Life and Succeeding: "Well, I'm Planning to...." Are you a DOER or a DAWDLER?

Dawdle (verb): to waste time, be slow, spend time idly, dally, drag one's feet...

As of late — in large part on account of my recent therapy sessions — I have been taking a deeper look at certain traits and aspects of my life; traits that have dominated my psychological landscape for as long as I can remember.

These are things, of course, that I am often not particularly proud of. Things that have, in more than a few cases, been annoying and frustrating to other people.

Time to find some REAL balance...

The Problem of Eternal Planning

I have always been much better at planning things than actually doing them and executing those plans.

Many moons ago, I used to write exceptionally thorough and well-researched business plans... but I have always totally sucked at being IN business.

I know several people people whom I helped with business plans who went on to become very very rich, and yet when I was the one using one of my business plans? I never really succeeded at anything.

It would be nice to blame that on the business plan, or on having a "bad idea" or perhaps even "unfortunate timing," but the bottom line is that I just have never been much of a "Type A Go-Getter" sort of person.

... As a result of which, I have never really gotten very far with any of the business ventures I have started. Even though I have been self-employed for much of my adult life.

View across the lake

If You CALL Yourself a Slacker, You BECOME a Slacker!

Odd as it may sound, a lot of our success and/or failure comes from our attitude, rather than our actual effort. In time, we start believing the stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves.

For the longest time I used to call myself a "Creative Slacker," when people would ask me what I "did." Which seems to be one of those frequently asked things when making "small talk," here in the US of A.

If asked to elaborate, I would explain that what I "did" was basically "as little as possible," within the context of being able to skate by in life.

With no real ambition to "become" anything — including "successful," — I pretty much became exactly that: "not much of anything."

But I always had some good plans, and was nearly always able to say "Yeah, but I am PLANNING to _____ " and I genuinely would be.

Buttercup

Eventually, Reality Comes Calling...

When you have developed a long-standing pattern of doing things a certain way, change can be not only difficult, but also very uncomfortable.

When you sincerely want change, you have to be willing to start living outside your carefully manufactured "comfort zone." My comfort zone — I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit — has generally been to make some excellent plans that I would only execute under extreme duress, like the electricity being about to shut off, or eviction from my apartment or house being imminent.

In most cases, though, a time finally comes when EITHER you can't find yet another way to dawdle your way through a crisis, OR you start realizing that life is passing by quickly and you have pretty much nothing to show for it.

I find myself somewhat embedded in the latter option, looking at a long history of "skating by" on just about minimum wage (or less), all with the justification that I have "succeeded" because I have managed to be self-employed, rather than holding a well-paid job commensurate with my skills and experience.

Raindrops on flower petals

Sharp Curves Ahead!

Of course, we often have a tendency to overcompensate when we come face to face with our — perceived and/or real — shortcomings. Which is basically to say that I am not about to just abandon the self-employed life to go be the operations manager at Costco.

It mostly means an attitude shift, entailing that I stop making so many plans, and "cleaning off my desk so I can do my work," FIRST rather than actually just doing the work that needs to be done.

In the months ahead, some of these posts will be given to documenting the lumps and bumps in that particular road of change... because (after all!) this IS "my" blog, and I can do with it what I want. Right?

Anyway, thanks for reading... and hope you are having a great day!

(Another #creativecoin creative non-fiction post)

How about YOU? Have you had any "wake-up calls" when you realized you'd have to get rid of some old habits? What were they? How did the process of change work out for you? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for this platform.)
Created at 191004 14:20 PDT
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