5 Traits of a High Performance Procrastinator

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On today's episode of Unshakable Habits, we're going

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to identify the five traits of a high performance procrastinator.

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We're going to talk about some of the positives and the negatives of being a

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high performance procrastinator as well.

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And that's coming up next right here on Unshakable Habits.

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The right habits can help you have it all.

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More time, better health, improved relationships, and less stress.

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But most people lack the tools to stick with those habits

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long enough to see results.

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That is about to change.

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Welcome to Unshakable Habits with your host, Stephen Box.

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It's time to take your habits from unsustainable to unshakable.

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Welcome back to Unshakable Habits.

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This is episode number 81 and I am your host, Habit Change

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Specialist and Coach Stephen Box.

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And guys, today we are talking all about High Performance Procrastination.

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And I want to just put this out front for you guys.

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There's not going to be any judgment in this today if you see

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yourself in any of these traits.

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Because I, myself, am a recovering high performance procrastinator.

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For pretty much most of my life, I was very good at waiting until

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the last minute to do things.

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Still getting by, still getting praise from people.

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For years, I prided myself on my ability to shoot off the cuff.

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and not have to plan everything out.

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And what I can tell you guys is there was some positives to that, but

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there were also a lot of negatives.

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And in the time that I have been consciously trying to change this and

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become more proactive in my activities, what I've realized is I've been able

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to keep a lot of the positives without having to deal with the negatives.

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So let's jump into some of these traits.

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So number one, you might be a high performance procrastinator

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if you thrive under pressure.

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for a lot of us, and I'm going to say us since I, for most of my life,

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was a high performance procrastinator as well, most of us believe that

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we perform our best under pressure when there's a looming deadline.

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Now I say believe because it's not always true and we'll get

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to that here in a little bit.

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But here's the thing, we tend to be naturally talented enough to get by, even

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when we wait to the last minute, which really just reinforces the pattern, right?

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The second thing is, high performance procrastinators,

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they want that urgency, right?

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It's like an adrenaline rush.

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And there's just something about when you know you have a short period of

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time left and you are grinding it out and you finish something just in

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time and then you get praise on it.

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It's a dopamine hit.

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It's a high.

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It really is.

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It can be exhilarating.

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I'm not gonna lie to you guys.

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Something else that tends to happen here is there is a overestimation,

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of how long something's going to take.

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Or I'm sorry, there's an underestimation of how long something's going

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to take and an overestimation of our ability to get it done.

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And what this leads to a lot of times is we end up putting things

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off to the last minute, obviously.

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But that also means skipping breaks, extending work hours, neglecting

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personal goals, neglecting relationships, family, health, things like that.

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That's another trait.

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So we don't really have great work life balance because we're always

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pushing something to the last minute.

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And if we do have good work life balance, it's usually because We've put

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everything else in front of doing what we need to do, but then when we need

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to do it, we block everything else out.

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And at the end of the day, it doesn't actually create that positive

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environment that we think it will.

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Another common trait is that high performance procrastinators tend to

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jump from idea to idea very quickly.

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If they're not happy with the current path, so if they're not getting that

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instant gratification, because remember I talked about before, one of the things

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is when we're doing it, we get that adrenaline rush, that dopamine hit.

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So when we're not seeing results.

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It's so easy to just be like, I'm to something else.

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I'm going to go to something that's hitting for me, right?

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And we're also more likely to make last minute changes or

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take risks that might fail.

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I remember being in Toastmasters and I would, it would be my turn to speak.

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And we had to do five to seven minutes.

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5 to 7 minute presentations in Toastmasters.

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And I had about a 25 minute drive to my meeting.

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And this was for an advanced club.

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This wasn't even a regular club.

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This was an advanced club.

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These were like the best of the best.

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And we get evaluated and everything.

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And I was literally writing my speech in the car on the drive.

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I'm not talking about refining it.

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I'm talking about writing the speech.

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And then even after doing that, is that weren't last minute enough, as

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I'm listening to the speaker before me, and I'm getting ready to go up, I'm in

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my head making changes to my speech.

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And sometimes I would even make changes in the middle of my speech.

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And yes, that takes an immense amount of talent.

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But I also recognize in hindsight I could have been so much better

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had I not done it that way.

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Had I actually prepared ahead of time.

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Another thing, and this goes along with what I just said, is high performance

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procrastinators love to have the freedom to be able to change things.

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at the last minute.

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And for that reason, they often think that a set routine will

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be boring or too limiting.

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So you tell me guys, can you relate to those five traits?

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Do those sound familiar to you?

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If so, you might also be a high performance procrastinator.

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So let's talk about some of the problems that come along with this.

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Number one, despite the dopamine rush that you get from waiting until

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last minute, you do realize that it often leads to chronic periods

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of high stress and anxiety, right?

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it's just something that comes with the territory.

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And yes, for a little bit, it's exciting, but when it's

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too often, it's overwhelming.

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And although you often do enough to get by, And you might even get praise for it.

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You know you're doing less than your best, And when we're doing less than

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our best, it holds us back, Maybe you got passed over for that promotion

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even though you're really good at what you do, because your boss knows

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you're not really that reliable, right?

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They know you're good, but they don't think you're reliable, right?

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Or maybe Your spouse has lost faith and asked you to do things because

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they know that you're going to put them off into the last minute that

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you're going to do them halfway.

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Hurts a little bit, right?

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And listen, again, no judgment.

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This was me, guys.

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I would also be willing to bet that at least once in the last few months,

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you found yourself on the verge of burnout due to the constant cycle of

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procrastination and high pressure work.

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That was me, multiple times.

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I've been there.

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Others may see you as unreliable like I was just talking about,

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which can stream both your personal and professional relationships.

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And then the other thing is, a lot of high performance procrastinators, they do

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tend to focus their efforts in one place.

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a lot of them may be successful in their careers.

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For a lot of high performance procrastinators, that's

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our areas of focus.

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It's work.

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we're successful in careers, but we also, we often struggle with

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our personal and health goals.

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Now, let's talk about some things that maybe you've tried here.

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number one is creating fake deadlines, but let's be honest,

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they're easy to push back.

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You've probably tried different time management tools and systems.

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But they feel too restrictive, because remember, high performance procrastinators

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love flexibility and freedom.

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you probably try breaking tasks into smaller steps, but you struggle

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with the consistency required.

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Because the reality is, as a high performance procrastinator, you are

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accustomed to taking large pieces of work, doing them in a shortened period

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of time at an extremely fast pace.

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when you are given small tasks, it feels way too easy and it will enhance

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the procrastination, not eliminate it.

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And then finally, you've probably tried managing your stress using

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mindfulness or meditation or things like that, but you find it very difficult

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to quiet your mind because you're busy thinking about all this stuff.

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That you need to do.

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And it feels like you always have a never ending to do list.

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Now, if this is you, don't worry, because the good news is

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I've been there and I can help.

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For years, I was a high performance procrastinator.

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And it wasn't until I discovered the power of creating structured

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flexibility that I began to create balance and success in my own life.

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And when we, when I talk about structured flexibility, it's

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really the best of both worlds.

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It allows me to have structure in my day, but it still allows me to

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have that flexibility that I crave.

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And listen, I've been coaching people since 2010.

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And I've helped a lot of people in that time learn to stop procrastinating.

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And build daily habits and routines to create lasting changes

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in the areas that matter most.

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And that is our physical health, our mindset, our relationships,

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our faith, and professional growth.

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So if you're ready to get off the high stress procrastination

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rollercoaster, guys, I want to invite you to go to unshakablehabits.

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com and book a free roadmap call with me today.

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There's no obligation.

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It will not cost you a single penny.

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It's not going to be a high pressure thing here.

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Yeah, I'm going to tell you right now.

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We're going to talk about my coaching.

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We're going to talk about it, okay?

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I'm not going to sit here and tell you.

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I'm not going to bring it up at all.

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But what I will promise you is I'm not going to hard pitch you.

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That's not the whole point of this thing, right?

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I spent most of my life suffering as a high performance procrastinator and you

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know what there was a point in my life if you use that word suffering along

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with it I would have looked at you crazy because I didn't think I was suffering

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but I've realized in looking at it and I hope going through that list of problems

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that you can see it too you That it is a problem and it's not the best way to live.

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I can help you to figure out how do you get more done, reduce your stress,

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but still keep that flexibility.

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And, look, I promise you, we'll find some ways for you

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to feel the excitement, right?

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You don't have to wait to the last minute to feel excited.

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We can find some other things for you to be excited about.

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So if that sounds like a plane to you guys, I want to encourage you to head

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on over again to unshakeablehabits.

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com.

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There's also a link down in the show notes, where you can book

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a free roadmap call with me.

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So either go to the website or go down the show notes and book

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that free call with me today.

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It doesn't cost you guys anything at all.

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This is just 100 percent of value add, something that I'm willing to do for you.

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But I am going to tell you, slots are limited.

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I can only do so many calls.

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So don't wait, because you might miss the opportunity to get one of the few

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slots that are actually available.

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And guys, with that I'm going to remind you as always, that while

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none of us are born unshakable, we can all become unshakable.