I’m sitting at my sister’s kitchen table in Williamson, Georgia right now.
It’s a beautiful sunny, cool day and we are having a great time visiting before I head up to Peachtree Corners for the Major League Pickleball Event. (I’m not playing – heehee) but I’m such a super fan, I’m going to be courtside to see all the top Pro players in the PB world. (There really is such a thing!)
Anyway, Monday back in Texas as I was coming home from taking Graham to school, I was thinking…”What could I do today that would allow me to really relax and enjoy my week in Georgia?”
And what immediately came to mind was to finish, and turn in my book proposal.
Since last May, I’ve been saying I would send a book proposal into a publisher (who requested it!) and yet for some reason, I’ve procrastinated. I’ve worked on it partially, I’ve moved forward in fits and starts, but I just couldn’t get myself to finish the darn thing and send it in!
So I knew I needed to just finish it and get it done!
(Have you ever had something like that?)
So I’m happy to report that by Monday at 3:00pm I had finished and submitted it to the publisher, along with submitting it on a major site that many publishers and agents use to find new manuscripts.
Whew! That felt sooooo goood!!
As I flew out yesterday, I was so thankful I had found my “around to it” to get to.
Really, the victory was in finishing the promised project more than the actual project itself.
As I was mulling over what had held me back for so long, the biggest obstacle that came to mind was this…
Perfection coupled with fear.
Fear it wasn’t, or wouldn’t be, perfect enough.
And if I never sent it, I would never know, right?
So theoretically, I was living in fear of something that wasn’t even real.
I mean, there is no actual downside.
“What if she says no?”
So what? What if she says no?
I don’t change either way. If she says no, then that’s ok, I can find other publishing houses, and/or publish it myself.
So really, there’s no downside.
And the exercise of completing the project was the victory in itself.
What have you been procrastinating on? Are you ready to “get ‘er done” as Larry the Cable Guy says?
This is what I did: (and maybe this will help you too!)
–I set the timer (20 minute chunks of work at a time)
–I focused on the process. There were lots of parts to this proposal, so I just focused on each part – writing, reviewing and editing. One element at a time.
–I hit send. Once the proposal was complete, I was actually second guessing myself – wondering if I should have someone else look at it and “approve” of what I had written. Then I caught myself. That was just another form of procrastination! So I gathered my courage, said a little prayer of gratitude and hit send.
Many years ago I heard the business and marketing strategist Seth Godin coin the term “Just ship it” as an anecdote to perfection paralysis, and I thought it was very useful.
And Monday I found it useful as well, as hitting the send button was a little “Just ship it” to myself.
And hopefully my encouragement to you to “Just Ship It” will help you as well.
Cheering you on,
Christy 🙂
P.S. If finding a life coach is something you’ve been procrastinating on, I have the perfect opportunity for you! My coach, Edie Wadsworth, is holding a 3-day “Live Your Life Purpose Challenge” event this week, and you can still get in on all the goodness. Here’s a link to check it out.