14 Simple Steps to Overcoming Laziness

Overcoming Laziness is kind of a struggle, but it is a struggle worth having. When we have a lazy day and can’t get ourselves to do much of anything we virtually miss that entire day of our life. It is time we can’t get back, it’s gone, we are one day older without anything to show for it.

“Laziness is a secret ingredient that goes into failure. But it’s only kept a secret from the person who fails.” Robert Half

The solution is to never waste the time in the first place and to fill our lives with action, excitement, and more of what we want. Easier said than done, right? Actually it’s easier just to get started and stop complaining about it.

But if you’re stuck, and can’t seem to overcome your laziness, here are 14 simple steps you can take to give you that push.

1. Get Excited

The easiest way to get something done is to want to get it done. Instead of complaining about how hard it is to go to the gym every morning, get excited about how great you’re going to look, get excited about how much you are growing and what you are accomplishing. The more you are excited the easier it will be to get your butt off the couch and get going already.

2. Think About How Important It Is

Most of the things on our to-do list are there for a reason. Before you make the choice to sit on the couch and watch t.v. think about what you are giving up. Think about how important it is that you get your project or goal done and think about what you are missing if you don’t. Does another wasted hour in front of the t.v. justify the opportunity costs that you are giving up? I doubt it!

3. Have A Goal With A Deadline

One of the traps people often fall into is having a goal without any specific deadline for when it should be completed. A goal without a deadline is more or less a dream of something you would like to see happen one day.

If you don’t set a deadline for yourself, odds are you are probably not going to accomplish it. By having a major goal with a deadline you know where you want to be and you know when you are going to be there by.

“The ultimate inspiration is the deadline.” Nolan Bushnell

By having many little goals with a deadline you know that you’ll have to accomplish each goal in life and you can’t just put them off and be lazy instead. It doesn’t work like that when you are completely committing yourself to something you really want to accomplish.

4. Have Competition

Competition can be a good thing because it forces you to get up in the morning. It is so much easier to go to the gym and lift weights if your friend is going every morning and working out for an hour too.

In fact having someone who is close to you as a competitor can help you to get up and work harder every day because you know that your rival will be working just as hard, and after all, if they can do it why can’t you?

“Failure is not our only punishment for laziness; there is also the success of others.” Jules Renard

I wouldn’t suggest obsessing over every little thing your rival does and try to beat them in every way imaginable. But if someone is working hard for their goals and making great accomplishments, why not try to match their efforts? It can only lead to personal growth and inspiration.

5. Have Energetic Friends

Your friends are either going to be your biggest strength or your biggest weakness as you are overcoming laziness. If all of your friends just sit around watching T.V. all day then that same laziness is going to rub off on you. It will be a lot easier to just want to sit down and lose all of your energy for the day then it will be to stay active and lead a life worth talking about.

The more energetic your friends are the more they will encourage you to accomplish your best and the more likely they will start helping you build up some momentum in your life. It also makes things a lot more interesting to have people in your life who are very goal oriented and who don’t like just sitting down.

6. Break Big Jobs Into Small Ones

So you want to become a millionaire? Great, now what? Looking at large goals can seem pretty overwhelming as you don’t even know where to begin or if it is even possible. It can be pretty hard to start something if it looks too complicated and difficult.

What you can do, however, is to break it up into little bitty pieces. Instead of saying “I want to be a millionaire” ask yourself “what can I do to become a millionaire?” You might decide to save up your money and to buy 1 rental property every 2 years until you are worth $1 million. That is the action plan, that actually gives you something you can do and is not too overwhelming.

If you wish you can break that step down into even smaller steps such as, researching the houses you are going to buy, calling owners, writing checks, applying for a loan, etc. The easier your steps are to get started with the more likely it is you will take the time to do it.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Lao Tzu

The point is, if you have a large and complicated goal, you need to break it down into bite sized pieces so it will be less overwhelming and easier to get going.

7. Build Momentum

One of the most powerful motivational strategies that can keep you going is momentum. As you get used to staying active it becomes easier and easier to continue to stay active and a lot harder to sit on the sidelines.

Overcoming laziness is an ongoing battle, this is true. The good news is as you continue to win over and over again it becomes easier to keep it going and easier to simply stay active instead of listening to your inner demons.

If you want to learn more about how you can build momentum, here is a fantastic War of Art review which offers some great advice on how you can get things done when your body is telling you to be lazy.

8. Read Motivational Quotes

Sometimes the best way to pump yourself up and give you the motivation you need to take action is to read motivational quotes. One of the motivational quotes which I will often look at when I am feeling lazy is a quote by John C. Maxwell “The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it.”

This quote reminds me that I don’t need to wait to be motivated. If I want something done, all I have to do is to start working at it and stop procrastinating. The more I procrastinate the longer it will take and the less I will get done. Life really is that simple, just do it.

“The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it. Exercise, lose weight, test your blood sugar, or whatever. Do it without motivation. And then, guess what? After you start doing the thing, that’s when the motivation comes and makes it easy for you to keep on doing it.” John C. Maxwell

9. Maintain A Healthy Lifestyle

When I eat right, sleep a good amount of hours, and exercise I automatically feel great and I have more energy to do the things I love. The better you feel and the more energy you have the harder it is going to be to want to be lazy.

10. Get Rid Of That T.V.

Yes, this is the last thing you wanted to hear. The T.V. drains your energy and turns you into a mindless zombie. The less of it you watch the more energy you have to do other things and the more entertaining your real life will be.

11. Remove Distractions

Aside from T.V. There are plenty of other distractions that go on in your life. Social media is my weakness, I am on Facebook or popular forums a lot more than I should be. Find out what your weakness is and make it a point to avoid all of your distractions until you have finished your work. Believe me you’ll end up getting a lot more done.

12. Create A Vision Board And Use It

A vision board is a board with pictures of all of the things you want to accomplish in your life, or at least all of the things you want to bring into your life in the near future. By creating a vision board you know exactly what you are working for.

By looking at the vision board more you begin to want it more and that means it will be a lot harder to stay lazy as life and the rest of the world passes you by. If you want it you’ve got to fight for it.

13. Make Sure It Is Really What You Want

One of the reasons people are lazy and refuse to work at something is because they don’t really believe in what they are working for. The key to success is not to simply work for a goal that you hate. It is not going to motivate you very much if you are Creating a Life Plan that you don’t care about. The key to success is to have a goal that you want to accomplish so much that it pulls you towards it.

If you want to diet and be healthy, think about why you want that. Is it because you want to feel better about yourself? Do you want to attract members of the opposite s*x? What is it? Write it down, think about how great it will be when it has happened. Imagine yourself already accomplishing it, imagine yourself a success.

If you want to get a lover, think about how great your life will be when you get one. What would you do together? What would be your song? Your Place? Your inside jokes? Think about it so much that it pains you to live without it. The more you want something the easier it is to go after it, the harder it is to sit on the sidelines and watch it slip away.

14. Remember How Fast Time Flies

Do you remember life 2 years ago? It seems like it was just the other day doesn’t it? Time keeps going forward and there isn’t really much we can do about it. If you want something you can’t wait until tomorrow, every wasted day, every wasted hour is a part of your life that you will never see again.

Do you really want to look back at this moment in 10 years and say to yourself nothing much has changed? You’ll be old soon, what are you going to do with your life while you can?