Hung up on a project and want to know how to get over it?
Want to jump start stalled projects?
In this article are three mental exercises that’ll help with fear-based procrastination.
Kill Fear-Based Procrastination
I go in swings and roundabouts with my business. I have freelance work and other service-based businesses, and I also have asset-based businesses. An example of freelance work is writing VSL scripts, and an example of an asset-based business is writing books or creating a new niche site.
The above is a way of diversifying and also continually upgrading your offerings; if you have a handful of niche sites earning a couple of hundred pounds a month each, you probably don’t need to work for $4 an hour as a freelancer. If you’re working sixty hour weeks as a freelancer, trust me, you’ll seriously consider trying to build some productive and less time-intensive assets.
The reason I mention this is that if you follow this sort of approach, there’ll be times where you’re ready to go with new projects. You’ll have the skeleton plans laid out and all it’ll take is writing up that sales letter and pushing the “publish” button and you’re away.
Recently, I’ve found it difficult to write the sales letter and push the button to get on with it. This article is for those of you who’ve been in the same situation, with four ways to get over that slump and get on with it.
1. Imagine You’re Charging Nothing
This is a great idea if you’re in the “I can’t believe I’m about to charge £$XXX for my services” camp.
Many freelancers, young people and entrepreneurs have been there. You read that the average a person in your field gets paid is X but you’re working at McDonalds or whatever and you’re scared that people will laugh at you if you say “Actually I am worth X.”
This causes people to lose their way and stagnate through the weirdest, most counter-productive failure possible. You’re scared of charging a particular fee and so you charge nothing.
Fantastic.
Here’s the quick fix: Go through the start-up process, writing the sales letters and getting everything ready as though you were charging next to nothing.
Let’s say you’re a cyber-security expert in a niche field and the going rate for these rare crypto-heroes is $500 an hour.
Yet you’ve been learning part time, just finished your qualifications and are currently working in a warehouse stacking shelves for minimum wage. You’re dubious about saying you want $500 an hour even though it’s the going rate because you’re just a shelf-stacker.
You’ll get over your personal beliefs and limitations the minute you land your first client. In the meantime, build your website, get your business cards printed (or whatever it is that hackers do) and just say to yourself, “I’m only charging $10 an hour.”
Write the material and just slot that figure in.
Then, when you’ve done all the hard work, switch out the $10 and replace it with the actual figure.
Nobody is afraid of charging peanuts for a service worth gold. Convince yourself that’s what you’re going to do and then cheat yourself into riches.
2. Imagine You’re Going To Make A Billion And Change Your Life
Let’s just do the opposite of the first point in this list for a while.
This is the standard “vision quest” exercise that a billion people have already told you about. Imagine the positive change that may result from completing your latest exercise.
I’d suggest a few things:
- Be somewhat realistic. Don’t imagine a new Ferrari at the release of your $2 ebook, but buying yourself a nice steak dinner is still aspirational.
- Get deep, deep into the feelings and experiences. Taste the imaginary steak. Feel the smile over your face when your first check clears or picture yourself looking in the mirror and seeing the visible abs poking out of your midsection after your twelve week diet. (Not copywriting related, but that’s the level of detail.)
- Don’t think about the journey in your sensory vision. There’s time for that, but imagine the results and how good they’ll make you feel.
Once you’re as high as a kite on the buzz of the potential future, it’s time to sit and get it done.
3. Assume Nobody Will Read It
When you write copy for a living, you get used to tapping into people’s primal desires and fears. You learn that despite the wasted billions in marketing, most women don’t even remotely care about being healthy as much as they do looking better than their friends. Most guys would sit and play computer games and eat nothing but pizza if it weren’t for the fear of never getting laid again.
Yet the very same things that keep all those other people from recognising their primal motivators keep you in a permanent state of inaction as well.
Many, many people get stuck in a whole ton of procrastination and they don’t know why. Here’s a big, common reason:
You’re scared of rejection.
You don’t want to fail.
Nightmares haunt you of your family and friends laughing, pointing at you and saying, “Ha ha! What a screw-up!”
That might be why your latest idea is bouncing around inside your mind instead of out in the world.
Listen, I’m not a therapist, but here’s a quick hack; if you’ve got a project and it’s sitting on your shelf, then just bring it down and presume nobody is going to notice or care. Far be it from me to assume that there aren’t people hawkishly watching your every move, but that’s probably the case.
Final Thoughts
These three steps will help you overcome most fear-based procrastination. This is especially true if you’re doing them in order. You’ll move from negative emotions through positive emotions and then into a more “there’s nothing to fear” laid-back approach to the whole thing.
You can use these exercises again and again. They’ll kill writer’s block and help you get on with it.
If you think that’s not enough, there’s another secret exercise that I’ll share tomorrow. I separated it out because it’s especially relevant for people who build niche websites and other copywriting based projects.