helping me keep forward momentum. My goals are often too big, lofty, overwhelming. Breaking them into bite sized pieces will make things seem more manageable and give me small wins.

Thank you for the lesson! Simple, but powerful.

This has helped me in a way you don't understand.I have been through it lately with this.I needed to hear this as I have literally been stuck.Thank you for sharing.I know we spoke before and you mentioned that you had not been on here in awhile but consider putting out some content again because all you have has been so helpful to me.Much Love and Peace.

Inspired, thank you

Excelente

Hi John my friend Bettina send me your talk which I have just listened to. It is beautifully put together helpful and thought provoking thank you 😊

Thank you for your openness, your clarity and the structure, that is wonderfulI love the rhythm and clarity in your voice. It's like a song in a piece that helps me breathe in it.

Good advice & very interesting. 😊

Jamie nailed it. I have spent so much money and time trying to figure out what my problem is and why i kill myself by procrastinating on everything in all the important areas of my life. I simply need to breathe and take baby steps. Progress over perfection 🥲

Amazing! Thank you so very much, that was truly inspiring and on the point.

This hit HARD. Its like Jamie was speaking about my life and although I'd never wish this on anyone, its almost nice to know someone DOES understand and has found a way out.