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I was surprised to hear one of our gym members declare last week: “I never knew LAZY until the gym!”
I really didn’t know what he meant. As this gent is by all accounts super successful and incredibly hard working.
Except it seems… In The Gym.
For whatever reason in business this gent is able to do whatever it takes.
Hard work comes naturally.
He’ll focus on the result and consistently take the right actions whether he feels like it or not.
When things are going wrong he’s still able to focus on how he wants it to be… and consistently take the right actions whether he feels like it or not.
Whether in your career or as a partner or parent or friend in one – or likely several areas of your life – you’ve got LAZY beat right? Todays show is all about taking that success, that lazy beating attitude and turning it to your body gain advantage.
I’m feeling the acronym love right now so let’s roll with: 4 steps to beat L.A.Z.Y.
One: L.earn from your success’s. In short model YOU.
That area of your life in which you put in the effort and get to enjoy the subsequent results: What are some of the standards you hold yourself to?
=> Perhaps you schedule your most important tasks for first thing in the morning when you’re at your freshest and have not yet exhausted your daily discipline quota?
=> I’m fairly certain you focus more on the end game than on immediate gratification.
=> Likely you’re fairly flexible with your thinking and able to come up with another way and again another way if your first, second and 27th attempt doesn’t succeed?
Two: A.ction Daily. It’s so simple however LAZY is a habit as much as an attitude.
Lazy can just happen on auto-pilot. Equally ACTION can just happen on auto-pilot too. It just takes some scheduling in advance.
=> Perhaps decide on ONE high impact yet achievable action daily to bring you one step closer to achieving your goal. Make it as frictionless as possible action. Perhaps get off the bus just two stops earlier. Or a 20 minute mind-refreshing walk at lunch.
=> Schedule your training plan. I cover the I.D.E.A.L training plan in show #059. The hardest thing is deciding every day whether or what in relation to exercise. In that area of you life in which you’re already excelling I imagine you don’t decide every day. You decide once and stick to it. Perhaps you decided you pick your kids up after school on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Tuesday + Thursday a neighbour picks them up. And you stick to it. Because it’s important. Your training plan is important too!
=> Set reminders and appointments (YES, appointments with you!) for those less frequent yet vital actions. Like you put parent teacher night on the calendar or book your hair / dentist appointment in advance. Equally, the body gain related appointment like planning, shopping for and cooking meals on mass needs to become a non-negotiable too.
Remember lazy will happen on autopilot however action can too!
Three: Z.ero Tolerance For Excuses.
At this point I want to address that Yes, I’ll admit no-one can be a 100% zero-tolerance-excuse-free-MACHINE! There will be areas of your life which take priority. It’s important to consider: Where does Health come in your list of priorities?
Whether it’s number one, four or wherever you can still decide on some key Zero Tolerance For Excuses areas.
=> Once you know where Health comes in your list of priorities then it need never be be sacrificed for a lessor priority.
So for example, that’s when you say “I’ll just check out what’s happening on Facebook-Instagram-Periscope…” rather than getting to bed on time and giving yourself the best chance of waking up fresh for early morning exercise.
=> Ditch the victim mindset excuses. These are not about a greater priority. They are only about taking the easy-lazy-option and that’s not your solution. Stuff like: “It’s so hard for me… / my body just likes to store fat… / I don’t have the time-money-energy-support-ATTITUDE!”
=> Reframe that excuse that still comes naturally. Again, I’m guessing you reframe your excuses and the negative thoughts that lead to them in the area of your life that you excel in. “I don’t have time” actually means “It’s not a priority right now” which often escalates to “It’s not a priority ever.” Is that ok? If not, you need to consciously reframe your excuses – call yourself on them – if you do it enough consciously it’ll start to happen unconsciously.
Four: Y.ou Are Responsible.
Lazy is exhausting. Although the thought of taking the easy option might appeal briefly it leaves you thinking about everything you didn’t do. Or at least that’s how it is for me.
A planned lazy day, enjoyed on schedule – Guilt Free – is one thing.
However on the day when I don’t decide LAZY and LOVING IT on that day I just drift into LAZY and LOATHING IT personally that’s a fairly UN-fun day.
=> Decide on how you want to feel at the end of the day and choose your actions accordingly.
=> Consider the anti-mentor that person you really, truly 100% do not want to be. This person is potent lazy-beating-fuel!
=> Finally, to beat lazy consistently and sustainably requires allowing a little lazy into your routine on purpose, mindfully, with volition.
Maybe you don’t want to call it lazy.
It could be the little treats you reward your self with: like a long weekend away each quarter (ok, to me that’s a biggish treat!) / perhaps the cheat meal and rest day each week / the store bought coffee each day and 15 minutes reading for pleasure each night. Whatever works for YOU. The way to think of it is you never want to feel restricted or hard done by.
Or put another way: The more you GIVE YOU the more you can ask of you.
The easier it becomes to beat LAZY easily and sustainably.
To get actionable today let’s roll with step one: L.earn from your success’s. In short model YOU.
That area of your life in which you put in the effort and get to enjoy the subsequent results: What are some of the standards you hold yourself to? I’d love you to decide on 3 standards and how they can also be applicable to helping you achieve your body gain goal.
That brings us to the end of this week in Healthification… a week where this little podcast is about to hit 60,000 downloads in total and I’m supremely grateful for every single one.
So super huge thanks to you for your support and for sharing this week with me.
If you liked this you’ll also like: How To Maximise Your Daily Eating and Exercise Discipline.
If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.