The Eye-Opening Reason You Keep Failing: You're Actually Lazy — Stop With These Tips

Dreaming big and getting lost in thought can make you feel like you're working hard.

This is a lie.

You're probably not working as hard as you think.

Your brain is tricking you into thinking you're getting closer to your goals because it doesn't like change. Here are four ways get more done in less time and stop being lazy.

Stop Relying On Willpower

Willpower is a limited resource, but we're taught that with a little grit and a 5 am alarm that we'll be more successful. This might be true for some time, but you will burn out after a certain number of days, months, or years and wonder if it was all worth it.

Using willpower alone will cause you to:

• Stop listing to your intuition/body
• Say yes to the projects that don't matter
• Cause friction in your relationships
• Forget your purpose or "why"

Instead, get clear on your vision, say no to the projects that aren't aligned with your vision, and use micro-stepping to build new habits that are tough in the beginning.

Set Goal Ranges

Perhaps one of the laziest things you do is let "tomorrow you" do all the hard work. When we think of who we are tomorrow, we think of them as a different person. That's why you always have energy for the tough projects and the morning workout—tomorrow.

Tomorrow thinking is a mental trick, so it can be comfortable today. And you'll repeat this thought loop tomorrow, and the next day, and so on.

To fix tomorrow thinking, zoom out a little.

Set yourself goal ranges for the week instead of daily planning. When setting your week up for success, ask yourself two questions.

And there's your goal range. By setting a goal range, you're less likely to break the promises you make to yourself, which builds confidence in your abilities and makes you more likely to build a new habit.

Stop Self-Deprecating

There are loads of ways you're self-deprecating that's keeping you lazy. Because if you're not good enough, why even try?

Below you'll find a link to a longer list of words to avoid, but one of the most surprising culprits is "I'm sorry."

I've noticed that people say sorry unnecessarily when they are working through grief or impostor syndrome. A customer I was working with who had just lost their wife apologized for just about everything. He apologized when asking where the bathroom is, "I'm sorry, do you know where the bathroom is?" He even said sorry when another crew member passed him a glass of water.

Most people apologize to make themselves smaller because they don't feel good OR feel good enough.

They'll apologize for being on time simply because the other person was early.

Or they'll apologize for bringing a thoughtful cake to work because one person out of thirty is gluten-free.

They'll say sorry because you shared a challenging personal story when the result had nothing to do with them. "I'm so sorry that happened."

Saying sorry or the other phrases in the post linked above make you feel smaller than you are. These little things you say to yourself have a big impact on how you show up.

They will make you lazy and stop you from achieving your goals.

Challenge Yourself

It's not entirely your fault that you're lazy. Your brain is always looking for shortcuts. Learning requires conscious effort, and our brain doesn't like that. It's an energy-hungry organ, and it'll automate anything.

90% of what we do is automatic. Your automatic habits can work for you or against you.

Loads of people I've worked with throughout the years have been coasting in their careers. Slightly bored but it isn't "bad enough" to challenge themselves further. This is why 85% of the workforce are disengaged at work.

There's a bunch of resistance to shoot for the promotion, start the side hustle or switch to a job with smarter colleagues because our brain is lazy.

Take the leap anyway.

If you're not moving forward, you're moving backward. Inflation could be as high as 9% in 2022. You've seen the posts saying if you don't get a raise of at least 9%, your salary is decreasing.

Think about your brain the same way. If you don't consciously challenge it, you're moving backward.

Don't Worry, You're Not A Failure, You're Just Lazy

It's okay to be a work in progress. My grandmother's garden is beautiful, and she's spent years tending to it. But it doesn't stop there. Each year, she's repotting, moving plants around, fertilizing, and weeding. It's a constant work in progress.

Treat yourself the same. A masterpiece that needs to be tended to and consistently challenged to become unstoppable.

If you found this helpful, share this newsletter with a friend or colleague who has outrageously massive goals and will benefit from some brain-boosting tips. ??