5 Easy Ways to Stop Procrastinating

One of the biggest ways people procrastinate moving forward in their lives is by making excuses as to why they are unable to accomplish something, rather than actually working towards their dreams.

If you do not believe that you can accomplish something, you won't! In the past, this negative mindset has caused me to delay taking my driver's test, get bad grades, question whether I should study abroad, and overall produced poor self-esteem.

I kid you not, once I finally gave myself a chance instead of doubting every decision that was being made, really cool things started to happen. I not only got my driver's license, but I also studied abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland for 3.5 months and started getting more A's and B's in my classes! I learned that at the end of the day, the person that I want to be the most proud of my accomplishments is myself. Because if I am proud of myself, then I'll be motivated to keep going. Eventually, I'll be unstoppable.

When you are making goals, differentiate your long-term goals from your short-term ones. Some will naturally take longer to achieve. By accomplishing the simpler goals, you will then be able to fuel your mind to keep working towards the long-term ones.

Once you put your goals into action, don't allow yourself to make excuses. If you said you were going to eat a healthy meal for dinner, don't all of a sudden at the last moment decide you're too tired and resort to ordering a pizza. Don't allow your mind to even consider other options. Stay focused on your goals and eventually they will manifest.

Along with making goals, it's important to have a clear vision with clear intentions. Part of this is pin-pointing what you want to do with your life. What makes you happiest? What kind of people do you want to be surrounded by? In what environment do you thrive in? It's pretty hard to achieve your goals when you aren't even sure of what they are.

Once you put out your intentions to the universe, make sure to focus on them. Just by wanting it brings you closer to getting it.

We all have those days where the alarm goes off and we start desperately hitting the snooze button. I've snoozed it for nearly an hour before! Then, I'd wonder why I was still so tired.

Stop lingering!

When the alarm goes off, get up. You may not want to, but chances are, you'll feel more awake after doing so rather than staying in bed trying to snooze the morning away. This is procrastination at its sneakiest. You'll think your helping your body by getting in those extra minutes of sleep, but really you're making excuses and procrastinating your life.

When you get up, immediately do something productive. Make your morning coffee. Take a shower. Eat breakfast. Put on your outfit. Set your intentions for the day. Read the newspaper. Whatever will help you kick-start your morning and inspire you to be your best self that day and every day. It is the simple things that we do that lead into bigger victories.

With that in mind, wake up with the intention of conquering the day. If you find it difficult to get out of bed, try checking your mindset. Replace negatives with positives.

Always be grateful to hear the sound of your alarm. It means you got through the previous day and are ready to face a new one.

If there's one thing that my older brother taught me, it's that if you really want something, you have to be persistent. He went from watching trains go by to engineering them and now works for a big railroad company - all without college.

Persistance is a quality that all successful people have. This is because they don't halt their progress when faced with an obstacle. They persist and don't give up. Once you give up, you erase not only all of the progress you've made, but also the possibility of reaching your desired goal.

If you want something, simply ask for it. The worst thing they can do is say no. And if they do, keep working towards it anyway. Eventually, the universe will align and the people in which you are asking might just change their minds. If they don't, perhaps take into consideration the person you are asking. Surely, your dreams are not the issue.

Do you know someone that likes to complain about every minor inconvenience? If you do, you probably also understand how annoying it can be to have to listen to them. It also brings down your vibe a bit.

Of course, I am guilty of complaining about things. The fact that I have to go to class, wake up, work out, etc. are just some of the many things I have complained about in the past. Ironically, these are all things I should be thrilled about! I'm going to class to better my education, waking up which means I'm alive, and working out to get my body into better shape.

When I came to that realization, I finally understood the importance of gratitude. Being grateful for simple things like having food available to you or even the fact that you're alive really helps to positively change your mindset. Even if you've had a bad day, there is always something positive that happened during it. Maybe everyone was mean and horrible, but at the very least, you got home safely from work. Once you understand how to appreciate something instead of complaining about it, you will learn how to live a life that you love and can be proud of.

Complaining gets you nowhere. Gratefulness gets you everywhere.