The laziness effect: how laziness is holding you back.

Everyone wants to be a high achiever but are you really willing to pay the price for success, are you willing to do the time required to achieve excellence in whatever field you are in.

“Luck is always the last refuge of laziness and incompetence.” James Cash Penney

I know some people get lucky and win lotto’s or get a big break despite the fact that they are not driven people or hard workers but if those people are not careful they hardly maintain their success.

“There is no real excellence in all this world which can be separated from right living.”  David Starr Jordan

Having dreams and talking about them is not enough to be successful, you have got to walk the talk if you want to see results.

But what does it really take to be lazy; here are 9 signs that tell if you are lazy:

• Sleeps a lot.
• Procrastinates a lot.
• Easily discouraged.
• Lacks motivation and drive.
• Buys new clothes instead of washing dirty clothes.
• Buys take out instead of cooking a healthy meal.
• Your idea of cleaning your apartment is throwing out everything.
• Imagining yourself exercising instead of actually doing it.
• Hardly meets deadlines (for assignments, projects, Bills etc.)

Sometimes we might just be lazy about things that do not interest us like doing your laundry, cooking, working out.

4 ways laziness can ruin your life.

• Under-achievement (personal or professional)

“We often miss opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.”  Thomas A. Edison

If you are lazy about work or your personal growth chances are that you would end up at the bottom of the food chain. It takes conscious effort and commitment to make progress in any field in life, even if you sell vegetables in the market place, you can become a successful vegetable seller by being committed to your trade, customers and yourself. Always aim to be relevant and of value wherever you find yourself.

• Obesity

“Whenever I feel the need to exercise, I lie down until it goes away.” Paul Terry

Are you lazy about working out, cooking healthy meals, and getting out of bed? Then I have bad news for you; you are at risk of becoming obese from these unhealthy habits. Working out regularly and being conscious about the kinds of food or drinks you consume could save your life from not only obesity but other non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and diabetics.

• Depression and self-loathing

“Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.” Anne Frank.

Believe it or not just like alcoholics and drug addicts hate themselves for the way they are, laziness could bring depressive and self- hate characteristics (majorly in cases of extreme laziness). These could result from not doing much with your life, not having drive or motivation to pursue your dreams.

• Innovation

“I will Always choose a lazy person to do a difficult job, Because he will find an easy way to do it.” Bill Gates

As with every other thing in life there is nothing with disadvantages without at least one advantage. Lazy people have been known to invent things that make accomplishing tasks much easier.

How to overcome Laziness

• Start: irrespective of how overwhelming your workload, projects or assignment might seem, the first step towards overcoming laziness is to find the courage to start and all other things will fall in place.

• Do your work in bits: Take your time, spread whatever you need to do so you don’t get discouraged, Take for example if you have a lot of laundry to do, you could divide the clothes into two or three places and do them on separate days.

• Set Goals: This is extremely helpful, as it will keep you grounded if you are committed to the goals you set. Set goals should come with a time frame for example, A goal to lose 2kg within 2 weeks of exercising.

• Stay motivated: Don’t give up easily, many people have failed and still became successful in their chosen field, I know its cliché to say life is full of ups and down but really, don’t let one or several disappointments prevent you from pursuing your dreams.

• Give yourself little rewards: Give your-self rewards for achieving even the smallest task e.g. washing the dishes, meeting the deadline for submission of an assignment etc. This will keep you motivated.

• Don’t be hard on yourself: In my experience, comparing your-self to others could often bring feelings of laziness. When you realize you are not as good as the next individual at something, you could respond in two ways either by pushing harder to be better or by not even trying at all.

Laziness is like a self-destruct button, as much as possible try to stay motivated and regardless of whatever happens never lose hope just keep moving forward.

Note: Sometimes we could shift into lazy mood when we are burnout or overworked, in this case I believe its ok to lay back and relax.

If this post interest you, you might be interested in an expanded short read on the same topic. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09SSCPDQZ

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Here is an expended read on the topic of this post, included in this short read is how to deal with phone Addictions and easy hacks to overcoming laziness and procrastination.