Hey, this is Rajiv Kumar Luv Trainer, Coach, Workshop leader, Author, podcaster, Youtuber and founder of The Personality Boss which conducts the Ultimate Personality Development Program, Course, Coaching, Training and Workshops in Mumbai. I help you design the life you want. The articles that I post on my blog also have one purpose in mind “Leadership through Personality Development” Now over to the article…

We all know what we want, we know our priorities, we know what we have do, we have a plan, we have set the goals. Then why the hell we don’t take action? Laziness holds us down. A person with ‘average intelligence’ but with the ‘action’ habit can easily beat a person with ‘superior intelligence’ with a ‘lazy’ habit. Once you get to know your ‘laziness’ well, you can tackle it effectively.

Are you lazy? Very few people can answer ‘No’ to that question. Basically we are all lazy though the degree of laziness may vary. If people have a choice between doing nothing and reading a book that could improve their life, which do you think most people would choose? Being idle, of course. Why? Because that’s a whole lot easier!

There is this story of a man lying lazily under a date palm tree, a date fruit falls on him and lands on his chest. The guy is so lazy that he doesn’t move at all. After some time he notices a person passing by on a camel’s back. The lazy guy calls out to the man on the camel, who gets down from the camel and approaches the lazy man and asks him, “Why did you call me?” The lazy guy says, “Please take this date from my chest and put it in my mouth.” The camel guy gets angry, “Did you call me to do this? You have two hands, why don’t you do it yourself.” Saying this he gets on his camel and leaves in a huff. When he is gone, the man lying down mutters to himself, “These camel riders are very lazy people.” Laziness is loving being idle, not straining the mind and body in any way.

So why are we lazy? Maybe the task is unpleasant, I am not in the mood, I have this fear of failure, fear of success, I can’t decide, lazing feels good. Once we become aware about the real reason why we are lazy, we can overcome it. Laziness is a habit which we have developed over time. It starts with simple things like being lazy about shaving, taking a bath, polishing the shoes, cutting the nails, doing homework, reading a book, not calling back a customer, cleaning the work desk, updating the cheque counterfoil, paying the phone bill, service the car, making the report…..Because it is a learnt habit, it can be unlearnt too.

What could we possibly lose, if we continued being lazy? Your work would always be pending, causing a great deal of stress, problems with the boss, poor productivity, poor health, more clutter, you can never learn and grow, you miss opportunities, poor performance, low morale, frustration and failed assignments. Above all, we don’t feel good about ourselves.

Lazy people are good at making excuses, E.g. I am not in the mood right now, I need to think it over, I will have a nap first, I don’t have enough information on this, I need a drink first, I am hungry, I have a headache, My stars are not in sync, My time is not good… What’s your excuse for not doing something? Remember, they are just excuses. My Guru taught me, “If you want to do something you will find a way, but if you don’t want to do something you will find an excuse.” So do you want to become a champion of producing great results or you want to become a champion in making excuses?

People around you are watching you. You become a role model for people around you, whether it is at home or at the workplace. If you project an image of being a lazy person, your credibility will take a beating; people won’t trust you and that could mean disaster.

If at all you want to be lazy, be lazy in positive ways. For example when you have this urge to unfairly criticize someone, tell yourself,” I don’t feel like criticizing this person right now, as I am not in the mood, I think, I will do it tomorrow.” Say the same thing when you get angry, when you have this urge to take revenge, when you think negative or even when you want to commit suicide.

What action can we take to overcome our laziness? Here are some practical suggestions:

Take small action – Try reading just 5 pages of a 400 pages book

Start taking actions with simple task and then move on to more difficult tasks.

Talk to yourself in positive language – “I immediately act upon the goals that are most important to me.”

Come up with strong ‘Why’ reasons to do something.

Work with a buddy who monitors your actions daily.

Associate a lot of pleasure to taking action and lot of pain to sitting idle and doing nothing.

We have three kinds of people. People who make things happen. People who let things happen to them. People who wonder what happened. It is up to you to decide what category you want to belong.

I am Rajiv Kumar Luv. My passion in life is to make a difference in the lives of people so that they achieve their personal as well as professional best. I am absolutely committed to specially helping youngsters become leaders in their chosen fields. In the past 28 years, I have trained over 100,000 people from all walks of life. Through my two-day program “Leadership Through Personality Development” I help the youth plan their career, build confidence, make better decisions, manage time and develop their employability skills to meet today’s real-life challenges. You can learn more about me and the work I do by visiting: http://www.thepersonalityboss.com