Oftentimes, what looks like procrastination is more accurately called “resistance”. If you’re an entrepreneur, healer or artist who’s “stuck”, who feels like you’re in a loop of procrastination, what may be happening is “resistance”. What you’re seeing as the negative of “procrastination” is very probably your inner voice trying to guide you on an easier path to success. By reframing the experience as something that is actually working for your greater good and the good of those around you, you allow the solution to show itself.

By reframing procrastination as resistance, you get to move forward.

What usually happens…and why you stay stuck

Perhaps you’re an entrepreneur and you see something in your business that you think needs to be done, but you don’t do it.

You’re doing anything but “the thing that needs to be done”. You do the dishes, you pick lint off the floor…but you don’t do the “thing”.

Then you start to beat yourself up about not doing “the thing”. You talk to yourself about it. You tell yourself that “the thing” really isn’t that hard which then leads to more self-denigration because you say, “If it’s not hard, then what’s wrong with me?”

You ask yourself more questions, trying to figure out what’s going on. You ask yourself, “Why do I procrastinate?”, and in this state of mind, you typically get answers like, “Because I’m lazy… because I don’t know what I’m doing…because I don’t know what to do next.”

(Always be careful of the questions you ask because you will get answers. It’s the way the world works. Ask a question that’s going to get you positive results.)

We compound the struggle by calling resistance “procrastination”, and then we proceed to pound ourselves for being “bad”. Beating yourself up accomplishes nothing except keeping you stuck, keeping you where you are with your current results…or lack thereof. Both procrastination and resistance involve struggle. In one, the struggle has a negative feel to it. In the other, the struggle points you to your path. Here’s the difference.

Resistance – what you’re currently calling procrastination – is actually, many times, your soul’s wisdom trying to tell you that you are “off path”, that you’re trying to force a situation…that you’re struggling unnecessarily.

When you realize that procrastination is merely resistance, and it’s trying to point you to an easier way, one with fewer struggles, then you can become grateful. When you get to gratitude in any situation, even uncomfortable ones, you get to move forward at lightning speed. Resistance isn’t because you’re lazy or lack knowledge or any of those reasons.

How to handle resistance

Recognize resistance for what it is…an attempt at your higher self to keep you on your path. It’s an attempt to show you a better way, a more joyful way, a way that’s true for you. The resistance may be a sign that the action you are avoiding is not “spirit guided” or maybe it’s just not quite the right time. It can be a sign that the action is not the next step or that the deal is not the right one.

So, ask, “If I’m avoiding this step because it’s not the right step, then what is the next step?” Be willing to release the current plan. If you know that the next step is the one you need to take and you still resist, then the resistance is pointing out a fear. We were not meant to live in fear. So ask, “What is the fear I need to release?” In this case, the resistance is leading you to greater freedom.

So if you’re an entrepreneur, healer, artist or other business owner, and your business is stalling, stop calling it procrastination. Stop beating yourself up. Call it resistance and ask, “What am I resisting doing, being, or letting go?” Let this resistance guide you to a greater knowledge of yourself. Let it guide you to easier action and a more “struggle free” existence.

Let resistance guide you to greater success.