We’ve all experienced procrastination at some point in our lives. For some it’s something that comes and goes while for others it is a frustrating habit that often prevents them from ever achieving any of their dreams and goals.

There are many definitions of procrastination, but they all seem to point to one common characteristic in behaviour, or rather, lack of behaviour. When you procrastinate you are quite literally ‘stuck’ between advancing and staying where you are. Consciously you want to advance, but subconsciously you want to stay. On a subconscious level you are preventing yourself from taking the very actions that you know you need to take to achieve the results you desire from a conscious or rational point of view. The frustrating thing about procrastination is that although you know what you want, and even how to get it, you still remain immobilized and ‘unable’ to act on it.

Probably the most accurate definition of procrastination is that it’s the irrational delay, aversion or even evasion of a task or action. It’s irrational because we cannot explain this behaviour from a rational point of view. We can only explain and understand it from an emotional point of view because the reason why we procrastinate is because at a subconscious level we have an emotional association to the task that prevents us from taking the action. Wanting one thing and then doing the opposite seems stupid and completely irrational, but that is why procrastination can be such an odd behaviour to deal with effectively.

The definition of procrastination, when translated from the original Latin, means ‘in favour of tomorrow’ and although you might ‘intentionally’ postpone your tasks there is an underlying reason why you do it which is irrational, emotional and stored in your subconscious experiences. You might want to loose weight and even though you can see how fat you are and how your health and vitality is deteriorating, you still can’ get yourself to exercise. Why is this? Well, on a rational level it’s very obvious that you MUST take action, but on an emotional level it seems to painful to give up the foods you’re addicted to and to sacrifice an hour of TV-time to go and kill yourself on the treadmill.

This association to exercise and changing your diet is nothing but a belief and an association that exists in your mind. Because you believe it, you will act upon it, even if it only exists in your imagination. On a very basic level all our actions are driven by need to avoid pain and the desire to gain pleasure. Procrastination is nothing but this basic truth in action. When you procrastinate you’re your beliefs about what will be painful and what will mean pleasure are what prevents you from taking action. Since your beliefs reside mostly in your subconscious level of thinking, you will be immobilized even if you say you want the opposite.

The definition of procrastination as an irrational behaviour is indeed a very accurate one and explains the frustration when you can’t seem to get yourself to act on your conscious desires. Procrastination guarantees a life of frustration and striving. You must overcome procrastination if you really want to make any significant progress in your life.

Here’s a new definition that you might want to adopt to empower you to be more effective and to consistently act on your ideas, dreams and desires:

Procrastination is a call to action. It is a signal that you must act on the very things that you do not want to act on and DO the very thing that’s holding you back. It is the necessary resistance you need to be able to grow, develop and gain confidence that only comes from actually doing it. When you do break through the short term ‘pain’ that held you back you come out on the other side with an increased sense of esteem for yourself and you start to see yourself and your abilities from a different perspective. The fact that you are procrastinating about something means that it hold significant enough value for you to be uncomfortable with not taking action.

The things that are holding you back most are that which will free you most – once you take action. What will free you most is taking action. Not because of the absence of procrastination, but despite the procrastinating.

Since the airing of “The Secret”, thousands of people across the globe have come to understand a little about the law of attraction. Tens of thousands of people search the Internet every single day for more information on how to use the law of attraction to get more of the things they want in their lives. Perhaps you are one of them.

But there are also people who have misunderstood the basic premise behind the law of attraction. In truth, the law of attraction is still not fully understood, even by the big teachers. Those who have misunderstood the law of attraction, state that there is no such thing as magic or supernatural things. That is not what the law of attraction is about.

The law of attraction is more along the lines of something called electromagnetic attraction. In physics, this is what holds the planets in our solar system in place. In the mental world, it’s what attracts people to each other, in friendships and romantic relationships.

In your every day life, every thing that enters your experience is there by attraction. You literally attract events, circumstances, people, and things into your experience. It’s more than what you’re consciously thinking and feeling, and it is a conglomeration of the deeper levels of you as well. In fact, you may not be aware of much deeper levels of you that are overriding your conscious awareness.

This is why the law of attraction has been so difficult to grasp and understand. In ancient times, people thought that the sun would go into the ocean at the end of each day. Now we know better than that. We know that it is an illusion due to our frame of reference. The same thing goes for each of our lives. We tend to think that things just happen to us by chance or that perhaps someone or something outside of ourselves is rewarding or punishing us. Many people have strong beliefs around this, and whether they realize it or not, they are responsible for everything that is going on their lives.

In quantum physics, scientists have discovered that the tiniest particles of matter seemed to defy all logic and rules that we have come to know in our physical world. We just couldn’t figure out what was going on there. But then we started to notice that these tiny sub-atomic particles behaved differently when they were being observed. The mere act of observing caused these particles to behave differently. That is significant. It shows that what we think of as being ‘set in stone’ can actually be changed according to our own inner vibration.

Quantum physicists have also discovered that everything in this universe is energy. At our core, you and I are pure vibrating energy. We just interpret certain frequencies as a table, hand, or computer. But in reality, it is nothing but energy. Think about that for a moment…

Law of attraction states that like attracts like. Your frequency, vibration or tune attracts like frequencies and tunes. Although, there is still much to learn about quantum physics and the law of attraction, it is evident that these concepts can be used to overcome limiting beliefs and obstacles.

These days there’s a mad rush to be purpose driven and I wholeheartly agree, it is better to be purpose driven than going in reverse or stuck in neutral. However, why would I be content to be just purpose driven and not living my life’s purpose on purpose? I believe the real reason most people are okay with being just purpose driven is because they don’t know how to identify their real purpose for existing or what purpose means when it relates to individuals. If you’re reading this article, this is the day that was created for you to begin living your life with a purpose on purpose.

The (buzz) word purpose can be substituted for a number of words, some of which could be reason, intention, intent, use, idea, objective, aim, function or determination. In my opinion, a purpose is the reason why you exist to fulfill a specific task that only you can fulfill at a specific time and season here on the earth. A purpose should not, but often times are confused with a person’s call. Purpose and call are different. A call is a particular business, occupation, profession or trade. Once again, purpose is your intended reason for being. Most people live out their lives fulfilling their call, not their purpose. They have prepared themselves for a chosen field or profession. Since they do not know their purpose, they work in that field unhappy for many years and retire. They never venture out to find out what makes them happy. I’ve finally mentioned the operative word—HAPPY, not just purpose!

Although happiness is evident when you are fulfilling your purpose, there are several other key VIRTUES that will accompany happiness. First, how do we begin to find what our purpose is in life? Why are we here? Like everything else in life, finding your purpose, begins with finding and understanding of who you are. Understanding one’s self is a process that most people neglect or choose not to go through. Understanding who you are as well as self-examination and evaluation is the beginning of identifying your purpose. It is important you get a mental picture of what you look like living your purpose now. I believe one of the most powerful forces in the universe is love and another is our ability to choose our own thoughts. A single action is derived from a thought. One of my favorite sayings is, “The me I see, is the me I’ll be.” In other words, I must begin to see myself as I want to be and not as I am. Once you can mentally see yourself living your purpose, those very images and thoughts you have about yourself will began to draw the desired thought patterns and behavior into your life that will produce what you desire.

Determining to change your way of thinking about yourself is paramount if you want to find your purpose. Another important area for identifying your purpose is discovering the spiritual part of you. You must become spiritually centered and develop a spiritual relationship with God. Some people don’t believe that there is a God, but just because the belief exists, does not mean that the belief is truth and nor does it mean that God does not exist. Research has suggested that people who have engaged and nurtured a personal relationship with God live healthier, happier, successful and longer lives than those who do not. It is out of the spiritual you that you will determine and establish your moral and value system. Your own beliefs of right and wrong and live your life according to those very beliefs without compromising them for anyone. And as you continue on the path to living your purpose, don’t forget to mentally see yourself purpose living.

At this point of discovery you will start to identify your passion if you don’t already know. What is it that gives you a burning desire to fulfill or complete in life? If you are driven with passion to do certain things and you are really focused on these things as well as get great fulfillment and enjoyment in doing them, then you may have identified your purpose. However, most have not arrived to this place unless they understand the importance of relationships and serving others.

Along with developing relationships and serving others, you must also master the art of effective communications and setting boundaries. Learning how to effectively communicate in all of your relationships will enable you to successfully set boundaries. Setting boundaries will bring and give you the respect you need to have long, successful and lasting relationships. These same boundaries will also help you in accepting and respecting the boundaries of others.

Once you are confident in your relationships with boundaries, you are now ready to re-evaluate and establish your goals. A goal can be the same as a purpose, but try looking at goals as an outline of achievements to your path. Let goals be nothing more than categories and sub-categories of the outline in which you have created. With this same outline, now you can begin to road map your success of accomplishing these goals step by step.

Finally, finding your purpose in life is not a secret, nor is it a complicated task. It does however require a commitment and dedication on your part to transform yourself from the inside out from a purpose given into a life with a purpose that you’re living.