What Are You Waiting For?

by Guest Writer Kim Dietrich, kimdietrich.ca

In this episode of her Creating Abundance with Ease radio show, Dr. Helen looks at how much energy we waste when we procrastinate. Explaining how to use the tools of Access Consciousness to clear the resistance and judgements of procrastination, she reveals how we can reframe our thinking to open up new opportunities for ourselves.

Helen identifies four elements of creation in Access Consciousness – Question, Choice, Possibility and Contribution – before zeroing in on Contribution. True contribution involves a constant mix of giving and receiving. Using the example of an airplane-safety oxygen mask demonstration, she draws a parallel: before we can be a contribution to others, we have to first be one for ourselves.

A lifelong giver herself, Helen relates how she once lived in a constant state of energy depletion. She gave so much to others that she rarely had energy left for herself. It’s not uncommon, she says, for us to place ourselves low on our own list of priorities. But in putting ourselves on the back burner – for when we can find more time or more money – we get tired, overwhelmed and burnt out.

What If You Stop Putting Yourself Last?

What would happen, Helen asks, if we made time for ourselves first? This is the key to tapping into abundance and bringing total ease to our lives. Instead of procrastinating, we can ask ourselves: “what do I choose to do right now?” Following that energy will create more for ourselves.

Today, Helen lets herself be guided by the energy of choices as they appear. She gravitates away from what feels heavy and towards what is light and fun. Rather than resisting and reacting to things, she puts her focus on being. Helen asks: what if choosing something that you’ve been putting off for so long would create more ease, joy and glory in your life?

Inviting listeners to consider the fun stuff they’ve put on the back-burner, she extends a challenge: What if you promise to do something fun for yourself once a day? You can ask yourself: what would bring me joy today? It doesn’t need to be anything massive or dramatic – a spoonful of ice cream, 5 minutes spent reading a book, or perhaps just 10 minutes playing a game. Doing these things for yourself without judgement can increase your joy.

Doing Versus Being

Helen talks about how we become so engrained in our obligations that we forget to pay attention to our own priorities. We end up living more in the energy of ‘doing’ things for others than in a place of ‘being’ ourselves. We put things off until next month, next year, or even until we retire, living for the needs of others instead of ourselves.

Instead of always waiting for some distant time and place for life to begin however, we can choose to BE. We will accomplish this by letting life flow and unfold, by going with what feels light, and by making choices based on being instead of reacting. Ultimately you can move into being you by focusing more on what works for you?

Judgements Around Procrastination

We waste a lot of energy with our judgements around procrastination. Putting things off until right before we have a deadline adds unnecessary stress to our lives. What if you could avoid that stress? Helen asks. What could you create in your life if you didn’t wait until the last minute?

Thinking about tasks as obligations also creates a certain kind of energy. When we have a task to complete, we often label it in our minds as “something that HAS to be done”. That type of energy squeezes all the fun out of things.

As we resist doing things, judge ourselves for putting them off, and then react to our judgements, we waste so much energy! What if we let go of all that? Helen asks. What if we reframed “I have to do this”, as simply “here is something waiting to be done”.

With her question “what are you waiting for”? Helen essentially offers an invitation to choose kindness for ourselves. Her suggestions are simple, yet powerful: start by not putting ourselves last, take 5 or 10 minutes a day to focus on what brings us pleasure, and move away from procrastination by reframing our obligations as activities with potential for joy. Without making it a big thing, she promises, we can create so much more for ourselves.

Kim Dietrich is a content writer specializing in personal and career development.
Check out her print and online work at kimdietrich.ca.