The one thing bothering most people in the modern world
The #1 thing that bothers and holds most people back in the world today is procrastination.
The modern world today doesn’t help either.
Procrastination is easier than ever because endless distractions are just one click away
Social media (TokTik, Instagram, Twitter)
YouTube & streaming services (Netflix, Twitch)
Video games (Call of Duty, Fortnite)
Browsing the internet (Reddit, forums, news)
Texting & messaging apps (Discord, WhatsApp, Snapchat)
Watching short-form content (Reels, Shorts)
Procrastinating feels easy in the moment, but the regret of wasted time will haunt you later.
When you look back, you’ll feel the pain of wasted time—time you could’ve used to get a task done. Now you have other things to do and the weight of unfinished tasks lingers in your mind leaving you stressed.
I used to be a heavy procrastinator.
From a scale of 1-10, I was a 9. I would push back tasks I knew needed to get done (if I wanted to make progress in my goals).
But now I have dropped from a 9 to a healthy 3.
Yeah, there’s actually a good kind of procrastination—which I’ll explain in a moment.
My goal in this newsletter is to show you:
Why you procrastinate
Why procrastination is actually good (sometimes)
How you can destroy the unhealthy levels of procrastination that is holding you back
I’m going to give you 2 mental frameworks to finally break free and get sh*t done.
Why we procrastinate (you probably never thought of it this way)
First, you have to understand that every human being procrastinates.
Nobody is immune to it.
We actually inherited procrastination from our ancestors.
Back in the day, procrastination was actually healthy.
Survival was the priority.
Acting impulsive meant danger—hesitating often meant living to see another day. What we call procrastination now was a survival tool back then. Delaying action gave our ancestors time to gather information, spot threats, and make smarter decisions.
For instance, a hunter procrastinated to not hunt at a certain location because it is still unknown and hasn’t been explored. Procrastinating allowed for more time to observe instead of rushing in—the landscape, what predators wandered—so they can know what weapons to use to avoid getting eaten alive.
This was useful for survival—back then.
The problem now is we don’t wake up everyday and make decisions that are life or death, yet still procrastinate excessively.
Our goals are very different now and excessive procrastination doesn’t help but instead hurt us more.
Notice how I say excessive procrastination, not procrastination overall.
There is a healthy level of procrastination that can help us avoid making huge mistakes.
For instance, an idea of moving to a new city or state popped up in your mind. If you just act impulsively the moment the thought pops up, you could be making a disastrous decision.
A healthy level of procrastination helps by thinking it through first before doing anything.
My cousin is an example of this.
Two years ago, he had an idea of moving to a different state.
He spent a few months doing research on which state to move to. He narrowed it down to a few states. Finally, he decided a state and city he was thinking of moving to. He took a week off of work to go and see how it is in person and where he would live. After, he confirmed the city he was going to live in. He told all of us in May of that year and in July he was living in a new state.
This was healthy procrastination. He had the desire to move. He did his research. He flew to the new state and city to see how it is. He finally decided he was going to move, after doing all the necessary research. This is all happened in a couple of months.
He didn’t act impulsively (no procrastination) and move the next week after having the idea.
He didn’t wait years to decide either (unhealthy procrastination).
How to actually destroy (unhealthy) procrastination
The goal isn’t to get rid of procrastination completely because like I said, it is can be helpful in some situations.
What you need to do is differentiate between healthy procrastination and non-healthy procrastination.
The best way to do this is to first know what your goal is.
Without knowing your goal, you won’t know whether what you are procrastinating on is healthy or not.
Then identify the action you are procrastinating on and determine whether it is aligned with the completion of your goal.
If it’s not, then don’t pay too much attention to it.
If it is, then there is no debate about it, the procrastination needs to end.
It is here where we have to go even deeper.
If the decision is a life-changing one that can turn disastrous if not thought through, then take a bit of time before you act.
Examples of these are:
Moving to a new state or country
Quitting your job
Getting married
Buying a house
Investing your money
Do your research first. But once you have done enough research, it is time to decide whether you are going to act or not.
If the decision is not one that can turn disastrous but only feels hard in the moment, stop procrastinating and act.
Examples of these are:
Going to the gym
Eating healthier
Waking up early
Making new friends
Reading a book
Cleaning your room
Building a brand
This is where you need to implement these mental frameworks to eliminate the extreme unhealthy levels of procrastination that will only hold you back.
1) Argue from first principles
This framework is one that you’ve probably haven’t been told can help you overcome procrastination.
You know it’s powerful when people like Aristotle and the richest man on earth, Elon Musk, have used it to solve problems.
It’s called first principles thinking.
Arguing from first principles means breaking down a problem to its core truths and then using those truths from the ground up to create a solution.
First principles thinking asks:
What is the problem?
What are the most basic truths about this problem?
How can I use those truths to find the best solution?
Let me give you an example to better understand how you can use it to destroy procrastination.
Let’s say you are procrastinating going to the gym.
Using first principles, the first step is to identify the problem.
The problem may be that you keep delaying the gym because you think about all the reasons why it’s hard and all the reasons why it’s easier and more comfortable to stay at home.
The 2nd step is to get to the basic core truths.
The most basic fundamental truths are:
Your hardwired to choose the path of least resistance
You will get the body you want only if you train it
Action creates momentum not motivation
Your environment influences your decisions
The 3rd step is to create the smartest solution after knowing these core truths.
Since you know you’re hardwired to choose the path of least resistance and you know that your environment influences your decision-making, make the process of going to the gym easier.
Lay out your clothes the night before
Pack your gym bag and leave it near the door
Have your workout plan ready
Choose the gym that is welcoming and closest to you
Don’t use your phone as soon as you wake up
Or workout at home.
Have weights at home that way you eliminate resistance and have an environment that encourages you to workout.
Knowing that you only get the body you want through training, choose a method of training that you also find interest in. Running might not be your favorite way of losing weight but boxing is. Go to the boxing gym instead of running.
Knowing that you create momentum through action, not motivation, make the smallest commitment.
Tell yourself you’ll only do 5 minutes (high chance that once you finish the 5 minutes you’ll want to continue)
Focus on the first step (instead of thinking about the intense workout you’re about to do, put on your clothes first, then do the warm up)
Using first principles thinking helps you create a plan to take action.
The next time you find yourself procrastinating, think in first principles. This gets you to think of solutions that solves your procrastination instead of blaming your lack of motivation or the things distracting you which does nothing but make procrastination even worse.
2) Stop overthinking the process
After thinking in first principles, if you still are procrastinating, there is one simple but powerful solution that can break the cycle.
Think about when you are about to do something hard:
Going to the gym
Taking a cold shower
Studying for a test
Waking up early
Going to a social event (as an introvert)
I already know what goes on in your head—which makes you procrastinate.
You start thinking of the process and how hard it will be.
You’re laying on your bed, scrolling on your phone. You know you should go to the gym, but then your brain starts talking:
“Man I don’t want to go to the gym… I have to see which clothes I am going to wear, then I have to change, then I have to drive all the way there and pray there is no traffic, it’s Saturday so the gym is definitely crowded, I have to do a boring warm up, i’m already tired even just thinking of all I have to do and go through, i’ll just stay at home…”
Now, instead of taking action, you’re trapped—overthinking every step and making the gym feel like an exhausting task and you haven’t even started…
You’re procrastinating not because the gym is actually hard, but because you are exaggerating the difficulty of the entire process and you’re thinking too much about it, creating barriers in your mind.
The solution is simple: think less, do more.
Instead of laying in your bed debating with your own mind, take the first step to going to the gym fast. If you continue to debate with your mind, it will win, because it will give you endless reasons why it’s better to not go and then to go.
Remember, you're wired to choose the path of least resistance and your brain will try to convince you to do what’s easy which is to stay home.
Once you start doing the simple first steps, you’ll build momentum. Once momentum is built, going to the gym, or whatever tasks you’re avoiding, becomes easier and easier.
One trick to make this more effective: While you stop overthinking the process, start focusing on the reward.
Iff you go to the gym, think of:
How great you’ll feel not only physically but mentally
How much more respect you’ll get
How much more attractive girls will find you.
Start small. Think less. Do more. And watch procrastination become your b*tch.
Procrastination is the biggest killer of dreams in the modern world.
We have an abundant amount of sources to go to make it easier to procrastinate too.
Like I mentioned in last weeks newsletter, the world now has been designed to keep you in a consumer state.
If you don’t destroy procrastination, it will destroy your life. It will kill your dreams, then leave you with nothing but regret—watching others live the life you could’ve built but instead procrastinated.
One thing I didn’t mention in this newsletter is how important focus is in making sure you procrastinate less.
If I added it in here, it would be wayyy too long to read.
That’s why I wrote a separate newsletter where I go deep on how to focus so intensely you’ll get more done in 4 hours than others do in 1 week.
Read it here:
Become Anti-Shallow - Get More Done in 4 Hours (Than Others Do in 1 Week)
You have a superpower (and your wasting it everyday…)
Have a great week!
📝 Journal prompt for the week
This weeks journal prompts:
What is one thing you are avoiding to do that you need to use first principles thinking to destroy procrastination?
What is one thing you need to spend less time thinking of the process to stop procrastinating?
How has procrastination held you back in the past?
📚 Books I am reading right now
“The Laws of Human Nature” - By Robert Greene
I recently got 2 more books from Robert Greene since I find this book good.
The 48 Laws of Power
The Art of Seduction
Have you read any of these books?
💭 Quote of the week:
“You may delay, but time will not” - Benjamin Franklin
Thanks for reading my newsletter! I hope you gained value from this.