Here’s a game you can play to help figure out what is holding you back from completing an unfinished project and actually getting it done. It’s called “OVERCOMER”!
Let’s say you have an item on your to-do list. You set a deadline (because “they” say that’s important), and you prioritize the item as well (because that’s something else “they” say you should do). The deadline is Tuesday, and the priority is “high.” Tuesday comes and goes, and the list now shows that the item was supposed to be done last Tuesday. But of course, nothing was done. The project just sits there unfinished.
What do you do with the unfinished work? You move it to a future date. That feels like progress. Now it’s not overdue; it’s just undone. You’ll get to it on the new date. Except you don’t get to it on the new date either. The cycle repeats. You move it forward again. Sometimes, you’ll have several projects that just keep moving forward to new dates without you taking any action.
Think about what’s limiting your success and ask yourself: “Am I too busy, lazy, or procrastinating?” Interestingly, the more you ask that question, the more you might wonder whether you’re actually all three.
Here are the Rules of the Game:
- Sit quietly (this is the best part) and focus on the undone task.
- Ask yourself, “What’s the obstacle?” You’ll get an answer. It might be, “I don’t have enough money to pay for it,” “I don’t have time to work on it,” or “I can’t get any help with it.”
- Now ask yourself what you would do if you weren’t facing that obstacle. What if you had the money? What if you had the time? What if you had the help?
- Imagine life without the obstacle. Use this quiet time to take yourself to that place in your mind where the obstacle doesn’t exist. Pretend whatever is holding you back isn’t a problem. Put yourself there and ask if you’d do the work now that the obstacle is gone. “Sure, I’d do it,” you might say. But would you really? Or would you find a new obstacle? Would you find some new reason not to get it done?
When I’m honest with myself and I let my mind believe the old obstacle doesn’t exist, I often find out it’s busyness, laziness, or procrastination. How can I tell? Usually, it’s because I invent a new obstacle. When I think about the project practically, I find some new reason I can’t do it without something else changing.
In my mind, I’ve overcome the first obstacle, but then I create a new one—and that new obstacle is the big clue.
The obstacle tells a story. It tells me I’m not just too busy, lazy, or procrastinating. It tells me it’s something different. It’s fear. I’m afraid. I’ve learned that creating seemingly rational barriers to action is my way of reacting to fear.
Fear is a byproduct of pride. Pride puffs us up and makes us think we’re in control of a situation. I invent explanations for not doing the thing. I blame something external. It’s not me causing the delay—it’s that obstacle.
It doesn’t matter why I’m afraid. What matters is that now I know why the task remains undone. Now I know it’s fear.
Stay tuned for my next message, where I’ll show us how to “dance” with fear so we can move forward.
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