It can be challenging to pay closer attention to how we are using our time, but when we do, we suddenly are able to do so much more and realize we can reach our dreams. This article helps shift the perspective of why you might want to be more structured in your use of time and educates you on how to stop being lazy.
If you are in the category of socializing a lot, balancing out time with your friends and time working towards your goals, might fuel you as you see progress and experience self-started change in your life.
As women, it can be frustrating when we feel like we need to socialize to meet guys. A little patience and hard work will get us to a position in our lives where we are strong and independent, so the guy we meet won’t have to take care of us.
1. Write your goals down
If you have trouble coming up with goals, that’s completely normal. You may have ten things you’re considering as a career and five different places you’re thinking about living in. To top it off, you may be confused about where a relationship is going.
First of all, know that all of this is normal and surmountable. All you need to do is write it down. This helps to clarify things and once you see it on paper, you may realize that some of them don’t actually sound like fun once you get them out of your head.
Cross things off or prioritize them. Remember, you don’t have to live in the same place your whole life, nor do you have to stick to just one type of income earning. Most wealthy people have multiple streams of income anyway.
At this point, I don’t recommend sharing your list with people because you’re still in the incubation phase which means someone else’s input could sway your decision one way or the other. You want these goals to come from you, and not be influenced.
2. Map your plan of attack
Now write down a one week, one month, 6 months, one year and 2 year plan of attack. This will be modified slightly as you go along, but this is absolutely key to getting you motivated with a plan of action. It’s impossible to have laser-like focus when you don’t know what you’re focusing on.
If you aren’t clear with what your goals are, your energy will be scattered and sucked by other people who do have strong visions. I’m not saying that to scare you. Speaking from experience, if you don’t manage your time, other people will get you to work very hard for their goals.
If you want to be self-sufficient and able to support yourself, which to me seems like the only logical option for women today, you need to map your plan of attack. Be excited about it. If it bores you now, it won’t keep your attention for long. It has to be something you’re deeply connected to.
What are you passionate about? What do you enjoy? We are much better at things when we like them. If you find yourself dragging your feet, chances are you just need to reevaluate your direction. It’s actually quite simple.
3. Be relentless
Small steps add up over time. I read this today, “Progress is a decision.” You’ll need to (most likely) make to do lists to keep track of things you need to do to pursue your goals. This is because; we are all pretty similar when it comes to one thing, out of sight out of mind. You might have a great idea before you go to sleep, but when you wake up, a simple text message can distract you and you may forget about that great idea forever.
As you capture your time and use it to fuel what you love, your laziness will melt away. Your guilt about being lazy will too. You will build momentum that will carry through a rough day. Sometimes you will need to back off a little bit and relax, but you will start to know when it’s time to do that.
When you look at your kitchen sink and it’s filled with dishes, that’s a good indicator you need to balance working towards your goals with taking care of the basic stuff. If you look in your refrigerator and all you see is a half-empty jar of peanut butter, the same thing goes. Make a grocery list and go grocery-shopping!
What I’m getting at is time management again. Balance the things you need to stay healthy with your long term goals. Don’t forget to have some fun along the way and stop and smell the roses, but don’t get too distracted.
4. Take breaks when you’re exhausted
If we are looking long term at the resolution of not being lazy, we can’t swing too far in the other direction and become workaholics because that won’t last. We are concerned about what will work right?
We need interaction with people, we need to give and receive love. We need to participate in society and not only focus on our own personal goals. It can fuel you more to have interactions in social environments. When you interact with people, you will learn what they are doing, what’s working in their life and what’s not. And they will learn the same from you.
I often meet people who can’t be bothered with the petty problems of others. What if we all looked at life like that? Would you want someone else to look at your life as petty? A little understanding can go a long way when it comes to connecting with other people. How does this relate to laziness? It’s has everything to do with it.
We must stay connected to people we deeply care about in order to stay motivated. We need to ask them how they are doing and take time to make their lives better. If you think you can exist on an island (metaphorically) in this world, you will become cynical, isolated and lose motivation.
It is in fact interacting with others which can make our existence worthwhile. The line from the film Into the Wild says it best, “happiness is best shared.”
5. Balance work and exercise
The concept of balance is overused today, but the idea behind it is not. Our bodies will not run themselves, and if we want to stay on track, we need to accept we need movement to stay balanced chemically.
If we sit 10 hours a day commuting and working, we will begin to get lazy, unless we counteract it by getting our heart rate up, sweating, and getting some endorphin release. You can expect to become depressed if you’re sedentary all the time.
Daniel Vitalis, a role model of mine, talks about how we are not meant to be sitting like most of us do. We need movement, we are not robots. He refers to the need to rewild ourselves to get our health back and I couldn’t agree with him more. He speaks to audiences around the world about how to get the body and the brain to work for us, and not against us, and you might want to check out his work.
6. Eat brain food
There is no one magic bullet to cure laziness. We must address all the pieces of the pie that make up our life which are: work, romance, food, hobbies, finances, home life, spiritual life, etc. The food we eat will either make us lazier or contribute to our brain’s health. I notice a huge difference when I eat healthy organic clean foods. I am not promoting any type of diet because diets don’t work.
Healthy informed lifestyles do work though. If you’re eating a laundry list of chemicals you can’t pronounce every day, unaware of the nutrients you need and not getting them, you will more than likely slowly become lazy. Our brains need amino acids, lipids, essential fatty acids, proteins, vitamins, phytonutrients, etc. to function. If we aren’t getting those, it’s like trying to get your car running on soda; it’s not going to work.
7. Do things for others
Lots of times when we are feeling lazy, it’s because we are feeling down about our situation in life in some way. Maybe we feel like we were wronged by someone, or we are mad at someone. Focusing on negativity like this will not motivate you; it will keep you from pursuing the things you love. It’s important to shift the focus off of yourself and onto others. Stop wallowing in self-pity and do something selfless for someone else.
Buy someone flowers, make them a playlist and burn it onto a CD, buy someone tickets to something, anything that isn’t for your own gratification. Our culture breeds selfishness and we have to work against it to build momentum in the other direction.
We have to make a conscious effort to do things for other people before we lose the ability to be compassionate. It’s important not to only focus on your own goals, but to also pay attention to others, because otherwise, your spirit will wither in the process.
8. Surround yourself with doers
Yes people and motivated people that you look up to will help you stay on track. If you hang out with lazy people, you will be affected. If you’re going to change your life, you also need to change the amount of time you spend with detractors. If your friends aren’t doing anything with their lives, chances are you won’t either, until you find some new friends.
I know that sounds easier than it is, but look for social events that are in line with your goals. I’m not saying dump your friends completely, but if they are not supportive of you doing something with your life, they might be friends of convenience and not friends of substance.
9. Don’t be discouraged by setbacks
Shawn Mendes sings about this in his song called A Little Too Much. He says, “Sometimes it all gets a little too much. But you gotta realize that soon the fog will clear up. And you don’t have to be afraid because we know we’re all the same.”
We will all have people that try to steal our thunder and throw out thoughtless comments. If Niccolo Paganini had listened to the people that made fun of him when he was a kid, he would have never become one of the richest and most famous violinists in Europe. We all have to start somewhere, and we can’t let one bad day deter us from having a vision for the future.
People’s words can sting and they do affect us, but they will affect us less if we prepare for them mentally. Think about how you will respond to challenges in advance so you have the girth to maintain your focus through the muddy days.
Just because you’re lazy at this moment, doesn’t mean you have to be lazy one hour from now. You can change your life right now and begin to feel light again. Remember, balancing work, exercise, healthy food and doing things for other people is key. It’s an orchestra, not a solo piece.
You can change your life, and become what you dream of, if you continue to take small steps towards your goals, and don’t get discouraged by people who try to talk you out of it because they are scared to change their own lives.
Finally, as an actor once told me when asked what was the one piece of advice he would give to someone: “Don’t take it or yourself too seriously.” If we become obsessive and too serious, we won’t get anywhere either.
Be diligent and motivated, but realize that you aren’t perfect, we all need to learn from others, and we all need to laugh when we fall short of our goals. Remember, set your goals high and you will get further than you did without any clear ones.
I’m glad you read this, and hope it helps you…I’d love to hear your thoughts below, and please share the awesome articles on YouQueen with other women you’d like to inspire.
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