There’s common laziness, of course. It’s usually expressed as procrastination, channel surfing, and basically not doing anything.
This is the first hurdle most of us face when we’re trying to start a business or keep one running. We’ve got to overcome inertia to get things done.
Here’s the thing. Once you’ve overcome ordinary laziness and consider yourself a “hard worker,” chances are you’ll slip back into laziness again.
It’s the laziness of always doing the same things because it’s easier than improving — even if what you’re accustomed to doing is not nearly as effective as you know it could be.
Example: You figure out a process that works for generating leads and landing clients. It works. And so you use your process over and over again.
Eventually you reach a limit to what you can do and earn. You now have a choice. Keep doing what you’ve always done… or… change.
Most people don’t make any changes because they are too hard to make. That’s laziness. A different kind of laziness, but laziness nonetheless.
It takes intense focus and dedication to break out of patterns and habits that no longer serve you as well as they should. You literally have to find a way to stop the old way of doing things and invent a new (and better!) way of doing things.
So which kind of lazy are you? The kind who doesn’t do anything — or the kind who resists making improvements?
I’ve rarely suffered from “normal laziness.” I’m a pretty action-oriented guy. But I sometimes find myself in the second category… doing things the way I’ve always done them because it takes too much effort to change.
And this is the kind of laziness I’ll be working to overcome in 2009.
How about you?
-Ryan M. Healy
{ 12 comments }
Hi Ryan,
I’ve been reading your emails and find a lot of them to be very interesting. I came across your site by surfing the net for information on starting an internet marketing business. One of the first things I did was become a member of Freelance Home Writers.com thinking that I could make lots of money writing ads. However, my bids have never been selected by a potential client to write even a single ad. in hopes of making a measly $10.00 or even less for all my efforts. Needless to say I dropped out of their program. I continued to look for a way to change my life and realized I should try to focus on one money making skill. You have inspired me to look very seriously into copywriting, but I’m now leaning more toward affiliate marketing. I have so much to learn.
Yes, I know what you mean about needing to make changes, and it’s easy to get stuck in a rut and not know how to get out. Me, I’m just tired of working hard and having nothing to show for it. That’s my motivation to make a change. Right now everything I try or buy is not solving my problem. I’ve spent thousands of dollars on tens of dozens of money making deals and still not making any money. I know I have made a lot of other people happy buying their products that have not made a difference in my life. I feel like I am running in circles trying to find my niche. Someday I will though.
But keep the emails coming. As I said, I admire you and the fact that you’ve made it. Your messages keep me believing it’s possible for me too.
Your fan,
Tim Willingham
Ryan…you are SO right on with this one that it’s not even funny.
And I like that you term it ALL laziness, because that’s what it really is.
It’s like my Grandpappy used to say:
“You get out of it, what you put into it.”
@Tim – I’m flattered. Thanks for the positive feedback.
Sometimes finding something that works is simply a matter of sticking with one thing long enough to see it work.
Although I haven’t read it yet, I hear Seth Godin’s book The Dip has some insights into knowing when to quit something and when to keep pushing.
@Joseph – Thanks, dude!
Such a fine but extremely important distinction.
I think I’m like you. Suffer from the “Get Things Done” mentality… but once I figure it out, I’m OK with routine as long as it works OR… I just stop doing it altogether.
In fact, the body count of hobbies in my past can ALL be attributed to this form of laziness… it doesn’t help I’m a quickstudy.
Painting, drawing, poetry, fiction, etc. etc.
Once I “figure something out” and I’m “OK” slash competent at it I give up pushing it further.
Obviously… a terrible thing to do in a profession where you need to constantly strive for mastery.
@Colin – I definitely relate to the habit of gaining competence quickly and moving on. Although I’ve gotten better about that in recent years. I seem to have “found” a few things I continue to study repeatedly.
Thanks for the kick in the behind! A very good reminder, so thank you for reminding me. :-)
BTW, Godin’s “The Dip” is a great little book. I should read it again… after the dozen or so books that are ahead of it on my reading list. :-)
That’s for sure. The universe (life) really doesn’t accommodate laziness. We see it all the time in copywriting where people want to pretend nothing has changed since Claude Hopkins was writing 8pt font newspaper advertorials.
They say “web 2.0″ is just a fad.
Same people who were saying the “internet” was just a fad.
Or now, the big “lazy” thing to say seems to be “this recession doesn’t really affect the way we write copy.”
Personally, I think we are seeing the death of direct-response as we know it, and those copywriters who aren’t willing to see that forcing people through long-winded, pitchy sales funnels is coming to an end, will be hard-pressed for cash.
Personally, I welcome the change.
Hey Ryan,
I heard it once said that when we claim we’re not doing something because we’re lazy, we’re lying.
We’re just using the word lazy because it’s sounds better than what we’re actually feeling on a deeper level.
Fearful.
Especially when it pertains to starting something new.
Fear of looking bad in front of people.
Fear of not being perfect.
Fear of the unknown.
Saying “I’ve been too lazy to study.” Sounds better in our minds than saying “I’m afraid to succeed.”
I’ve been afraid of a lots of things in my life and I’ve always searched for ways to cover them up with softners.
Fear of success was and still is one of those. And until I admitted what I was really afraid of I was always broke, embarrassed and scared.
The words we use in our conversations are so pivotal. They can lead us to courage or cowering. Love or hate. Laughter or sobbing.
As copywriters we pay very close attention to what we say to our prospects but how many of us govern our conversations with ourselves?
One program I’ve found that goes rather deep on this topic is Robert Dilt’s “Conversational Magic.”
Robert wrote the book “Sleight of Mouth” along with others on the topic of NLP. He’s studied with the creators of this technology, Richard Bandler and John Grinder, about the time it was born.
This program is a must have for anyone interested in how our words influence us and others.
Check it out Ryan.
Note Taking Nerd #2
http://www.mynotetakingnerd.wordpress.com
Ryan:
I agree with you … i find myself wondering why I don’t adopt new techniques and learn new but better and more effective strategies faster … ?
I’m glad I am not the only one. That is probably the biggest challenge facing me in my professional and personal life
@John Thomas – My pleasure. Thanks for confirmation that The Dip is worth reading.
@John Manley – Good observations. The principles stay the same, but the techniques definitely change.
@Note Taking Nerd – Fear may indeed be what lurks beneath laziness, at least for some of us. I never thought about it that way before. Thanks for the book/program recommendations.
@Kingsley – Perhaps because adopting and mastering new techniques almost always takes more time and effort than we expect? Just a thought.
Sometimes, it is I am looking for over-whelming evidence that a new technique actually works.
For example, I need to use Google Adwords and employ more Copywriting on my landing pages … I can’t seem to find enough evidence in my busy day … that a specific resource will answer all my questions effectively. For example, Perry Marshalls
Part of the inertia is the unwillingness to waste our time trying new techniques that may not work as well as promised!
I’m like you in that I’m always working and very proactive – and also in that I fall into the second category: I don’t like to “stop” and learn new things (particularly when it involves technology.) However, a while back I made a resolution to deliberately always push my envelope in one internet area every day by learning something new or (at the very least) checking out a different blog.
I’ve pretty much stuck to that, and it adds a lot of excitement and self-confidence to my work life.
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