Why don’t we follow through?

It’s my personal opinion that there is a line that you have to cross before you actually do it. The part where things change from want to need. For instance someone may want to start a new exercise regime and eat healthy but that’s just a ‘want’. The day they almost have a heart attack and feel very unwell is the day that the ‘want’ turns into ‘need’. They crossed the line.

Even after that though, people may not follow through with the new thing whatever it is. Why is this?

I think people are waiting for something. Waiting for the weekend. Waiting for the movie to finish. Waiting til they really have to. We humans are lazy by nature.

My study of marketing has brought me to many conclusions but one of them is that everyone is looking for the magic pill. Or the silver bullet. The big red button that does it for them. That’s why diet pills exist. That’s how you sell sand in the desert – make it seem like the magic pill.

Look how lazy the majority of the population are, sitting in front of TV’s every evening letting the media brainwash them. If you could hype something up that they want to be the magic bullet then they will buy it. But it won’t make them any better because there is no such thing as a magic pill.

By using the Pareto principle (80/20 rule) we can say that 20% of the population owns 80% of the wealth. Whys that? Because only 20% of the population actually put some effort in to achieve the results of the magical red button. Whilst the other 80% sit on their arse looking for the magic pill to solve their problems.

It’s easy to slip into the hole of laziness however. So I thought I’d be proactive and come up with some ways of combating it.

1) When you feel like doing nothing, just make a list of what you need to do. Tell yourself you don’t have to do what’s on the list right away. Just make a list. It will wipe your mind and allow you to focus on individual things.

2) Go for a walk/jog/run/bike ride. It will get the blood flowing and make your mind more active allowing you to process more. I think it’s kind of like turning your computer on from sleep mode. What can you achieve in sleep mode?!

3) Set a stop watch to 30 minutes. Then spend a solid 30 minutes doing exactly what you need to be doing. Then when the time is up treat yourself for doing it. Have a break, then do another 30 minutes. Never spend a solid 6 hours doing one thing, you’ll burn out after 2 or less. Not unless you are in a supreme state of flow – in which case lucky you!

4) Say “fuck it” and do it anyway!

5) Ask yourself “What would Chuck Norris do?” or “How would Winston Churchill deal with this situation?”. See it through someone else’s eyes that you look up to and then follow through with what they would do in that situation.

What methods do you use to combat laziness? Comments are welcome