Are You Really That Lazy?

A lot of coaching work is dealing with that murky gap between desire and action. Lately, I’ve heard the word “lazy” thrown around a lot, most often as an excuse for unproductive behavior or procrastination.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of virtue in laziness. Being able to kick back and chill is important, especially in a culture where merit and the concept of success is primarily earned by brutally hard “work.” Those who are able to flip the middle finger and say “I need a couch day!” for their own mental health get a gold star in my book.But let’s talk about the bullshit use of the word as an excuse. Here are some examples:

• “Oh yeah, I wanted to read that article you sent me, but I was too lazy.”
• “I want to go to the gym every night after work but I get home and I’m just, you know, lazy.”

Are you really that lazy? Or did you just choose something else? Because in whatever time that action didn’t happen (like reading an article or going to the gym) something else did. Maybe you surfed your ex-girlfriend’s Facebook photos or watched a really bad TV movie on the SyFy channel instead. So you weren’t lazy, you made a choice.

Some say that there are really only two obstacles to taking action: fear and laziness. I wholeheartedly disagree. Fear is a challenge we need to learn to overcome. Laziness is a choice. Human action is driven by desire. If there is no desire, there is no action. What would happen if instead of calling yourself lazy, you simply said you don’t fucking want to?Is that statement complete and true? Because if it is, AWESOME, be loud and proud about your free will! But if it’s not, it’s worth examining. Let’s break down what laziness sounds like when you DO want something but still choose not to act.It sounds a little something like this: “I will not act, because the work is not worth the result.” It’s like saying “I would get up off the couch to get the remote control, but there probably isn’t anything better on TV anyway.” It’s how we talk ourselves out of action, saying “It’s not worth it.” What does this mean?

If you really want something, the work is ALWAYS worth it, because YOU ARE WORTH IT.

Or maybe you just don’t want it badly enough.The next time you want to call yourself lazy, try saying “I don’t want to” instead. If it’s true then shout it from the rooftops! If it’s not, you may need to hire a coach to examine the obstacles and get you moving. Or you can just hop into my FREE Facebook group The Champagne Room, where we talk about business (so we can get busy and make shit happen!) while having a dayummm good time.I'll be waiting, right here.