Prime (noun)
the state or time of greatest vigour or success in a person’s life.

Hi, I’m Jason. This is where I share openly about the challenges, insights and lessons from my own journey. My hope is that these thoughts spark reflections that help you navigate your own path to living better and leading better. 

Jason Leavy
Founder

Prime Perspective:
Personal Reflections on Leadership and Growth

Yesterday You Said Tomorrow

Having spent the majority of my career in the media and creative services sector, I've always admired Nike's genius for distilling profound truths into emotional calls to action.

My favourite isn't the iconic 'Just Do It' though, it's the resonance of 'Yesterday You Said Tomorrow' that gets me every time. Four words that cut straight to the heart of the matter.

That phrase is front of mind for me because procrastination among leaders is rife - and when you think about it, it's not surprising. Time has never been more precious, the stakes have never been higher, and finding clarity in complexity has never been harder. It's the perfect storm for procrastination.

But as with my clients, I'm on a mission to help you navigate the storm.

Like all of us, procrastination has been my companion through different life chapters. Career moves I delayed because I wasn't sure about the timing. Changes to my nutrition I promised myself I'd tackle after a huge project was out of the way... even the move from The Prime Movement to Prime Performance Labs was hard to make, as it was wrapped up with notions of identity, external perception and, yes, a sense of failure. 

The emotional weight of change can feel overwhelming and far too often the story we tell ourselves is that this is reflective of some kind of personal weakness. Not only do we not make those changes, we subsequently burden ourselves with a sense of shame and guilt.

This is exactly why Nike's message cuts so deep. Those four words expose the uncomfortable truth and create that sense we're breaking promises to ourselves.

However, when you understand the science behind procrastination, not only can you reframe those feelings, it makes it far easier to chart a path of progress.

We’ve All Been There… 

Like all of us, procrastination has been my companion through different life chapters. Career moves I delayed because I wasn't sure about the timing. Changes to my nutrition I promised myself I'd tackle after a huge project was out of the way... even the move from The Prime Movement to Prime Performance Labs was hard to make, as it was wrapped up with notions of identity, external perception and, yes, a sense of failure. 

The emotional weight of change can feel overwhelming and far too often the story we tell ourselves is that this is reflective of some kind of personal weakness. Not only do we not make those changes, we subsequently burden ourselves with a sense of shame and guilt.

This is exactly why Nike's message cuts so deep. Those four words expose the uncomfortable truth and create that sense we're breaking promises to ourselves.

However, when you understand the science behind procrastination, not only can you reframe those feelings, it makes it far easier to chart a path of progress.

The Science Behind Procrastination

Your brain resists change for two fundamental reasons:

1. It's trying to conserve energy by sticking to familiar patterns

2. It's wired to overestimate the pain of action while underestimating future rewards

Here's what's happening behind the scenes in simple terms:

• Your brain is an incredibly sophisticated piece of kit and expends a lot of energy as a result (to give you some context, despite being about 2% of your body weight, it uses about 20% of your total energy). This means it's constantly looking for ways to conserve energy by avoiding the metabolic cost of building new neural pathways

• The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in your brain helps assess whether a behavioural change is worth the discomfort or effort

• The ACC works closely with the amygdala (think of this as the brain's emotional alarm system) to regulate your response to challenging or uncomfortable tasks

• When you're faced with something like a difficult conversation or a challenging workout, your brain may struggle to regulate the emotional response, making the discomfort feel more intense than it actually is

• As a result, you're more likely to default to avoidance - procrastinating instead of taking action

The really important thing I want you to understand here is that this is a natural response rather than a personal failing. Our brains are biased to overestimate the pain of taking action and underestimate our ability to handle it, hence triggering procrastination.

Furthermore, it’s possible to change this: with this awareness, you can train your brain to handle discomfort better and make choices that serve your long-term goals.

4 Ways To Progress

Now I favour progress over perfection because I understand those uncomfortable signals from my brain differently. I’ve found these 4 evidence-based approaches really helpful in overcoming my own procrastination, so I wanted to share them with you as well:

1. Embrace discomfort - Before, when something new felt uncomfortable or awkward, I took that as a form of distress signal and allowed it to dissuade me from pursuing whatever I was doing. Now, knowing it’s a signal that the brain is expending energy building new neural connections, I actually lean into it. It’s a positive signal because it means change is actually happening. 

2. Think Like a Scientist - Approach change as an experiment, not a life sentence. "What happens if I try this for two weeks?" removes the pressure of permanent commitment while generating helpful data points to determine your progress (check out Tiny Experiments for more on this type of approach).

3. Practice Self-Compassion - Progress is rarely linear, so if you fall back into a bad habit or miss a milestone, don’t berate yourself and decide the answer is to give up. It's like taking a wrong turn on a road trip, you don't decide to drive home, screaming at yourself all the way. Instead you accept it, course-correct and continue making progress.

4. Connect with your future self - Envision how you'll feel after taking action - don’t imagine the fictitious perfect version, but the one who simply started a month ago. Make it realistic, make it achievable, make it possible. 

Yesterday you said tomorrow.

Today, you have the knowledge and power to choose differently.