1. Anxiety
When people don’t change unworkable patterns, even though they know they don’t work, it often stems from fear. That fear is driven by the laziness we all have within us. By laziness, I don’t mean that we’re paralyzed, want to put our feet up, and don’t feel like working. We’re lazy because we’re afraid of feeling uncomfortable. People are simply creatures of comfort. And when you have to do something that’s uncomfortable—whether it’s workable or not—the reptilian brain comes out with its magic weapon: the blanket of more time.
The reptilian brain has only one function, and that is to defend you. It wants to protect your physical body from danger, such as a stray pit bull growling at you. Your reptilian brain sends a signal that makes you feel fear. You make sure to stay as far away from that pit bull as possible. So it’s a good thing it’s there. But the reptilian brain also defends your identity. It defends who you think you are, what you know, and what you’re familiar with. Uncomfortable choices involve change, which triggers resistance in the primitive part of your brain. It protects your identity by resisting change.
Even though we know that choices based on laziness aren’t good for us, we make them anyway. The reptilian brain is a master at coming up with fantastic reasons and excuses. “Now isn’t a good time” or “just one more time.” The reptilian brain wants us to feel good and put things off a little longer. It wants us to stay the same, with the result that unworkable patterns persist.
2. Believing in magical thinking
At the start of the year, you set goals for the coming year. A year is a long time, which means procrastination sets in almost immediately. The antidote is to create a sense of urgency for yourself. So, naturally, the year needs to be broken down into segments, creating several shorter deadlines. It’s so simple that we always do it, but the voice of our reptilian brain makes us forget it along the way. We’d rather not hold ourselves accountable for the deadlines we set with foresight.
Many people sit back and think: Oh well, I still have months to go. Then magical thoughts arise: it’ll all work out, that won’t happen to me anyway, or: I’ve already built up enough momentum. That last thought arises, for example, because there’s always been enough work coming in, so there’s no reason to take action. It makes people reactive instead of proactive. All well and good, until something unexpected like a crisis hits and nothing comes in anymore.
How do you break this cycle? First, stop thinking positively and start thinking realistically. Positive thinkers are the biggest daydreamers. Thoughts like “everything will work out” are completely useless. Solve problems now, go after those goals now, and be proactive. Stop believing in unicorns, magic spells, and happy endings.
3. An invisible, weak "inner stance"
If it’s not due to fear or magical thinking, procrastination stems from the fact that you don’t (yet) see something about yourself. You’re stuck in unproductive patterns, but you’re not aware of it. Your inner stance is ineffective in a way that’s invisible to you.
Perhaps you have a distorted view of who you are, which is holding you back from taking action. Consider an entrepreneur who believes, “I am tolerant.” That entrepreneur will be reluctant to confront a poorly performing employee about their behavior. In fact, he is too tolerant and wants to avoid confrontation, but he doesn’t realize it himself. So he just puts off the conversation.
It’s not easy to identify where you have an invisible, weak inner stance. However, a leader always looks toward what he cannot yet see. As a leader, you are always aware that there is much you simply do not know. In fact, you actively seek out worlds that are still unknown to you. A leader’s work lies precisely in uncharted territory.