So, as promised – in the last article – I will go a little more into detail about some of the things that I have learned about procrastination. This topic is in fact very big and flooded with everyone’s opinion’s. But hey, in all reality what topic isn’t?! Truly there is never a shortage of people’s opinion’s, in every aspect of life it seems. Unfortunately, if you have chosen to follow your dreams, destiny, make yourself as happy as possible, or just achieve success in general, you will find that opinions are even more freely given. The abundance of people’s opinions are super charged if they fear that someone is going to reach beyond what they deem safe. They may think, in fact they are just trying to save you. But in reality they are trying to justify their fears.

Sorry, off topic! So as I was saying procrastination, it’s a big topic that necessitates many articles. But in honor of the topic itself, we gotta start somewhere. This concept can help in more areas than just procrastination. It can help to overcome big hurdles and help beat some of our fears. So the concept is based on the story of Zorro’s training – yes, Zorro, as in Antonio Banderas.  Zorro starts out as a troubled young man who has a serious chip on his shoulder and burning passion to get revenge, that just won’t let him ever progress as a person, let alone a hero.  Don Diego, seeing the potential in Alejandro promises him, with training, focus, and dedication that he will become that hero.  To tame the wild passion within Alejandro, Don Diego draws a circle in the sand with the command that this circle is now his world. He may not leave it! He must learn to fight within the circle. And the story goes that as he masters that circle, he graduates into a greater circle that comes with different training and skills to master. As his circle grows, he is soon swinging from ropes, doing pushups over burning candles, and becoming the hero his destiny designed.

With each growing circle he gains more confidence and focus. Sometime, I think we don’t start something because we aren’t confident in what we are capable of. We talk ourselves down until it feels impossible to do anything. I know that I’m in that position all the time. That’s why the circle is a fantastic metaphor for how we can overcome procrastination while creating natural, healthy, and lasting growth in our lives. So today start with a small circle, something that you know you can accomplish and do it, then master it. Because we are meant to be happy!

Happiness is the object and design of our existence.

~Joseph Smith

This concept in an idea from an amazing book called The happiness advantage. By Shawn Achor