Most procrastinators (or those that I know) don’t have problems planning out their days, their lives, or their goals. I set goals to paper several times a week. I also ignore those goals most days, because they’re boring. I don’t want to do most of the stuff on my to-do lists, whether I written those to-dos on paper or on an imaginary list in my head. Why don’t I want to do them? Because, as I said before, they’re boring.

That’s never been more clear to me than after this weekend, when I spent some quality time listening to the unabridged audio book Become Who You Were Born to Be: We All Have a Gift…Have You Discovered Yours? by Brian Souza. Now, I’ll admit, the book feels slow sometimes, meandering through biographical tales of inspiration more often than offering practical advice. However, even books that don’t always seem to be filled with interesting and fascinating material sometimes contain real gems of wisdom. This is one of those books.

The author relies on us to learn by example instead of offering a simple list of things we should do to find out what our passions are. These examples give us the opportunity to see how others discovered what they’re good at and what they’re passionate about. This is actually a nice way to handle the subject since not everyone follows the same path to discovery.

I am not finished with this audio book yet though, so I can’t say how it all turns out. I can say that I’ve gleaned at least one important, possibly life-changing, bit of wisdom from the book so far and I’m anxious to try it out as an antidote for procrastination. This might not be how Souza meant for me to use his material, but that’s the beauty of books. We all take something different from each one.

About Goal Setting

Souza advises us to “avoid the goal setting traps” because goals are often “boring” and “useless” unless “there’s a big juicy dream attached to them.”

This is very true in my experience and I’m wondering now how I can make this work for me and my never-caught-up laundry and my perpetually unswept floors. These are two tasks I hate beyond any other (except maybe dusting, mopping, and killing spiders).

I wonder if setting up a big, juicy dream might propel me toward these goals a heck of a lot faster than a dread of embarrassment at having an untidy and uncleaned house.

My Experiment

Souza says that “most goals appear to be unrealistic until we begin making strides toward their achievement.” So, my goal will be large, inspiring, and possibly unrealistic, but it will motivate me the way a tepid, small, realistic goal or dream never could.

Souza also says:

• Goals should be measurable and specific
• I should have definite but realistic schedule, timeline
• I should put together a written plan
• I should take immediate action
• Goals need emotional intensity because the emotion and intent behind a goal gives it meaning and zest

My Dream: I want to have the prettiest, tidiest, cleanest house (and laundry room) in my neighborhood. I want an awesome house (but don’t want to move). I want beautiful flowers around my yard, and a vegetable garden in back. I want warmth and beauty inside, some organization underneath it all, and clean floors and tidy furniture.

My Goals: (1) Sweep, dust, mop, and tidy each room in my house, one room per day starting today and allotting a reasonable amount of time per room, while striving for excellence in each room, and keeping a checklist of room names. (2) Arrange furniture and belongings in an organized and eye-pleasing way. (3) Start with a container garden this year, and plan for next year’s vegetable garden. Make, buy, or otherwise get pots to plant vegetables in this year, and visit the farmer’s cooperative this week to pick up flowers (and vegetables) for around the front porch, and plant them next weekend.

Wow. Talk about big dreams. :)

Next on my agenda? Explore my dream of an internet empire.

I’m going to post a follow up on this experiment on Friday. I’ll let you know if this particular dream fires up my soul enough to overcome any of my procrastination habits.

By the way, don’t forget to check out Souza’s book yourself. You can either buy it (audio book or print book), or check it out with your library card from the R.E.A.D.S. website.