Laziness is not terminal, no matter the stage you’re in

From one procrastinator to another, laziness is not terminal, no matter the stage you’re in.

People often tend to say this about themselves, victimize their current status and use it as an excuse.

Just like their sign: “Hey, I’m Maria and I am lazy”.

Most of the times, that says a totally different story, not about the person herself, but about their upbringing.

If you’d stop to think about it, I bet you didn’t come up with this yourself.

Chances are it was something your parents have told you, since you were a kid. “You didn’t even take out the trash, you’re lazy”, “You’re too lazy to do this, or that…” ring a bell?

I remember my mom saying that I wasn’t good enough, that I am not a hard worker, while comparing my grades to the class geek, that was better than me at everything else. We all have that one person we’re going to hate forever, right?

I grew up with the feeling that I have to prove myself over and over again.

More than 80% of our opinions about life and ourselves are passed on by our parents, no matter how much you’ve tried to fight them along the way.

Tap into your inner kid

This is the hard part.

Try to remember the first moment you “decided” that you are lazy and what was happening then. Go a bit further to see what happened just before that.

You might find the “why” you’ve been looking for and it will set you free.

Maybe, it’s not even your nature.

Growing up, have you ever been too lazy to play? To run outside all day long, with your buddies?

Have you ever been too lazy to go to a party when you knew the person you liked is going to show up?

I’m sure the answer to these is NO.

Having this sorted out, figure out why you’re acting in a certain way.

See if the laziness was your way of rebelling against your parents, or of dealing with a failure. After all, if you’re too lazy to try something new, you’ll never be exposed to another failure ever again, right?

Love what is

When you come to terms with yourself and know what triggered your decision, you can fully love & accept yourself.

The moment you see that the laziness was a response or a way of coping, you’ll know that it doesn’t have anything to do with you.

It’s time to see the real you and accept yourself.

Those are the key ingredients of personal growth.

Pay attention to what your soul says YES to

In the process of always trying to prove my mother wrong, I forgot about my true desires.

I picked Law School trying to seem serious about my future.

My soul said NO.

I didn’t leave my small hometown for college because I wanted to feel righteously small too. My soul said NO.

I had straight As because that made me feel that I was doing something important and everyone can see that. NO again.

My poor heart had enough after 5 years of studying something that was not related to my truth. I decided to leave home, to go the state capital, and pursue a career in an area I loved but had no preparation for. Took chances, worked hard, failed, tried again.

Soul said YES.

Morale of the story: figure out what your passions are and pursue them.

Find a higher purpose for your life and work on that

It might be helping others — we are usually more motivated in doing stuff for others than for ourselves, or learning something new. Start somewhere.

Once you decide to act one way or another, you’ll see that things will shift into place naturally.

Create new habits

Since you’re making room for new ideas about yourself, make time for new habits.

Get physical and let the endorphins do their job. Once you start moving, your mental state you’ll change and you’ll be able to focus better.

Again, be smart about it and pick something you like.

Team up with a friend and start practicing it together. Knowing someone’s counting you to show up changes everything.

Find things that you are naturally good at and start from there.

Embrace the laziness

Remember that even overachievers have their cool down periods.

There’s nothing wrong with taking time for yourself, getting some rest and taking things slow for a while.

Life you’ll give you full on action times and dull moments as well. Make sure to be present and not miss out.