Whatever it is that is holding you back, do your best to unearth it. In most cases, it’ll be one single specific problem or detail. Finding the cause is the only way you can actually address it. Address it like you want it to happen. Once you address it, you can deal with it effectively.
If you’re tired, start devoting some time to relaxing. Everyone needs down time. If your schedule doesn’t allow for it, you may have to make some sacrifices. But your output will be all the better for it. If you’re overwhelmed, take a step back. How can you simplify what’s on your plate? Can you parse it into sections and make it smaller? Can you make a list of priorities and tackle them one at a time? If you’re afraid, what are you afraid of? Obviously, this is something you wish you were doing. Are you afraid of reaching your potential? Of finally hitting your goals and being unhappy? How can you see that your fear is irrational? If you’re hurting, maybe the only answer is time. Grief, sadness, all those negative emotions won’t go away at will. Our wounds need time to heal. Putting less pressure on yourself to stop hurting may be the catalyst for change you seek. If you’re uninspired, what can you change about your routine? Can you put yourself in a different environment or is a mental demon you have to conquer? How can you vamp up everyday life? Think in terms of your senses. Music, food, sights, sounds, etc
There’s a lot that’s going on in our subconscious that we don’t account for. Whether it’s an unpleasant color palette or an inadequate amount of light or a lack of balance in some way, shape, or form, somewhere we know about it. Get rid of that tiny-but-powerful deterrent by getting organized.
Every time you find yourself not performing up to par, twist it around to the positive. “It was a slow morning, but now it’s time to fuel up. Now that it’s afternoon, I’m buckling down!” You’ll be surprised that the surge in mental positivity could actually change your outlook.
Next time you find yourself thinking about the past or the future, draw yourself back into the present. Whether it’s the scene around you, the food on your fork, or the music in your ears, let it show you how cool it is to be walking Earth and living. Sometimes stopping and slowing down can give us the energy to take advantage of what we have at our disposal.
It’d be wonderful, that’s what. Let these positive ideas take over your train of thought. And be sure to realize that once you get going and develop the habit, everything will come that much easier.
Try placing your alarm clock on the other side of the room so that you have to physically get out of bed to turn it off. This makes pressing the snooze button or falling back asleep much more difficult. Literally jump if you can master it. Get your blood circulating. It may be the last thing you want to do, but if you can make yourself, you’ll be all that more alive after.
It may prove useful to keep a personal journal for each day of your target activities, with a record of what exactly may have helped or hindered you with regard to reaching your target as part of your practical logistics for self-development. Consider creating a vision board to post all your goals and dreams on. Be creative and use pictures, magazine articles, etc. Such a board can be used to fully map out your dreams. Each day upon waking, look at your vision board and focus on where you want to be. This will provide an inspired start to your day, and push you to your dreams. Not everyone finds the vision board approach inspiring but there are other ways, such as mind maps, journals, creating a vision statement and telling others about it, making public pledges online to do something, etc.
Once those checks start accumulating, you won’t want to stop. You’ll literally see what you’ve been working towards and what you’re capable of and that momentum will feel so good you’ll have to keep going. You’d be disappointed and feel worse if you didn’t. Make daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly plans so you have smaller, more achievable goals. [6] X Expert Source Annie Lin, MBALife & Career Coach Expert Interview. 25 November 2019.
Is this something that I can actually afford to ignore or allow to go on unsolved for more time? Is this something that could be improved by having somebody else help me or share insights with me about? Am I using the right approach to solving this issue or pursuing this goal? (Sometimes it’s time to follow a new approach than to keep pursuing the same old path. ) Am I being perfectionist in my expectations? (Perfectionism can lead to procrastination, which can soon lead to nothing getting done because nothing is ever going to be good enough. The end result? Laziness sets in because it’s “all too hard”. Avoid falling into this vicious spiral by always doing your best, rather than focusing on aiming for nothing-but-perfection. )
If you do feel stuck, try jumping up, doing the task, and telling yourself “Despite that old habit of freezing up, I am up right now and I am productive!” Keep your language in the present –– no conditional, future or past language should form part of your action statements. And definitely no “if only” statements –– those are for people who truly don’t want to be fulfilled in life.
And the other upside? You’ll have a pressed shirt. It doesn’t have to be ironing, obviously. It could even be showering. Just getting up and doing something is sometimes the hardest obstacle – when it’s something small, it greases the tracks for us, making all activity smoother sailing.
Did we mention it’s also a huge part of being healthy? When we’re healthy, we feel better on the whole. If you’re not currently exercising (especially aerobic, but anaerobic, too), make efforts to put it into your routine. The goal should be around 150 minutes a week, but whatever you can muster, do it. [8] X Trustworthy Source Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Main public health institute for the US, run by the Dept. of Health and Human Services Go to source While we’re at it, eat healthy, too. Junk food doesn’t give your body the nutrients it needs to be active. A body lacking in energy can easily cause you to feel lazy and apathetic –– it’s a good idea to get a doctor’s check-up if you’re worried about your nutrient intake or energy levels.
Whether you’re a pizza delivery guy wishing you were on the floor of the Stock Exchange or a couch potato wishing you were running the Boston Marathon, changing your clothes may change your behavior. If you don’t believe it, think of it this way: How would you address a guy in a suit? After a while, that guy in a suit starts living in a world that addresses him like a guy in a suit. So get your jogging pants on. Eventually you’ll end up wondering why you’re not jogging.
Expecting life to be easy street is unrealistic –– life is often difficult, and sometimes, it’s really difficult. But life is also wonderful, surprising, exciting and filled with hope. By being lazy, you excommunicate yourself from the possibilities of life and that’s self-destructive. By improving your own attitude toward daily discomforts and learning to tolerate things that impact you, your resilience grows and you will find yourself becoming more constructive. Whenever something seems mammoth, hard and undesirable, just start it. Don’t argue about it, don’t make excuses, don’t fight it––just get stuck into it with small steps. To help motivate yourself, try using the 5-second rule. When you start to feel stressed or get the urge to procrastinate, give yourself 5 seconds to start the activity. This keeps you from sitting around and rationalizing it, and gets you going. [9] X Research source
This doesn’t mean you can’t switch between tasks –– you most certainly can, and variety is the spice of maintaining interest. What it does mean though is that each small task must be done separately, with clean breaks between each one rather than fiddling here and there at the same time. Also, when moving between each task, find clean breakpoints so that it’s easy to resume when you return to the task after a break. It is often said that those who complain they have no time are wasting it in inefficient ways, like multi-tasking. The human brain works inefficiently when there is constant pressure to do several things under tight deadlines –– in other words, multi-tasking dumbs us down. Free yourself by doing what matters in neat order, without guilt.
It may help to regularly recite an empowering mantra to yourself throughout the day, such as “I can do this, I know it. " You can also visualize certain activities as already completed and anticipate the sense of accomplishment that you will experience when it’s done.
Sometimes having another person hold us accountable is the impetus to action we need. If you’re struggling with weight loss, get a workout buddy! That other person puts a pressure on us we can’t put on ourselves (in a good way). Make sure to surround yourself with people that support and drive you. When all we know are draining relationships, it’s easy to see why laziness is a problem. Find your inner circle of people that make you feel good and channel them for guidance.
Rewards are sweetest when you have to wait for them and when they’re deserved. You’ll just end up being hard on yourself if you end up watching TV for two hours after 10 minutes of work. Resist. You’ll feel better in the long run.
Celebrate the achievement by telling yourself that you’ve done well. Say something like: “Good stuff! You’re on a roll; keep this up and you’re going to make it to the end of this”. Since big successes are made up of many little continuous successes (each small achievement is heroic), acknowledge your diligence accordingly.
Breaks are rewards and necessities. Don’t confuse the need to take regular short breaks to restore creativity and freshness with laziness. Clearly, the flip side to rewards is punishment. People respond best to positive reinforcement and it’s best to stick to the rewards. Punishing yourself for not achieving things will simply backfire, confirming your worst-held beliefs about yourself that you’re lazy and good-for-nothing. That’s a pointless exercise if ever there was one.
Post the list everywhere and anywhere. Try making it your lock screen on your device or phone. To do this, simply write them in your notes, take a screenshot and make it your background. Create daily goals, monthly goals, and even yearly goals to keep looking at every day differently.
Assess whether a potential benefit is worth the cost to you. If it is worth it (and most times, it will be), draw on your ever-evolving maturity to generate the required courage, endurance and discipline that will give you the strength to achieve brilliant outcomes. Nobody achieves anything without effort and pain.
You won’t be a great businessman, a great runner, a great cook, or even great at your job overnight. You’ll fail and fail and fail and fail. This is normal. This is good. This means you’re still going.
For example, if you are trying to write 1,000 words every weekend but find you keep falling short because of your extracurricular activities, consider getting rid of one of them. By cutting out even one one-hour meeting a week, you’ll have more time to reach your goal.
The longer that you delay restarting after finishing one element in your tasks or goals, the harder it becomes to restart. Remember the feelings of being deeply involved in getting things done, and how good it feels to achieve things. And the sooner you restart, the more confident you’ll feel and the sooner these good feelings will be restored. Consider asking someone to be your accountability partner. If, for example, you have a goal of going to the gym every day, ask a friend to hold you accountable. Text them every day after you go. If you don’t go, have them text you to remind you of your goal.
Remind yourself how much you want to achieve your goal or task, seek help where needed, take stock of what you have already achieved and then refuse to give up. You got this.
