Killing Lazy

I have to admit Lazy is a bad word.  Bad in the sense that everyone is incredibly lazy, yet few want to openly admit their first impulse, all the time, is to not get after it.

At first I made the mistake of thinking the bigger issue was work ethic.  This nutty work ethic term seemed to overshadow every industry, even in the SEAL teams.  From sales to marketing to operations to new hires and old hires I really thought I was looking at a work ethic problem. 

Clearly the media pushes this notion that doubles as a work ethic/entitlement narrative.  Good work ethic is a polar opposite to entitlement on the human level, because if I don’t have to work to survive or make a living the human won’t. 

I literally have been looking at work ethic as the major cause of not only business failures or successes but also athletic and relationship ones.  For gods sake few sales people want to make 50 calls a day to ask for business.  Worse is the driver shortage in America, no one wants to work that hard even for a 130,000 a year starting salary.  Few athletes seem to have the work ethic to put in the miles and miles or running or days and days of training to better themselves in sport.  And, even worse, few married couples even want to spend an hour a day together after the first year.  My mistake was thinking it is a work ethic issue.

I was wrong.  Work ethic by definition is a learned skill acquired over years and years of observing parents and others working hard and trying to work hard or efficiently.  But the predicate to acquired work ethic is simply the human factor of laziness.  This involuntary pre eminent reaction to doing anything and everything is so pervasive it shapes the environment in every market.

What would life be like if you killed off your Lazy?  What if your first response wasn’t always “it is too hard”, or “hell no it will take too long”? 

In athletics good coaches or great athletes spend a lot of time killing lazy.  Everyone hates the coach who says we are going to do this again and again until you get it right.  People even scoff at the athlete who puts in another hour or gets up early and runs.  Even parents yell at their kid saying don’t over do it junior. 

If you killed off your Lazy you would run more.  Hell you would prepare more nutritious meals if you ever killed off your lazy.  You would do push ups until you bled then rest and repair and do it again.  Because, the top athletes kill off their lazy, every single day.

Business is built around not owning lazy.  An 8 hour work day is Lazy.  What does time have anything to do with getting work done or rather doing what were hired to do?  Sales people nation wide hide from mastering their own lazy and excuse themselves from getting in front of clients.  It takes 60 minutes for build the narrative around an excuse to not meet a client.  It takes 5.5 seconds to pick up a phone and dial a number and engage.  That is lazy.

If you killed off your lazy in business, you would get on the phone, you would get to it.  Maybe just maybe you could get it all done in three hours.  Lazy takes 8, on point takes 3 hours to achieve the same results. 

Sadly this lazy gets worse with success and money.  Once the money gets to the level of comfort lazy dominates the choices.  Comfort and lazy are the two heads of the do that guards hell.  Those two mouths will eat you.

What would business, your business be like if you killed off your lazy? 

The tragedy is really the laziness that happens in key relationships.  Laziness causes resentment, bitterness, and divorce.  Married couples grow apart because they are lazy with each other.  “We have been married for 20 years,” I hear rather often.  As if you think you know your spouse?  Then all of a sudden after 20 years of lazy relationship work, they want out or you want out.  Lazy caused it.  Not lack of love, or growing a part.  Lazy.

What would you do in a relationship if you weren’t Lazy?  Everyday would be new.  Everyday a discovery.  Maybe just maybe, it is lazy for women to give up health for family.  I know it is cause I have seen women stay fit and have a great family.  Maybe if you weren’t lazy you would bring home your passion and create it at home, even after 20 years.  Killing lazy off will solve the chasing the relationship you don’t have. 

Lazy hits the snooze bar.

Lazy makes you wait for a plan to commit to the goal.

Lazy makes you expect something from nothing.

Lazy makes you short sighted.

Lazy blames others.

Lazy makes you buy the candy bar instead of keeping you on point.

Lazy makes you need 8 hours of rest.

Lazy makes you complain.

Lazy makes you in a hurry.

Lazy makes you run one mile instead of 10 miles.

Lazy makes you only do 8 reps and not 80.

Lazy makes you not go to see your 7 year olds piano recital.

Lazy makes you not go see your dying friend or parent.

Lazy makes you not save money.

Lazy makes you fat.

Lazy makes you poor.

Lazy destroys your soul.

Kill off your Lazy before it kills off you.