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January 18, 2017 at 11:30 PM
I often describe the “Running Away” personality and the “Running Towards” personality.
When the running away person is awoken by their alarm clock, they immediately hit the snooze button. Ten minutes later, the buzzer goes off again. “Just ten more minutes,” they say to themselves, “I won’t exercise this morning.” And again, they activate their friend, Mr. Snooze.
This could happen three more times, and each time they determine that they will skip a vital activity in order to enjoy a few more minutes slumber. They have already decided to miss breakfast and they will shave/put on make-up in the car on the way to the office.
Related: 8 ways to beat procrastination
Finally, a full hour after their first alarm call, they leap out of bed, the image of their boss standing outside the office door, purple with rage at their continual poor time keeping is just too horrible to contemplate and it acts as their spur. These people are motivated by fear.
As someone famously once said: “Some people make things happen whilst others just stand and watch what happens.”
My take on that is: “A very few people make things happen, others just watch what happens. But the vast majority wonder what the heck happened!” The running away mindset falls into the last category.
