Esteban Baez
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Faith Shifter podcast. My name is Esteban Baez. And together with Martin Altherr, today we're going to be discussing the topic of the real reason Why people procrastinate. Hi, Martin. How are you?
Martin Altherr
Hey, Esteban. I'm very good. How are you?
Esteban Baez
I'm feeling terrific, and I'm ready to dive in as always because procrastination is something that I used to struggle with. At times, it still shows up not as often, but it is a very important topic because it affects all of our lives. So I'm really excited about today's topic.
Martin Altherr
Wonderful. And I think if you are okay with it, I just dive into it because I love that topic. And maybe many will expect now that I'm gonna say: "Yeah you have to do this..., and if you have the will, then there is a way and all these things."
And I have to say, yes. These concepts are not wrong, but they are actually not true.
Esteban Baez
Oh, wow. Okay. So, yeah, please dive in. I'm definitely ready to hear what you have to say about procrastination. What's the real reason why people procrastinate?
Martin Altherr
There are a few things to consider. The first thing is, if what you're doing, is not aligned with what you want to do, you're gonna procrastinate for 100% sure. If you have either a systemic entanglement or an imprint running in your background in your subconscious, then you're gonna procrastinate big time.
Even if it's something you want so much, The benefit of not having it is in your life. Although you believe that's not a benefit not to have it, somehow it covers another thing that has to be in place because you believe you need to have that in place. And that's the reason why you procrastinate.
Esteban Baez
So what you're saying is that it actually gives us, a benefit? Procrastinating gives us some sort of reward. Is that what you're saying?
Martin Altherr
Let's put it like this. Just imagine if you are in trouble, let's say with your parents. and your revolution against your parents was to procrastinate and your revolution to hit them somehow... punishing them somehow was procrastinating, then it's a benefit for you.
With time it becomes a habit. By having this as a habit, you might have forgotten that you actually are still in the revolution against your Parents. And then you procrastinate.
That's a very simplified example, but just to give a picture of how things in your life can impact you and how decisions you take, maybe even unconsciously in your life can impact your current life.
And then you suddenly do something that serves something else that was once a serving, but now not anymore.
Esteban Baez
Okay. So it's something that we could have picked up maybe in the past. So when does one usually pick up this concept of procrastinating? Is this happening in childhood or adulthood? Or in my teenage years, as you said, if I was rebelling against my parents, I was using it as a tool to punish someone, and then became a habit.
Where do we pick up these habits, or do we pick them up by watching someone procrastinate? And if maybe our parents were procrastinators, is that something that's passed on from them to us?
Martin Altherr
If you allow, let's have a view first on that one that is not aligned with your mission or not aligned with what you truly want.
For example, if you have in your life a very clear idea about what you want to do and what you want to impact in your life, then you feel very motivated to do it. Right? It's like this intrinsic motivation.
We talk about that, which comes from insight when you have this clear view, your clarity about what is your mission, your clarity, about how you want to fulfill it. It's like a motor that doesn't end up running for you.
You don't need to be motivated anymore. Right?
And if you're not going in that direction, like, some way you believe it's a good way because it gives you some money in your life, but it's not the way of your life mission. Then you start to procrastinate.
You have to motivate yourself all the time. It's like. oh my gosh, do I really have to do that now? seriously?
The best example of it would be maybe when you wake up in the morning at 4 o'clock and you know exactly today, I'm going on holiday. I'm going to visit the most beautiful place on this planet. I have booked already, and I now have to get up at 4 o'clock to get there.
You jump out of the bed as if you're a young pigeon. It's fun. You think: "Yes. I go there. I'm excited. I want to go there." and you go there and you wake up easily at 4 o'clock in the morning without an alarm clock even if you're really excited about going there.
And now imagine you have to stand up in the morning at 5 o'clock, even an hour later, but going then to do something, you hate to do. You will not like it. You will not even like to stand up. You have no motivation.
That is what I say often when it's about motivation. Motivation is actually, like, taking a shower. you need it daily if you do not have intrinsic motivation.
So we call that an extrinsic motivation and motivation that comes from the outside. that motivates you to go there because if you don't go there at 5 o'clock in the morning, you're not able to pay your bills in the evening.
So that is pressing you to go, but that is only the, let's say, the lame reason why you do it, but you don't do it out of excitement. So that's, of course, immediate procrastination.
Once a mentor said to me, that when you motivate Ducks to fly, to be an eagle, then you have motivated ducks, but still not eagles.
If you motivate eagles, then you have motivated eagles. But for that, you need to have eagles.
You become first an eagle when you have really the alignment with what you really want to do. And that makes you then really motivated, and then you don't procrastinate.
That is the first aspect of why people procrastinate in their life.
Esteban Baez
Okay. So it has to do a lot with intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation.
Martin Altherr
Correct.
Esteban Baez
Okay. So if I have something that I'm procrastinating, like, right now, we're getting close to tax season. Right?
A lot of people, especially entrepreneurs, not saying all entrepreneurs, do this, but I know a lot of them that do this. They procrastinate their taxes because they do it themselves.
Number 1 and number 2, they are not very organized. So it takes them a long time and it's a pain and they procrastinate. And then that's why, like, when the due date for filing taxes is due, everybody's rushing to the post office to mail their tax returns.
Is it because they're not intrinsically motivated to do it?
Martin Altherr
Of course. Just imagine. Let's differentiate here also one thing. Have you ever seen an accountant who has procrastinated on his tax deterrents?
Esteban Baez
I didn't. I've never met one. Actually, they do the taxes. They do everybody's taxes.
Martin Altherr
That's right. So normally for the accountant, it's his mission to do accounting. It's his life purpose to do accounting. He loves it. I remember every time I had to bring the papers, I saw my accountant she was so excited when she got my papers.
When I realized that, I found it impossible. how could she be so excited about doing something like that? She just said: "I love it. I love the numbers. I love the possibilities. I can figure out with the law to make you even an ease in the tax payments, etcetera."
And that is an intrinsic motivation. She doesn't need to wake up in the morning and say, oh my gosh. I have taxes to do. She wakes up and says, yes, I can go to do taxes because she loves it.
But so many people have other missions like being a therapist or an artist or a shop owner of bicycle stores. It doesn't matter. Their mission is to help people get the best bicycles in the world. Right?
But not to make tax clearances. And that is why it's like a pain, and that is why they don't like to do it. And because they don't like to do it, they shift it, push it forward, and the more they push it forward, guess what? Procrastination!
But here comes the next one.
If you have now already a stretch with money, if you are tight, and when you've brought the tax clearance, the bill will come. So the subconscious fear of that bill can make you also procrastinate.
I met already many business owners and entrepreneurs because I'm mentoring also them from time to time. And they said: "Look, I do gladly the taxes. I'm in my head very clear about what I get for what I pay. For me, it's clear I have the whole situation in life... I have everything in the best places. And that is what I pay taxes for, and I'm fine with that. I even like to do the administration and see how the numbers grow. I love that."
But When the numbers are not growing, then suddenly something happens in their life. They begin to become afraid of getting that bill when they bring the tax clearance. And this fear lets them procrastinate. They are afraid and some, I experienced that, some went so far with their fear and built an anxiety around it.
They didn't even open their letterbox. because they were afraid that now the call from the tax office would come in with a letter saying, hey, we need your tax clearance. they didn't even open anymore the letters. What was the result? They didn't even see some contracts that were waiting for them. For example, somebody who was asking them to do a service and they could earn money with it.
And so the spiral went down because of procrastinating. That's an extreme form, but that can happen as well. So we have now a bit of a picture of different ways why people truly procrastinate.
Reason number 1, is afraid of the tax bill that comes or afraid of something that could come into their life. That is a big number why they procrastinate.
Reason number 2, it doesn't serve your mission. It means it's something you absolutely are not motivated to do.
I always say to every entrepreneur, if you are not motivated to do it, give it to somebody who loves to do it. Give him that money. Take that time you can get free from that so that you have the time to do the things you love to do.
And most of them say: "The money is a bit stretched, and here we go."
Okay. When the money is stretched, could it be that you're afraid of the tax clearance? And when they answer honestly, they confess that they are also afraid of that. Then we have a double procrastination on it because two things are holding them back. That is just the natural reason why people procrastinate.
Esteban Baez
Wow. That's powerful, Martin. Let me add that. But that brings me to a question because you brought up a very interesting topic, and we did a full episode on this topic, which was a fear of anxiety.
Could it be possible that when we procrastinate we are creating in our imagination a maybe imagining false idea that's not completely true, and that's why we procrastinate?
Martin Altherr
That helps to procrastinate. Absolutely.
You realize before I was a bit heated up, I was a bit loud with my voice. Sorry for that. But it's exciting me so much that topic because I love it when people start to understand, that it's not their guilt. They must not be ashamed that they are procrastinating.
There is a reason why they are procrastinating. There is something that makes them procrastinate. Of course, it's them. It's their responsibility, etcetera, but there is a reason, and they can change that. And that's the most powerful message: "You can change that. You can transform that."
Further, you were asking about anxiety. Of course, we make up often ideas about what's going to happen if we do this or that. And by building up this anxiety, of course, we're afraid of. And when we are afraid of something, we are not going there. So we procrastinate getting there.
It's like if you sit in the audience and the speaker up there calls you to come on stage, you do everything not to be seen, especially when you are afraid of going to stage, then you suddenly see people crumbling in their bags and they dive down under the other one's chair to find their laptop or whatever, just not to be called to get on stage.
They procrastinate actually their one thing, the thing they should do. Going on stage and suddenly experiencing how easy it can be to be on stage and all that stuff. But That is the anxiety they build up then.
But for me, it's so important you understand it's something you can deal with, you can transform it, and then it's done forever, and you stop procrastinating.
Esteban Baez
Wow. So before we close today's episode, how do we end procrastination?
Martin Altherr
So here we go. And we didn't actually touch the topic, imprints, and systemic entanglements, which are the second or third, most important aspect of procrastination.
Imprint is something that allows you to do the things you have experienced in your life the way you have experienced them and you have decided upon. For example, when you, as a child, have seen your parents, dealing every time, for example, with tax clearance issues and bills, always procrastinating. Then it becomes a natural habit to survive because you just copy and paste in your brain stem, both as a child between 0 and 7, and it imprints your behavior system.
If you, as an adult, then come in a similar situation, you gotta do it the same way as your parents did. Even if you say I will never ever do it like my parents did. And funny enough you start to do it exactly like this because we know that there where is our focus that is what is going to happen.
Our reality is nothing else than a mirror of who we truly are means mirroring what we do. And not the other way around. We cannot expect the environment to change, and then we can follow. We have to change and then the environment changes.
If you ask the mirror to go left while you go right it's impossible. When you go right, the mirror follows and goes right as well. That's with life the same story. And here we are again with this procrastination thing.
It can be in so many things. An artist actually truly is absolutely talented and knows if he only would take this brush in his hands, he would create amazing pictures. Every day when he or she wakes up, something is holding him or her back taking the brush, painting, staying consistent, and creating artwork.
Why is that so? Why does somebody who is talented wake up in the morning and even believe that's the life mission and procrastinate and not take the brush in the hand to paint wonderful artwork?
Very simple. For example, when the parents have taught you, that you're gonna mess up your life as an artist, that you never will succeed anywhere. This sticks so deep in your subconscious that you better go to fulfill what they told you to do instead of doing what you should do in order to prove to them that they're wrong.
This shows you have an imprint. This imprint is holding you back possibly your entire life if you do not transform it and that comes actually to the question you were asking. "How do you change procrastination?"
The answer is that you transform it. And by transforming it, you really can release it. And when you release it, then you have shifted your fate because then you experience reality in a new way, you never have experienced before. You have the freedom of choice, and you can do whatever you want to do without procrastination.
Esteban Baez
Wow, Martin... And I know what you're saying because I've done many sessions with you, and I've experienced transformation. and I know that the listeners if they haven't had a transformation, for them this is very hard to understand.
I know that for a fact because I remember when before I had a transformation before I came into doing sessions with you, I had no idea what a transformation was. I thought I knew, but I had no idea.
And I understand when you say an imprint, is what's causing you to progress it. So the artist doesn't even see this consciously. They don't know that all of these voices that came in somehow, they're there, and that's why the artist cannot pick up the brush.
Even though they believe it is their mission to do it, there's something stopping them. So they have to dig those roots and take them out. And those roots are what you call, I believe, the imprints. Right?
Martin Altherr
Absolutely. And that is actually what is holding them back. And I would say, yes. It is that they do not even believe in their life.
Bat to the artist. It is the life mission of this artist. The horrible thing is by procrastinating this spiral of self-guilt, the spiral of being bad against yourself...
"Again, I did not do what I had to do. How stupid am I?" And so on. Whatever you tell yourself then in your subconscious starts to affect you. In the end, you even give up and say, that your parents were right. That you are just an idiot. That you cannot do anything. That you are incapable of surviving without your parents. It is all that negative talk that starts to happen and accumulates to the procrastination.
Then not to feel that much these bad feelings, you try to distract yourself, which leads you to another topic.
On one side, you feel you are not procrastinating anymore because you distract yourself by doing something else, but in reality, you actually only fulfill procrastination.
You are then not doing what you actually would love so much to do, and you feel as if you are punished in life. It's like, life is punishing you.
And That is not fate, actually. But it feels like.
If you call it fate, then let me tell you, you can shift your fate. and that's possible. And that's not magic. That is just a technique and method you apply, and then it's happening.
Esteban Baez
That's powerful. So, Martin, thank you so much, man. This insight that you're giving us today, is so powerful because it at least gives us a clue that if we're procrastinating, especially something that we truly want, like maybe losing weight or getting more money or living your life mission and purpose, something that you know, It's your heart's desire.
If you're not doing it, if you're procrastinating, at least today, we know that we're dealing with an unconscious, something that has to do with an imprint, some that we cannot see that we need to dig out.
And once we dig it out and deal with it, we can have a transformation. And, Martin, I do wanna say this. I believe that, of course, people can do the work and try to have breakthroughs. Right?
They can do breakthroughs and maybe even hold themselves to have a transformation, but I'd tell you this, man. I've been in personal development for years. even before I came into communication with you and started doing sessions with you, I've never been able to do what I did by myself.
Martin Altherr
Yeah. And the reason is actually very simple. When you are in a maze, What do you see? You see the left wall, the right wall, and the path. If you come to the end of the path, either it ends there as a dead end or it goes either right or left. but you don't know where the exit exit is.
If you have somebody who helps you, has... the one who helps you has the overview, like a bird's perspective, and can overlook the whole maze and can tell you exactly when you go left, then right, and left, and right, then you go around that circle and then left, and right, then right, and left, and then you're out.
Then it's very easy because then you detect by being guided. For example: Here is what happened in your past. Or look. Here is what's happening in your life. Or look. That is actually your life mission, and you're not following it. Or look, that is what is important now to deal with.
If you have that transformed, it's no longer sabotaging your other wish. Then procrastination disappears and you have found the exit out of the maze.
Esteban Baez
Martin, thank you so much, man. This was a powerful message today.
So if you're watching or listening, depending on the platform that you're in, If you wanna learn more about Martin Altherr, and his work, we have a hub where people can actually learn how to have breakthroughs and start creating transformation for themselves, where you teach them about the brain stem, you teach them about imprints, you teach them about how to handle all this stuff.
Martin Altherr
Yeah. That's true. It's the global hub. And, actually, what is important there, people need to understand there is a big difference between breakthrough and transformation.
Breakthrough is something you have an insight into something, but it can fall back to default. And it's a bit the same. Like, with the mindset, the mindset is actually something that depends also on the imprints that are stored in the brainstem.
And then you have big troubles because the brainstem can overrule the frontal cortex where the mindset is, and the mindset changes can also fall back to default in that moment when the imprint shoots in.
There on my platform, you have the possibility to have exercises specific to different life situations like love relationships, business and career, money and wealth, and spiritual consciousness.
You have different possibilities and exercises. There are about 50 plus videos and exercises you can really work and dig into for each topic to have daily breakthroughs because the more breakthroughs you have the easier a transformation works.
And when you do the transformation, then it's like, boom, like a magic trick and it's gone, especially when you have created enough breakthroughs beforehand.
Esteban Baez
Powerful. So I encourage you if you're listening or watching to go to the website, hub.martinauthor.com, and check that out because it is powerful.
Also, Martin, I know that you are still doing group sessions and you also do one-on-ones. Right?
Martin Altherr
Yes. That's true. We have a bit to... we have a waiting list. but it makes sense to evaluate, to get in touch with my team, and ask what is the best way. And then from there, we take it to the best excellent solution.
Esteban Baez
Perfect. So thank you, everyone, for watching this episode and listening to the episode again, depending on the platform that you're on, we really truly appreciate you.
And we want you to know that you can shift your faith. So stay tuned for our next episodes coming up, and we appreciate it if you really enjoyed and liked today's message. Please remember to like it, share it, and also subscribe to our channels on social media. Again, you can shift your fate.