Why are we Lazy? How to Outsmart it?

It was Sir Isaac Newton, who first remarked almost 400 years ago, on scientific bases, that a body resists to change its present state of rest or motion, and tends to remain in that state, unless an external force is applied. This means that a body at rest will remain at rest, and vice versa.

Although it later came to be known as the First law of motion, or the law of inertia - our own human story of inertia has lived on continually with us since its inception. Since ages, these advices resonate humanity - the one who is disciplined, in charge of their sense organs and mind - is destined to make the most out of this short life.

In today's blog, we will catch this inner laziness of ours, red-handed. We will expose it. Just as how a ray of sunlight, when falling inside a room damped for ages, filles it immideatly with undimed brilliance - we will recognise, realise and address our own inner lazy nature - to get rid of it once for all. 

Internal Conflict - Path of Least Resistance.

Being lazy is simply fighting your inertia.

It is not really laziness. When something is not yet our habit, going against the current is hard. And we give up and do something else that's easier, which is to continue going down the path of least resistance.

You can notice this. Everytime it's the same case. Starting to work is a millionfold difficult than to actually work. This mental cry of laziness only comes when the mind keeps compelling our body to rather do some low resistance activity than to do our actual work.

This is why we always look to escape our work with comfortable distractions like scrolling through mobile phones, or doing worthless but low resistance activities.

Picking up the pen to solve mathematics is way tougher than to write a full book on a topic we love. It's not at all about physical exhaustion. The mind is simply not interested in any noble task of your choice.

We have to recognise this. We have to assert our wills to our body-mind complex.

One of the ways to do that can be finding passion or interest in our work. This is mostly a useless tip, as we are lazy only in boring tasks.

How to stop being lazy and take control

There's no point trying to learn how to "fight laziness" – you can’t win if you don’t know what you’re up against.

First things first: you're not lazy – your behavior is.

After years of acting in a certain way, it's common to think that "this is just the way I am." However, nothing could be further from the truth.

Repetitive behaviors create habits, and our habits determine the state of our lives – but they don’t define who we are.

Sir Fowell Buxton, the 1st Baronet and 18th-century British politician, said,

 "Laziness grows on people; it begins in cobwebs and ends in iron chains."

These iron chains may feel like they're part of you, but they're not – they're just chains, and you can remove them.

Expose Laziness by finding its Roots.

Do you keep asking yourself, "why am I so lazy and unmotivated?" If so, this section's for you.

It turns out there are many reasons for laziness. According to Laura D. Miller, LCSW, a licensed psychotherapist and psychoanalyst:

"'Laziness' is an overused criticism – a character judgment­­, really – that does nothing to help us understand why someone doesn't exert the effort to do what they want to do, or are expected to do, If we take a moment to examine what's behind the procrastination and avoidance, we find a range of more complicated issues."

Miller believes there are seven main causes of laziness:

-Fear of failure

-Fear of success

-Shame

-Fear of expectations

-Fear of conflict

-Need for nurture

-Depression

Each of these reasons for laziness stems from a belief we hold about ourselves or life in general.

Here's the aim of the game: Try to figure out what belief (or beliefs) you hold that are creating laziness.

So, when learning how to stop being lazy, remember what the businessman Alan Cohen said:

"There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither."

Hence, this blog was a rational attempt to outsmart laziness.

At the end of the day, As the entrepreneur and author Stephen R. Covey said, "I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions."

We need to make tough decisions. We need to face resistance against our laziness, in order to achieve what we aim.

Thanks,

Daksh Parekh.