Turning your work into play: A New way to beat procrastination

I've come to realize one harsh truth about life:

People don't have a goal-setting problem.

They have an action problem.

I've observed this in my own life.

I know what I need to do.

But I don't feel like doing it.

I know what you might be thinking: 

Discipline is the answer.

That's what I used to think too. 

But now I realize; discipline only works short-term.

Do you think highly successful people need discipline to do what they do?

I don’t think so. Discipline is exhausting and temporary.

Why I don’t believe discipline is the solution:

Discipline is a force and not sustainable long-term.

Discipline won’t work if you hate what you do.

Discipline often creates mediocre results.

That said, I still think discipline is useful to get started.

But long-term? You need something deeper. 

You need to actually enjoy what you do.

This reminds me of a quote from Naval:

"Nobody can beat you when you do what you love."

The solution to endless procrastination?

Learn to enjoy what you do. 

(Please keep an open mind while reading this.)

One thing I’d like to point out before diving deep:

The most impactful people who ever walked the earth didn’t see what they did as “work.”

People like Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci, Darwin.

They saw their work as play.

They were obsessed with it.

Nobody is lazy.

You just don’t like what you’re doing.

Or you’re distracted.

Now let’s get tactical:

1. THE INTENTION

The #1 reason people don’t take action is because they have no real intent behind their actions.

They want to do something… but they don’t know why.

Or their why isn’t strong enough to act.

If you keep procrastinating on the things you know you should do 

Maybe you need to clarify your WHY.

Your WHY is your purpose.

Your WHY is your inspiration.

Your WHY is your engine.

Without a strong WHY, it’s hard to push through the resistance.

2. ALIGNMENT

This one might hit hard.

But if your goals aren’t aligned with who you are, you’ll struggle to take action.

Many people set random goals because of:

• Peer pressure

• Chasing validation

• Societal expectations

• Competing with strangers online

No alignment leads to chasing… instead of attracting.

The best goals are intrinsic.

You’re not trying to prove anything.

You’re just living your truth 

Doing it out of love and passion.

Align with yourself.

Focus on what matters to you.

Ignore the noise.

If it’s not aligned with who you are, you’ll always feel resistance.

3. ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN

The easiest way to win in life is to put yourself in an environment with fewer distractions.

When you’re in the right environment, it becomes easier to win.

Every day, I consciously remove distractions from my life.

Like one time, I was working on something important.

But I kept checking my phone every 10 minutes.

It killed my momentum. 

So I started putting it in another room. 

Simple, but it worked.

There are two types of distractions to be aware of:

Internal distractions – Compromised goals, limiting beliefs

External distractions – Social media, people, places

Be aware of these, and stay away from them.

If you want to make it easy to act on your goals.

Make your environment your ally, not your enemy.

When these three ideas come together:

Intention, Alignment, and Environment

You can turn work into play.

I’m using them to improve my own life, and I’m a big believer that your work should be enjoyable.

Most people don’t realize they spend the majority of their lives working.

So it should be something you love.

Thanks for reading. Hope this helps.

P.S. You can switch the word "work" to "play" and turn your work into a video game.

You’re not forcing it. You’re just flowing with it.