Pod Insights The Mel Robbins Podcast The Reason You Procrastinate Is Not What You’re Thinking | The Mel Robbins Podcast About this episode Order your copy of The Let Them Theory 👉 https://melrob.co/let-them-theory 👈 The #1 Best Selling Book of 2025 🔥 Discover how much power you truly have. It all begins with two simple words. Let Them.
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In this episode, we’re attacking #procrastination head on – using #science.
Just think about how many hours, or heck YEARS, you have wasted thinking about what you needed to do instead of doing it.
That ends today.
This episode is packed with a simple, research-backed method to understanding why you #procrastinate (it’s not what you think) and what researchers claim is the best way of tackling it.
Nothing is more important than taking control of your time, so hit play and I’ll lead the way to ending that vicious cycle you feel stuck in.
Xo Mel
In this episode, you'll learn:
00:00 Intro
03:52 Takeaway #1: Please stop labeling yourself as this.
04:48 Takeaway #2: Two kinds of procrastination; which one are you doing?
06:02 If you can’t do what you need to get done… you’re normal.
09:41 Believe it or not, this is the #1 task most of us procrastinate on.
12:45 Takeaway #3: You are not stuck being a procrastinator.
13:38 Takeaway #4: This is actually what’s behind your procrastination.
14:27 Procrastination defined in a way you’ve never heard before.
24:52 Comfortable doesn’t mean you LIKE where you are.
29:40 Do this when you catch yourself procrastinating.
30:36 What the world’s leading expert found through his research on procrastination.
33:49 The best question to ask yourself next time you catch yourself procrastinating.
35:41 The #1 science-backed hack to break your procrastination habit.
36:47 Your problem is not that you can’t; it’s that you’ve been trapped.
39:55 You have to do THIS before you start believing in yourself.
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Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 Mel Robbins? Hey, it's your friend Mel and welcome to what I predict will be one of the most popular episodes that we do this year on the Mel Robbins Podcast. So let's do this thing. Welcome. I'm so excited that you're here today. I'm Mel Robbins. I'm a New York Times bestselling author and one of the most respected experts in the world on change and motivation. And today, we are talking about an awesome topic. We're talking about none other than procrastination. This is a topic that I have a lot of experience with. I used to struggle with procrastination profoundly. I still do some days. And every single time I talk about the topic of procrastination,
0:42 Mel Robbins? the research, the science on social media, you guys go crazy. I mean, the stuff goes viral. And even when I'm working with major brands like Starbucks, or Microsoft, or just last week, I was in San Diego, speaking at this secret event for a company that is in the human genome sequencing space. I mean, really cool stuff. At some point, everybody has a question about procrastination, or is struggling with it, and seeking tools that they can use to stop procrastinating and be more effective and more focused. And honestly, this is such a big topic, and an important one. I'm kind of surprised that you and I haven't talked about it yet. I have the Five Second Rule book, right here on my lap,
1:25 Mel Robbins? because I even wrote and researched an entire chapter about procrastination for this book. So you're gonna love what you're about to learn, because everybody struggles with procrastination. I've already admitted, I'm a former chronic procrastinator. You've heard all about the all-nighters I've pulled in college. I want you to know, you are not alone. The reason why you struggle with procrastination, is because you're thinking about procrastination wrong. I used to do the same thing. And so today, you're gonna stop beating yourself up. And you and I are gonna get to the root of what's truly going on, when you struggle
2:06 Mel Robbins? with procrastination. And by the end of the episode, instead of saying to yourself, "Why can't I just make them help do this?" You're gonna change the question. Because you're no longer gonna think there's something wrong with you. "Why can't I just get this done?" You'll be asking yourself the questions that, based on research...
2:27 Mel Robbins? These are the questions that you should be asking yourself when you're procrastinating, which is, how am I feeling right now? What is truly stressing me out? If you want to stop procrastinating, you have to understand it. You have to understand why you do it, and you have to understand the deeper issue that triggers you to procrastinate. And that's why we're not going to procrastinate on the topic any longer. You and I are talking about this sucker today. And I want to give you four takeaways immediately, because I want you to start changing how you think about procrastination immediately. So, rule number one: Stop labeling yourself a procrastinator. You are not a procrastinator. You have a habit of procrastinating.
3:12 Mel Robbins? Big difference. When you call yourself a procrastinator, like I used to, it becomes part of your identity. And procrastination is not a personality trait. Procrastination is a broken pattern of behavior that you need to understand, and then you need to fix it, and replace it with something better. And you may be the kind of person right now where procrastination is chronic in your life. That's okay. That just tells me that the stress in your life is also chronic. And so today, whether you're just kind of procrastinating on the little things, or you're so stressed out because you're constantly procrastinating on the big things, you are going to get simple tools to change this. And you're also going to take your power back.
3:55 Mel Robbins? And that brings me to takeaway number two. There are two kinds of procrastination. There is destructive procrastination, and there's productive procrastination. Like, for example, if you're working on a really hard project, and you decide to go outside and get some fresh air, and take a walk, and relieve the stress that you're feeling before you come back. That kind of avoidance or delay is conscious, and it's productive. But we're going to focus on the destructive procrastination, okay? And that's the kind of procrastination that you might not even realize the extent to which you're doing it. It could be micro-procrastinations that you're engaging on all day, like the fact that you waste hours on social media, probably every single day.
4:39 Mel Robbins? And by the end of the week, you're shocked to learn how all those tiny little micro delays added up to a whole lot of wasted time. Or whether the kind of destructive procrastination that you do is pretty major. You know, when you're actively avoiding something big, like your dissertation that you need to finish, or the application that you need to fill out, or posting videos on your YouTube channel, or making sales calls, or in the case of the listener that you're about to meet, who is an artist, procrastination is eating her alive. Because every single time she sits down as an illustrator in the morning to work on her portfolio, she can't do it. Just listen to Viti talk about how this happens.
5:21 Speaker 01 Hey Mel, first of all, thank you so much for selecting my question. I was beyond happy. So my name is Viti. I am an illustrator by profession, and I absolutely love drawing. But what's been happening for quite a long time now is before I even start, I am worried about the end product. Every morning, I cannot wait to sit on the desk and start drawing. But the moment I get in that chair and I have to start drawing, oh my God, Mel, the level of anxiety and doubt and fear. It's like I bury myself deep with all the excuses one can find in the world. And by the end of it, I am so exhausted and tired with all the negative self-talk.
6:02 Speaker 01 I have absolutely zero energy left to do anything.
6:07 Mel Robbins? Ah, I just love her. Viti, thank you for that. I just want to reach my arms out. I don't know if you can feel this, Viti, but I am sending you, we are all sending you this big virtual hug. That is so frustrating. And can't you relate? It's almost like anguish in your voice. When you're in a situation where there is something in your heart that you know you need to do, or like Viti, this is a calling. She's an artist, an illustrator. You can tell how deeply she cares about this, how much she wants to do this. And you may feel that way about the business that you're running or the program that you want to apply to. You know, I feel this way about something that I need to do. It's not a calling,
6:51 Mel Robbins? it's something I need to do. And that is, I have got to book an appointment to go see a doctor about my hormones. And as I'm sitting here talking to you, my pants are so tight. I'm looking at this kind of hump in the center of my pants, and I know it's confronting me. Because I'm getting older and the shit that I've been doing my whole life to stay healthy and vibrant and feeling good in my body, it's not working. Clearly, it's not working because I'm getting that thickening in the middle. And half the time, my zipper, I notice, is kind of dropping down about a third of the way.
7:34 Mel Robbins? I call this hump my breadbasket. I think about it every day. I think about it every day because when I pull on my pants and I have to zip my pants up, I have to like stick my rear end backwards and sort of suck in to get the zipper of my normal pants up over the breadbasket that I have developed. And, you know, I'm 54, I'm going through some hormonal changes. And as I talk to my girlfriends about this, you know what they say? They say, uh, yeah, like I went to my doctor too, Mel, and you know what they told me? Yeah, just stay active. You'll probably gain five to 10 pounds and then it'll probably come off when you're 60. Talk about triggering.
8:16 Mel Robbins? It makes me feel like I'm not in control of my health or my body. And the other thing that's adding a lot more stress to this topic, because, you know, let's face it, it sounds kind of stupid and simple. Mel, call the doctor, like, how hard is that? Why are you procrastinating on that? Well, believe it or not, one of the major things, based on research, that you and I procrastinate on? Making medical appointments, getting medical tests done. So I relate to this because it's something I'm thinking about. It's something that's on my mind. And I bet you've got something like that, too. And so before we keep going, I want you to think of something in your life, something like Viddy's describing.
8:59 Mel Robbins? Maybe you got to sit down every morning and you're trying to inch forward on some project and you just can't get yourself to do it. Or like me, you're procrastinating on making a medical appointment. Or maybe it's the sales calls. And I'm telling you this because I want you to not just listen. I want you to apply this in real time to what you're dealing with because there's a lot more going on when you're procrastinating than you realize.
9:28 Mel Robbins? And, you know, I realize that by confessing this to you, you're probably thinking, how could you possibly be teaching me about procrastination? If you are engaging in it, Mel, and you're confessing this? Well, I once heard somebody say that you're best equipped to help somebody that you used to be. And I used to be a chronic procrastinator. And I now know what you're about to learn. And so I can spot this stuff immediately. And it's also why I know that there's a whole lot more going on as to why I've avoided calling the doctor to date than just calling the doctor. I hate getting older. I hate feeling like I'm not in control.
10:08 Mel Robbins? And we're going to unpack all of this, which brings me to the third takeaway about procrastination. And that is, you can learn how to stop procrastinating. And I want to say this very loud and clear to Viddy and to you. You're capable of this. You don't lack willpower. You're not lazy. You're not stupid. There's nothing wrong with you.
10:29 Mel Robbins? Can we be honest as friends? You can fill out the financial aid forms. You can train for a marathon. You can repair your marriage and get to therapy. You can get to the doctor. And you know what else you can do? You can stop beating yourself up about this and you can stop making yourself wrong. You're stuck in what researchers call a procrastination cycle. This is this vicious cycle because you don't understand procrastination. Neither did I. That's why my chronic procrastination spun out of control until I learned everything that I'm about to teach you. And that brings me to the fourth takeaway. And I'm going to tell you what that is right after we hear a word from our sponsors. Don't go anywhere.
11:20 Mel Robbins? Welcome back. I'm Mel Robbins, and we are talking about the topic and the research around procrastination and how you can stop procrastinating and take your power back. And I already gave you three takeaways that really change how you deal with procrastination immediately. Number one, stop calling yourself a procrastinator. Procrastination is a habit, period. And it's one you can break. Second, there are two kinds of procrastination. There's productive procrastination, which is when you consciously take a break from something because you need to clear your mind, and destructive procrastination. And that's what we're focusing on today, helping you break the habit of destructive procrastination. And the third takeaway, you can break this, you can do this. This is not about willpower.
12:05 Mel Robbins? This is about understanding the science here. And that brings me to the fourth takeaway, and this is the game changer. The fourth takeaway.
12:14 Mel Robbins? Procrastination is triggered by stress. Yep, you heard that right. Every time you catch yourself procrastinating, it's because you're stressed out. Procrastination has nothing to do with what you need to do. Procrastination defined in the dictionary is avoiding or putting something off, delaying it. But when you look at the research, and we're going to dig into that in a minute, the way that researchers define procrastination is that you are avoiding stress. That's what you're avoiding. You're not avoiding the application. You're not avoiding the illustration. You blow off things that take brain power because you are trying to avoid stress.
12:58 Mel Robbins? Procrastination is the attempt to feel better in this moment. That's what it's about. And this comes from research from Dr. Timothy Pykel at Carleton University. His definition of procrastination is this, a subconscious desire to feel good right now. And he shares that procrastination, it's just all about stress. When you first hear that, wait, procrastination is a subconscious desire to feel good right now? How the heck does that make sense? I mean, Viddy really wants to draw, Mel. So wouldn't it make sense that she'd feel good if she were drawing? Sort of. It makes sense intellectually.
13:40 Mel Robbins? But when I unpack how stress is triggering you to stop doing something that you care about or that you need to do, this is all going to be like, holy cow, why didn't I hear this sooner? So let's really unpack what it means when I say that your habit of procrastinating is triggered by the stress in your life. Stop and think for a minute. What is stressing you out right now? Maybe your mom and dad, their health is failing and it's really upsetting you. Or perhaps like I used to have profound financial stress, like just crushing relentless financial stress, always on my mind, always worried about it. Or your best friends are going through a divorce. Maybe that's something that's on your mind and it's really bothering you and you don't
14:26 Mel Robbins? know what to do about it. And so here you are in your day to day life. You got this big thing that is on your mind. You carry it around like a backpack of stress. You're thinking about it all the time. Maybe it's even just in your subconscious, just grinding away at you. It might just be the relentless pressure and stress that you feel because you are so hard on yourself. I mean, you haven't even met Viddy and you can hear in her voice. The woman beats herself up all day long. Talk about stressful. You haven't been working on the dissertation. Oh my God, I need to work on that thing and why am I not getting to it? And oh my God, I need to do this. I need to... And so here you go. And like Viddy, you sit down and there's something you need to do.
15:10 Mel Robbins? Maybe you have to work on your portfolio. Maybe you gotta make a few sales calls. Maybe you need to sort through all of those medical bills and figure out how to get compensated and reimbursed from insurance. Talk about like something that requires concentration. Maybe you're working on your business plan. Maybe it's something you're really excited about. You're working on the next chapter of your book. But as you sit there and you start to do the work, here's what's interesting. You need to concentrate, don't you? Doing that thing requires a bit of focus. It requires your prefrontal cortex to engage. You've been learning all about this on the Mel Robbins podcast.
15:52 Mel Robbins? But you got the stress backpack on your back. You got all of this stuff ruminating through you. You can't put your finger on it.
18:15 Mel Robbins? I'm gonna say that again, cuz I can feel the wake-up calls going ding ding ding ding ding ding ding as you're listening. I'm gonna say that again. You know that you have a fighter-flight response, right? When you get stressed out, you go on edge. There's also freeze when you're stressed. You feel paralyzed. Procrastination is a form of freezing. Let me explain this. See, life triggers you. A bill arrives in the mail or in your inbox, and you're thinking, "How the hell am I gonna pay that?" You get triggered by stress. Your brain goes into survival mode to protect you, and you freeze. So, without even thinking about it,
18:58 Mel Robbins? you procrastinate on something. Why? Because you're trying to feel a little better right now. That's why you look at social media. That's why you blow off the 15 phone calls, cuz those feel hard. That's why you blow off the writing that you need to do, or the video that you need to shoot, or the thing that feels hard. And then what happens is, because you've blown it off in order to feel a little bit better right now, you get a little behind. And guess what happens? You then feel more stressed. And this is exactly what Viddy is experiencing. And this is why you gotta get in front of this procrastination habit, because this will very quickly spiral out of control. And here she is talking about how she gets
19:43 Mel Robbins? triggered, that when she sits down and she starts to worry about, and here's her stress, "Is it gonna be good enough? I gotta get this right. I don't know if this is the right drawing to do." And she starts thinking and thinking and thinking and thinking. And she even uses the word "siren" naturally. She even feels like it's an alarm that's getting triggered. Listen to this.
20:06 Speaker 01 I realized whenever anything good is about to happen, a siren goes off inside my head. "Oh, it's too good to be true. Oh, it's too good to be true. Oh, you think you can do this? Seriously, you can't. They chose the wrong person. You're clearly not good enough. There are hundreds of much more talented artists. When you finish this project, they'll know that you are a fake, that you are not good enough. So, I think you should stop doing whatever you're doing right now. Every time something good happens, I find myself running from it. It's like feeling shitty has become a comfortable feeling. I don't even know if that makes any sense.
20:40 Mel Robbins? That last line.
20:43 Mel Robbins? It's like feeling shitty has become a comfortable feeling. Vidi, what you are describing makes perfect sense. What you're describing is how stress and this desire, this tension between just trying and expressing yourself and this deep-seated fear that it's not going to be right, or it's not going to be perfect, and how that paralyzes you. That's why you're procrastinating.
21:11 Mel Robbins? And what you're describing is how it triggers you to freeze when you sit down to work as an illustrator. And now you are in a vicious cycle because you're so used to feeling this way, it has become comfortable. And I want to make a really clear distinction, everyone, that the word comfortable doesn't mean you like it. The word comfortable means you're used to it, that it's normal to feel shitty. It's normal to feel stuck. It's normal to feel like you know what you need to do, but you can't make yourself do this. And I want you to hear me loud and clear, this is normal. This is a normal experience to have, and you can do something about it. And if you relate to Vidi like I do, good, because then you're seeing it.
21:56 Mel Robbins? You're seeing that you're trapped in this cycle and seeing it is really the first step and you going, okay, good, because I'm gonna break the cycle, I'm gonna replace it with something else. If you're still trying to spot yourself in this vicious procrastination loop, let me give you another more relatable example that I've been hinting at several times. How many times have you had that experience where you're going to bed, you're brushing your teeth, and you start to feel stressed out as you're going to bed? Because you reflect on the night and you think, oh my God, I just wasted the whole evening. I just spent three hours scrolling through social media while I was lounging on the couch,
22:38 Mel Robbins? watching something on Netflix, and I'm not going to get that time back. And now it's too late. And I know why you did it, and so do you. You were stressed out. You finished the day and you were tired and you were stressed, or you were worried about something, or you felt like, my God, I've been concentrating all day, I just need a break. They call this revenge procrastination. When you literally do nothing at night, you blow off time, you waste your time because you're getting back at your job because it stressed you out. And, you know, look.
23:09 Mel Robbins? Is it a big deal to scroll on social media now and then? Of course not. But when this habit, revenge procrastination, starts to cause a cycle of you coming home and feeling stressed out all the time, and now you're going to bed stressed out, and you're waking up stressed out, and you didn't take the time tonight to set yourself up tomorrow morning, and now you're waking up stressed out because you're feeling behind based on what happened last night, this is how the stress builds and builds and builds. And so I think the big question is this, Mel, what do I do about it? You now got me freaked out. I'm no longer frozen. I want to run. I want to take a sledgehammer and break this cycle in half. Well, when we come back, you got me, and you got the research, and the solution, and
23:51 Mel Robbins? the three simple step approach you can use to break this cycle, take back your time, stop procrastinating, and get your power back.
24:09 Mel Robbins? Welcome back. It's Mel, and we're talking about procrastination. And I am about to explain the simple three-step process that you are going to use based on research in order to break the vicious cycle of procrastination and to take back your time and your life. I mean, this is big stuff. And I'm going to warn you, like a lot of things that I share, at first glance, it might sound kind of stupid. This one might even sound a little schmarmy, but this is all research-based. And in fact, I have a copy of the Five Second Rule book right here with me. I'm on page 145, which is where Chapter 11 begins, which is all about the science of procrastination.
24:54 Mel Robbins? Step number one to breaking this cycle. When you catch yourself procrastinating, forgive yourself.
25:05 Mel Robbins? Step one. The next time you catch yourself procrastinating, step one is forgive yourself. And there's a really profound reason why. Procrastination is not about laziness. It's not about a lack of discipline. It's not something you do because you're dumb. Procrastination is a coping mechanism. You just have a desire to feel good right now, and you deserve that. You have a desire to lessen the stress in your life. And you deserve to lessen the stress in your life. I get it. And this first step to forgive yourself, it comes from research from Dr. Pykel. By the way, he has been studying procrastination for two decades.
25:49 Mel Robbins? I mean, just imagine that. Studying procrastination for two decades. That is a dedicated person right there. And we thank you for your service to all of us. His research found that people who forgive themselves are less likely to procrastinate again. In fact, there was a study that he did. I want to turn to the page. I got the book right here. Page 148 of the Five Second Rule. He co-authored a paper about how students who forgave themselves for procrastinating were less likely to procrastinate on their next test. It sounds silly. But part of the problem that psychologists have uncovered is that when you're somebody that procrastinates, you're really hard on yourselves to begin with. In fact, being hard on yourself
26:34 Mel Robbins? is one of the major causes of why you're so damn stressed. And so, taking a moment and forgiving yourself, and you've got to actually have a talk with yourself. Say it out loud. Where you are sitting there like, oh, my God, two hours just went by? Wow, I must be really stressed out. I forgive myself for just blowing off two hours on social media. And you know what? I can spend the next hour setting my day up tomorrow for success. Or maybe you see all your bills, and you realize you haven't opened those suckers in two months. Just go, wow, I haven't opened my bills in two months? I must be really nervous about this. I forgive myself for not doing that. And you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to just do the best that I can.
27:18 Mel Robbins? I'm going to face this head on. Because the next step that you're going to take once you forgive yourself, you've got to recognize that you're doing it. Why? Because patterns and habits repeat unless you replace them. And so noticing that it's a pattern, catching yourself, forgiving yourself, that is a way we're going to break this pattern. Because the step two, you must identify what you're stressed about. So let's go back to the example of seeing bills piling up. Or getting the second notification that you didn't pay that parking ticket because you procrastinated and now you missed the deadline and now it's twice as expensive. Whoa, I really blew that off. I forgive myself. What am I stressed about?
28:04 Mel Robbins? Now, don't be surprised if the answer to that question, what am I stressed about? Turns out to be much bigger than the parking ticket. For example, when you first got that ticket and it was on your windshield, maybe your immediate reaction was, why do I always do this to myself? Why am I always running late? Why can't I just get up on time or remember to move my car on time? It's the stress you feel about this habitual behavior of running late and dropping balls and screwing up. That's what's triggering you to put off dealing with the ticket itself right now. And so what do you do because of that stress? Oh, you throw the ticket in the passenger seat and then you forget about it. And then what happens? A few weeks later, what comes in the mail?
28:49 Mel Robbins? A notice from the county clerk. That ticket that you didn't deal with? Guess what? It's now doubled because you missed the deadline and you didn't pay it because it was in the passenger seat and you didn't deal with it at the time. Boom. Say hello to the vicious cycle. Now, on top of this, there might be a second moment of procrastination because the second that you open up that notice and you're like, oh, I'm so stupid. Instead of paying it right then, what do you do? You procrastinate again. Why? Because you feel doubly stressed because it's not just one screw up the first time. It's now two screw ups. And so you gotta do the steps. First, you gotta forgive yourself. And then you gotta ask yourself the question.
29:34 Mel Robbins? What am I so stressed about? It's gonna be beyond the parking ticket. That parking ticket is just an example of how life is overwhelming right now. And you might just think, I'm really stressed that it's senior year of college and four years just went by like that. Or I'm really stressed about this presentation that's coming up. I'm really stressed that I'm behind on my sales quota. I'm really stressed that my spouse and I haven't really talked for the last couple of days and they're mad at me and I just don't know what to do. We're always in this fight. I'm really stressed about my dad and those test results that we're waiting on. I'm worried about them. See, when you identify the deeper thing, the thing you're actually stressed about,
30:18 Mel Robbins? it loosens its grip on you. It comes out of hiding. And see, I think that stress backpack is an important analogy or metaphor that you can visualize. It's behind you, so you're not like thinking about it. When you identify what it is, you bring it right in front of your face. And because you're now identifying the source of the stress, it loosens its grip. And now what you're gonna do is you're gonna ask yourself, well, what would the future me want to do right now? Viddy, the artist in you that has already finished her portfolio, what does she want you to do right now? You've forgiven yourself, you've acknowledged what's stressing you out, which is the relentless pursuit of perfection. What is the future you want you to do? Or Mel, you know, you're zipping up your pants and that breadbasket is in there and
31:00 Mel Robbins? you know, you forgive yourself for blowing this off for so long and you acknowledge the stress that you feel because you are getting older and this makes you feel like you're not in control of what's going on. What would the future Mel, that had gone to see the doctor and has got this in place, what would she want you to do right now? And so that's what you're gonna ask yourself. What is the future you want you to do right now? If you're sitting on the couch, two glasses of wine in, and you realize you've procrastinated for the last five hours, and you've... Acknowledged it, you've forgiven yourself for doing it. You've acknowledged the stress that you feel because you know, you are in a fight with a friend or a boyfriend or whatever. What is the you that's going to wake up tomorrow morning wants you to do right now?
31:44 Mel Robbins? I'll tell you what that you wants you to do. They want you to get off the couch. They want you to pack lunch for tomorrow. They want you to brush your teeth and turn off the TV and the phone and read 10 pages of nonfiction and get a good night's sleep. That's what the future you wants you to do. The future you does not want you to slip back into that vicious cycle and spend another three hours watching cat videos and memes and TikTok videos, which we both know is exactly what you would do if you didn't break the cycle by forgiving yourself for doing it for three hours, acknowledging what you're stressed about, and then deciding what the future you wants you to do instead. And then finally, you're just going to start. Because after you've forgiven yourself and you've validated what's stressing you out
32:25 Mel Robbins? and you've tapped into the future you who is kicking ass and taking names and needs you right now, I just want you to start for one minute. So, Viddy, when you sit down tomorrow morning and that self doubt is there and that procrastination kicks in, no problem. Use the steps and then use the five second rule. Why? This is not just listening time, people. This is doing time. We always say that about the Mel Robbins podcast. Use the five second rule. It's one of the most effective, science-backed, starting rituals on the planet for creating a new habit or pattern. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Start drawing for one minute. And here's what we know based on the research. Once you make that first cold call,
33:10 Mel Robbins? you're likely to keep going. Once you start writing that first sentence, you're going to keep writing. Once you hit record on that video, on the video, you're going to keep going. Once you fill out the first name, last name line on the application you need to fill out, you're going to keep going. Once you pull up your resume template and you start writing, you're going to keep going. Because the problem isn't your ability to do what you need to do. The problem is you've been trapped in this stress and trauma and nervous system triggered vicious procrastination cycle. And look, I know this sounds like, really?
33:53 Mel Robbins? God, Mel, come on. I was listening to this because I want to be more productive. I want to make more money. I want to get more shit done. I want to have more life balance. Now you're telling me productivity. It's about forgiving myself? It's about calling forth the future me? Why would I want to try that? Let me tell you why. Because procrastination is a habit. And this habit becomes a very vicious cycle. And that's exactly where Vidi is trapped. So let me let her tell you what it feels like. When you don't nip this in the bud. When the vicious cycle of procrastinating on her art and her work
34:36 Mel Robbins? is now creeping into other areas of your life.
34:40 Speaker 01 The worst part of all of this, whatever this is, self doubt or whatever, wanting to be perfect, whatever this is. The worst part is that this doubt, this fear is slowly seeping into all areas of my life. I know this is affecting all the relationships in my life. And I am just worried that this will take over and and destroy everything I love. So I think the question is rather, how can I relearn to believe in myself? How can I relearn to believe that I deserve all the good things that come my way?
35:24 Speaker 01 And that I am good enough? How can I learn that?
35:28 Mel Robbins? Vidi, I love that. I love that you reframed the question because that is what this is about. See, I told you procrastination was not about productivity. And I also told you that the thing that triggers it was going to surprise you. And that's why this topic is so important. It is never too late to wake up and be the person you want to be. And you deserve that. And here's the truth on how you do that. You have to act like you believe in yourself before you believe in yourself.
36:02 Mel Robbins? I'm gonna say that again. You want to learn how to stop doubting yourself? You want to learn how to believe in yourself again? You want to learn how to not be so afraid, or full of doubt, or full of perfectionism, which by the way, is something you learned in order to cope with crap that was going on in childhood. Perfectionism, everybody, is what you do in order to protect yourself from rejection. There's a huge, huge connection between your desire to be perfect, procrastinating, and the fear of rejection. And so, using these tools, you not only are going to break the pattern of procrastination, you have a roadmap for the actions that take you to the future you.
36:46 Mel Robbins? Because again, you have to act like you believe in yourself before you do believe in yourself. So let me just make this super, super detailed for you. Viddy, when you wake up tomorrow morning, and you sit down in that chair, and you walk through these simple steps that I have just taught you, based on the research, when you start drawing, you are acting like you believe in yourself. And notice, you started drawing before you did believe in yourself. That's why this is so powerful. When you see yourself 5-4-3-2-1, doing it anyway, because you're the kind of person that picks up the phone, or picks up the pen, or walks out the door, or says that thing,
37:31 Mel Robbins? or does that thing, and you keep doing that consistently, you know what's gonna happen? You're not only going to get the results that you want, you're gonna believe in yourself because you're gonna see yourself doing the work to get the results that you want. It begins with the action. And that's why I say, the Mel Robbins podcast is not a listening podcast. It's a doing podcast. It's in the doing that you become someone new. You cannot wait to feel ready. You cannot wait to feel motivated. You cannot wait for procrastination to disappear. It doesn't work that way. You gotta act before you feel ready. You gotta act like you believe before you do.
38:13 Mel Robbins? And that's why this topic is so important. It's why I believe this will be probably one of our most shared episodes because everybody struggles with this. Whether you have kids in college or high school, share this episode with them. If there's somebody that you wish would change, this episode will be very eye-opening. If you have somebody in your life, maybe it's you, or maybe it's somebody that you care deeply about that has huge potential. And you're like, "Why won't they just start doing that thing? Why are they not writing their music? Why are they not starting their channel? Why are they not applying to nursing school? Why don't they believe in themselves?
38:57 Mel Robbins? Why don't they just do that thing?" I'll tell you why. They're stuck in a vicious cycle. And now you understand it. So, send this episode to them so they can understand it too. And tell them it's a message from their future. And in case nobody else tells you this today, I'm not procrastinating on this one. I'm going to tell you that I love you and I believe in you. And I believe in your ability to catch yourself when you start procrastinating. I believe that you can, as cheesy as it sounds, go, "I forgive myself. Three hours, down the toilet, I needed it." You can acknowledge the stress and you can act like the future you.
39:42 Mel Robbins? You want to know why? You deserve that. And the more you do this, the more you're going to be on your way to being the future you. Alrighty, I can't wait to hear what you thought about this one, and I'll talk to you in a few days. I gotta go call my doctor. (laughter) Oh, one more thing. It's the legal language. This podcast is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional. Stitcher.
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