Procrastination has many faces and all of them are facing in the direction of fear. One of these could be ?"waiting until you know everything".

I see it with many people. There is no clear action taken until they have all the information, and they would spend many weeks or even months, ringing around and asking all their contacts, hundreds of questions about setting up their planned project.

If I had waited until I knew everything then there would be no monthly ezine at my site, there would be no terrific resources for you to peruse, I would not have met many of my wonderful clients and colleagues etc. In fact, there would be no Forward Steps because I still do not know everything, and I never will.

To move beyond that and any manifestation of fear, my first step with clients is always about getting clear one vital piece of information, and that is - what do they specifically want to accomplish?

In completing exercises such as the 50 Life Power questions page (found at the Forward Steps site), many people respond with only 3 or 4-word answers, and their responses often state what they do NOT want.

That level of input in replying to an important first question will lead to determining a weak next action, for getting what they want. Sample responses to: "What do you want?" might be - I want a house, I want a relationship or I want more money.
If I was a genie and gave you what you said you wanted (exactly as you asked it), I could give you a dollhouse, a few fun weeks spent with a nice person, and an extra dollar in your wallet. I'll then have fulfilled all that you asked.

In turn, the types of actions necessary to get the things you want might then include, moving out of your current home, going to a singles club or getting a second job. Those actions will result in producing a very much watered-down semblance of what you want, however they will not provide a high level of certainty for getting you the things you really want, and in the way that you wanted them. One unclear response leads to another, when moving through the stages of planning a project.

Now repeat the exercise by adding one or two additional descriptors to your "life shopping list". For example, I want to personally own a 4-bedroom home on the beach in Hawaii, I want a 40-year relationship with a loving partner, or I want a reliable, consistent, passive income of US$120,000 for the next 40 years. The actions that you might now suggest as being your next step would change considerably, and have much more power in getting you closer to your actual desires.

Imagine if you added another 10 descriptors, emotions and detailed attributes to each of the things that you say you want. Your next action step would be even clearer to you, and would more confidently move you closer to your dream. The certainty thermometer would rise by hundreds of degrees.

You always get out of anything, what you are willing to put into it. Those who respond to pertinent questions with brief, impromptu replies and then say that they got nothing from doing the exercise, never surprises me.
People who have invested something of themselves by thinking a little more, spending more time and providing heart-felt responses usually express enthusiasm about what they got out of completing any questionnaire exercise. That too, is no surprise to me.

If you have felt blocked in taking clearly defined actions toward a goal, and one of the ways that you slow the process further is by gathering more and more information, then perhaps it is time to revisit the most important question: "What do you want?"
If you can get that one crystal clear, detailed to the smallest descriptor, emotion, feeling or attribute, and written down in a one or half page response then the next-step actions that you would need to take, will likely leap off the page at you!

© Thea Westra lives in Perth, Australia. She publishes a wealth of material for increased life power, self improvement, inspiration, personal success, online business, and internet know-how. Enjoy her many self-improvement resources at http://www.myforwardsteps.com and her latest book at http://www.timeformylife.com

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