Last week I talked about procrastination and why it can be hard to get started with a new habit/task/goal/etc. This week I'm going to delve just a little bit deeper. We very rarely just blindly jump into something without some sort of thought process. We may decide to do some research to help us better understand what to expect, what to do, how to accomplish, how to be successful, etc. We may formulate a plan of attack, allocate time, etc. This part of the process of change is called the Motion Phase. The Motion Phase is an important part of the process, however, it is easy to get stuck in this phase, which isn't the phase where results occur. Motion allows us to feel like we are making progress by tricking our mind that we are working toward our end goal (which is neither true nor false statement) while also protecting us from the risk of failure (which to some level everyone is afraid of). By never taking any action, which is where results occur and hence the progression to completion and the end goal, we never actually commit and hence remove the risk of failing. The Motion Phase is the pre-phase to the Action Phase. If the Action Phase never begins, then the Motion Phase simply becomes procrastination. No one wants to fail, however, as Tomas Edison once said “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” Failure is simply a mindset. If you learned something, even if it wasn't with the end result you hoped for, you should consider that newfound knowledge a success. Don't be afraid to "fail", take full advantage of the Motion Phase to help prepare for the Action Phase, but START the Action Phase!
