4 Tips for Removing Career Dream Delay Tactics

Get ready for some truth bombs. 💣💣💣

When you tell yourself you need to “think about it” that is a delay tactic.

When you tell yourself you need to “talk it over with your besties” that is a delay tactic.

When you tell yourself you need to “first do this thing” BEFORE you reach out to a LinkedIn connection, start your job search, ask for a raise, set up your promotion conversation, create a business plan or ask to be put on that strategic project, this is a delay tactic.

FYI: You will always be able to find reasons to put off doing something that you want if what you want is new, different and feels scary.

And … it gets exacerbated when you have no set deadline.

Most people who struggle with procrastination can relate to the school paper deadline story. Think about starting. Do something else. Time passes. The deadline is closer. You start to feel anxious. Do something else. The deadline is just around the corner. Pull an all-nighter and finish on time. Thank goodness for a deadline!

But when we do not have a clear deadline, we can set up delay tactics that seem logical and can appear to be very important things that you must get done.

The problem is that they are often not tasks that are directly connected to your deep career desire for yourself.

They are delay tactics.

Our brain prefers the status quo. It will, consciously and unconsciously, put obstacles in our way to delay taking action.

All the while our career dreams sit patiently waiting to have their moment.

4 tips to removing unwanted delay tactics

So how do we stop delaying our career dreams? Here are 4 tips to get things moving:

1. Don’t Think. Act. Don’t give yourself much time to think about things. Feel an impulse to reach out to someone about your dream. Do it! Feel a nudge to start writing that resume or business pitch. Do it! Want to hire a coach? Do it! Don’t give your brain the time to think things over because it will ONLY ALWAYS talk you out of it.

2. Make Tiny Plans. One of the ways our brains stop us is by making us believe that there are so many moving parts to change that overwhelm, stress and confusion are the only outcomes. You combat this by letting your brain know you will be doing 1 small thing and only that. 1 call. 1 hour. 1 page. The progress you’ll make with tiny plans is amazing.

3. Do Nothing By Choice. Raymond Chandler was an American-British author and screenplay writer of detective stories. He was famous for writing, among other great things, The Big Sleep, the first novel to feature Phillip Marlow, Private Eye. Raymond used a strategy called The Nothing Alternative where he set aside time to work on his next project and he would either work on the writing project or do nothing. Only 2 options. Work on the career dream or stare into space doing nothing. No paying the bills, no cleaning out that closet, or doing laundry. Nothing but work on the thing or do no thing. By limiting yourself to two options, doing nothing either becomes so uncomfortable you begin to work on your career dream OR through starting into space you get some spiritual downloads that inspire your career dream OR you just spent 1 hour in quiet time and who can’t use more of that!

4. Change Your Thoughts – One useful exercise is to write down all the reasons why you believe you are delaying taking action on your career dreams and then debunk them one by one.

Example: My life is so busy already. I do not have the time to work with a coach to get clear on my next career move.

Debunked: My life is so busy but once I start working with a coach on my career dream I will feel energized again and it will feel like time expanding.

Now that you are on to your brain’s delay tactics you can stop them in their tracks and watch your career dreams pick up the momentum they need to become your new reality!

Stay InspiHER’d,

P.S. Work with me in 1:1 private coaching and move your career dream forward. Do Not Delay! Schedule a call with me today!