I want to be successful but I’m lazy

Here’s a little of my experience in life. Although I’m still young and not seen much in life, I think I’ve seen enough to speak for my lack of success and its causes.

It’s me. Totally me. There are millions of others like me. We want success but we are too lazy to do anything. Laziness has become us. Relatable, right? But how are these successful people different from us? Are they different though? So why are we not them? Let’s take this shot and find out.

Let’s meet your author first — the epitome of laziness

Too young to preach I guess. I am a 23-year-old Indian engineer. I graduated in 2020 with, B.Tech in Information Technology. Pandemic has affected us all, still trying to find my way around. But I’m determined to do something that I’ll like and love to do instead of those 9 to 5 jobs. Here’s my experience so far.

When I was a kid, like every other kid, I had dreams. I dreamt of becoming a pilot. Then I grew up a little and realized that’s something out of the ordinary so I stopped pursuing it. Later, my interest peeked in computers and I decided that from now on my goal will be to join Google. Too far fetched? Well, in my defense I was still in school. Good in studies, and I’d say pretty much good in sports too, I considered myself a cut above everyone else. Always trying to compete, even as a kid, I was never scared of my competitors whether they were older or younger than me.

As a kid, I was never lazy. I thought it came naturally at the time. I still remember telling my uncle that I’ll score good in high school and aim for Google. At the time he laughed at me, which made me very angry. What happened after that? I guess I grew up.

The main protagonist — Laziness

I did score good, or rather great, in my high school. Then I tried going for the colleges that will help me realize my dream. As I was preparing, I realized I have a choice. I’ve been given food to eat, clothes to wear, and a well-established household so why do I need to work hard. This very thought subconsciously started driving me to laziness. I was not doing it on purpose. My mind knew that I have a choice where I can relax most of the time, without working hard, because I don’t need to. That is where it all began.

As a person, and as a student what happens to us is totally up to ourselves. I’m not denying other difficulties many people have. These can be financial, or family-related, anything. I also had something similar. But, honestly speaking we only need a pen and a notebook, the rest we can earn ourselves. Obviously, I didn’t know this at the time, or maybe I knew and was just pretending that I didn’t. Anyway, laziness became me.

Consider a ceiling fan

Let’s try to understand the situation with an example. Consider a fan. You know a fan, right? Ceiling fan? It can either rotate clockwise or anti-clockwise, but not both. If you try to put two motors in it, one which rotates clockwise and the other anti-clockwise, the fan will not move or in the worst case may fall apart. Our mind is just like a fan. Either it says yes or no. For the mind, the decision is a must.

We all have one mind, don’t we? Now, with the same mind, I am asking myself to realize my dreams. On the other hand, I subconsciously gave it a choice which made me lazy. In my mind, it’s time for a decision. Whether I can be lazy or be successful. Like two opposite cogs or motors in the above example, these two opposite thoughts stop our minds just like the fan. And as I said, in the worst cases break it down.

Realization

I broke down. I couldn’t decide either. I’ve never been the same in my life. An average person, that’s what I’d become. Knowing my abilities and my skills, it killed me from inside that I am helpless against my laziness, in using them. I just did what seemed easy and kept on doing it. Got a degree from a decent college, now I am a software engineer. Almost makes me wanna laugh.

After I graduated, I remembered how badly I dreamt of joining Google. I thought of my past dreams and suddenly it struck me. What? Why my uncle laughed at me when I told him my dream is to join Google. Now I knew. He didn’t doubt my ability or skills, but he doubted the will of my heart. As an adult who has seen life far better than me, he understood that when faced with the luxury of choice, I would break down like many others. And I did.

It all started with a subconscious thought that gave me a choice and I became lazy. Laziness eats you whole. You love it but at the same time hate the fact that you are helpless against it. In short, I am answering your question about the causes of laziness. The most important cause is the luxury of choice itself.

What am I trying to say?

You see, life is not easy. And even worse for many people. And I’m not here trying to tell you or preach to you that you have it in yourself to do better or whatnot. I am in no place to try to motivate you or comfort you. But what I can do is share my experience with you. And mine has taught me that we are all given a choice in our life. We can try to make our lives better or worse. It’s totally up to us. Just ask yourself this question. How can I stop laziness?

You might have noticed that most of the successful people have come from ground zero. By ground zero I mean either extreme poverty or deplorable living conditions, etc. So you see, they don’t have the luxury of choice. They know just one thing. If they want to live better lives they’ll have to work hard for it. Some of them do and we know them as legends today. Now you must be wondering, is success everything in life? I’d say find this answer for your own life.

It took me 23 years to realize this. I hope you realize it even sooner. But don’t worry, as long as you know if the luxury of choice is given to you or not, you’ll easily overcome laziness and other obstacles.

It’s never too late. Overcome laziness and ask yourself, how can I be successful in life. What makes a person successful?

If you find this article interesting and worth reading, I would also recommend you to go and read my previous article on Growing Up.