It’s many days now past the commencement date you set, yet you’re still avoiding starting that project.

You’ve been hiding in the comfort zone of procrastination to avoid setting forth.

Or, you quit after beginning then sought solace in words that self-delude you to justify the escape,

”I’ll get it done someday when in a good mindset and when I’ve found the formula that’ll guarantee perfection.”

There’s no 'someday' and there’s no perfection. There’s always one thing standing between you and your goals and that is,

“The bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it.” -Jordan Belfort


There’s no doubt that avoidance is a natural mechanism that helps people cope with pain, fear and anxiety.

However , it causes people to procrastinate and refuse to make the doing of an important thing a priority.


Now, when you refuse to do the necessary things which could drive away fear, pain trauma and dismantle the barrier standing between you and your goal, would they go away on their own? No!

So, when you seek escape from prioritizing the doing of important things whether you feel like or not, you miss an opportunity to develop skills necessary to cope with avoidance.

In the absence of possessing necessary avoidance coping skills, anxiety and stress are reinforced and consequently, procrastination deepens its roots.

Then what? You continue to deliberately avoid doing what you’re supposed to do as days slip by.

There’s good news. Hello! It’s not late!!

You can get up now, shake off the lethargy, be confrontational and take action.

You don’t know where to start?

The following may help.

1. Start by practicing mindfulness.

When you practice mindfulness, you become conscious of your feelings, thoughts, sensations and environment.

Therefore, practicing mindfulness would help you to recognize avoidance and deal with it quickly before it overwhelms you.

Studies suggest that practicing mindfulness can have a positive impact on well-being.



There are proofs that mindfulness-based treatments have been reduced anxiety, which is one of the major causes of avoidance.

2. Develop coping skills.

Develop a strong self-discipline that would help draw up a daily schedule with deadlines and stick to it.

You would also need to stop going to places and hanging out with people that are distractions.

The less distractions you have, the more options you have to cope with avoidance.


3. At the beginning, it’s not going to be easy, so start slowly.


Don’t be hard on yourself
when you suffer occasional relapse. Encourage yourself and start again until you master your new set of skills- coping with avoidance.


In conclusion, don’t forget that,

“Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life. Keep going. Tough situations build strong people in the end.”-Roy T. Bennett.

https://ayipost.com/blog/f/how-can-you-overcome-avoidance-behavior