Self Confidence, Fear and the Inevitable Procrastination
Written by The Self Improvement Gym
One of the major reasons why most people avoid the very tasks that can free them from mediocrity is their lack of self confidence. Mediocrity is nothing but failing to live up to your true potential. What you can do is absolutely incredible. What you will do is often disappointing. Most people have been conditioned to only do what they ‘can’ do or to only do what they have been told they ‘can’ do or what they’ve successfully done before.
A lack of confidence in yourself will automatically keep you from going for it because you lack that sense of certainty that comes from being confident. Self confidence is nothing but a gut level belief in yourself and in you capabilities – even if you haven’t done it before. Procrastination is not just a device for avoiding mundane tasks but on a much higher level it is avoiding the ‘big’ decisions and the ‘big’ actions that can make the real difference in your life.
This is a huge issue because the only way you can get your life to consistently move forward is to consistently take action. When you fail to move forward you fail to grow and without growth there is ‘death’. If not physically, then certainly emotionally and spiritually. To get from where you are to where you ultimately want to be you would have to do things that feel uncomfortable; things that are unfamiliar to you. Without a sense of certainty and confidence in yourself you will most probably never do it. Your doubt will keep you from even attempting it.
On the other hand, if you are filled with confidence, you are confident and certain in yourself and in your abilities to produce a specific result – regardless of past performance or whether you’ve done it before. Self confidence is what creates a sense of certainty within you. This sense of certainty is nothing but a feeling that is created by you. When you’ve done it before it is relatively easy to re-create the feeling and thus feel certain. It is not something that you have to confront afresh. As human beings we tend to avoid uncertainty and that which is unfamiliar. It is because of this that procrastination can steal your future for procrastination will keep you from taking the actions that will create the future you desire. Confident people are people who are action minded. They are people who know that action and confidence goes hand in hand as the one creates the other.
With a lack of confidence comes a certain level of fear. Confidence is not an absence of fear, but a presence of courage to face the fear and do it regardless. The doing; the action is what drives the fear away. Failure to take action, not only accommodates fear, but actually creates it and out of a fear of failure you will find a ‘good reason’ to not take action and procrastinate.
Taking action is the ultimate cure for a lack of confidence and a wavering sense of certainty can be anchored by using your personal power to take action. When you use your mind and your emotions to engage your nervous system into action, you quite literally drive uncertainty away for uncertainty and a lack of confidence s nothing but a ‘mental condition.’ Whether you think of yourself as confident or not; either way you will be right. Confidence starts and ends with the image you hold of yourself. It’s as simple as that. The image you have of yourself; your self-esteem, will reinforce or take away from your level of confidence. Right now you can decide to start focusing on a different image of yourself. Start to direct your thoughts towards how you want yourself to be, instead of what you fear you might become. As you do this you will start to feel confident. Remember that confidence is nothing but a feeling and as you dwell on these feelings the results will surely follow.
So many people today wake up in their midlife only to realize that they haven’t done anything they always wanted to do. They realized that they’ve spent 30 years procrastinating – putting off doing what they should have done. This is a major cause for depression and what is generally referred to as a ‘mid-life-crises’. The ‘cure’ however lies in eliminating procrastination and taking action and to act on your dreams and your desires. It is never too late to have a happy childhood. It is never too late to take action on your dreams and desires. It is your actions that will shape your life more than anything else. What you do and what you fail to do will be the creators of your life and you (and only you) have full control over that.
When you take responsibility for your life and realize that it’s all up to you, you empower yourself to make it the way you ‘see’ it. No one else is responsible. When you assume responsibility, you assume your ability to respond and to take action. The minute you do this you unlock a level of confidence within yourself that can empower you to take action. Confidence comes not from any physical proof, but from an inner knowing that you can. You create a sense of certainty by starting to doubt the doubts you had in yourself previously. Ultimately procrastination can not survive in the mind of a confident and action minded person.
Deon Du Plessis is the creator of A Course of Action, a free e-course designed to empower you to break through your limitations, take action and transform your ideas into reality. Visit The Self Improvement Gym for more self improvement and personal development insights and resources.
