A traffic light that never turns green

Imagine waiting at a traffic junction.

What if the light never turned green?

How would it make you feel?

Stuck?

Frustrated?

What if I told you this is a reflection of your life?

You’ve been killing your dreams.

You’ve been limiting your potential.

By waiting.

• Waiting for approval.

• Waiting for the perfect idea.

• Waiting for work to slow down.

• Waiting to save enough money.

• Waiting for your kids to grow up.

• Waiting to move to that new place.

• Waiting for the perfect business plan.

The problem?

The wait never ends.

Something comes up, then another, then another.

Your kids might be growing UP.

But you are also growing OLD.

Don’t wait until it is too late.

You might be thinking:

“Gautam, I get it. What can I do about it?”

We will get there soon.

But first, let’s understand why we procrastinate.

The Psychology Behind Procrastination

Procrastination finds its roots in the process of evolution.

Thousands of years ago, our early ancestors lived in a hostile environment.

Wild animals, harsh climate, scarcity of food and water.

They lived to survive.

When they saw a threat, they had to fight or flee.

When they saw food, they had to eat or gather it.

Our species evolved to choose the immediate option that most increased our chance of surviving and passing down our genes.

Our brains evolved to:

• Make decisions quickly.

• Choose immediate gratification rather than the potential of a far-off future reward.

Our brains were never wired to be truly rational because there is way too much information in the world for us to process.

This resulted in what is known as Cognitive Bias.

There are various types of cognitive biases, but the one we will learn about is called Hyperbolic Discounting, also known as the Present Bias.

It is where people choose smaller, immediate rewards rather than larger, later rewards.

You might be wondering what the immediate reward is for postponing something despite knowing the negative consequences.

The reward is survival.

The reward is safety, status quo and energy conservation.

Your brain is optimised for survival, not happiness.

It does not care if you are happy.

All it cares for is survival and energy conservation.

What can you do about it?

1. Evaluate the risks and returns:
   Ask yourself:
   What is the cost of NOT taking action? [Risk]
   What would your life look like if you achieved what you truly wanted? [Return]
   
   If the pain of staying where you are greatly exceeds the pain of taking action, you are in the right direction.

2. Remove yourself from the equation:
   Plan your schedule on your calendar.
   Ask a trusted person to hold you accountable.
   Add an inconvenient consequence for NOT doing what you said you would.

3. Micro straightforward actions:
   You are likely to procrastinate on big goals.
   Instead, break them into small, straightforward actions.
   Actions where you just need to execute, not think.

4. Make decisions:
   Your life is not a committee meeting.
   For most things that matter to your life, you only need your own permission.
   Stop waiting around for approval.
   
   Act now and ask for forgiveness later.

5. Start now, and refine as you progress:
   Start with what you have. Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis.
   As you progress, figure out the next steps.
   
   This is similar to a night journey where your car’s headlights illuminate only a few hundred metres.
   As you drive, the headlights illuminate the next few hundred metres. You cannot expect the headlights to illuminate the entire journey.
   
   I’ve personally experienced the benefits of this approach.

By the way, not all procrastination is bad.

You can intentionally use procrastination to help you, but that’s a topic for another newsletter.

That’s all for this letter.

I trust it took you a step closer towards freedom.

Until next week,

-Gautam