Welcome to The Simplify Your Life Podcast, where we talk about how to create a life you won’t need an escape from! I’m Coach Simona, author of the book “111 Ways to Simplify Your Life”, and I’m glad you decided to tune in! In today’s podcast episode, I'm going to share with you how I went from lazy to disciplined, and the 8 things that you need to know if you want to build self-discipline.
Now before we get into my personal story, let’s answer one very important question: What causes laziness? There’s a variety of reasons why you may be feeling lazy, and you know better than anyone else what’s keeping you from being disciplined. Here are some introspective questions you can ask yourself to find the root cause for feeling lazy: 1. Have I always been lazy or is this something I’ve been struggling with in the past week or month? 2. When did I start feeling lazy and unmotivated?
3. Have I made significant changes in my lifestyle lately? 4. Has there been a rapid change in my working environment? 5. Am I taking good care of myself or have I neglected my needs lately? 6. Have I experienced a loss of some kind? Now, let’s get into the 8 things that got me from lazy to disciplined and I hope that help you do the same: #1 is Becoming aware of the long-term consequences
I want you to think about something: What will laziness cost you? It may seem like a fun way to postpone something you really don’t want to do right now, but I want you to think about the long-term consequences of your choices. Let’s fast forward 5 years from now. Where will you be in life if you’re still struggling to get motivated? And where will you be in life if you actually achieved your goals? How would you feel in both cases?
The key to overcoming laziness is realizing that it’s robbing you of your one and only chance to create something while you’re still here. To leave something behind. To build something worth remembering. Laziness is a defense mechanism. The problem is it’s protecting you from growing as an individual and providing value to the world. Laziness is easy, it’s familiar. Our minds love what’s familiar and would do anything they can to avoid the unfamiliar.
So, your job is to realize that laziness is an old way of thinking and acting, and it’s time to move on from it if you want to change your life for the better. The second thing that got me from lazy to disciplined was Taking care of my basic needs I won’t spend too much time here, because I’m sure you’re aware of the importance of a good night’s
sleep, moving your body, and eating healthy. But here’s what worked for me, in a nutshell: Sleeping for seven and a half hours per night or at least getting into the habit of waking up at the same time, and incorporating more fruits and vegetables in my diet
and not drinking too much coffee. Moving my body every day - whether we’re talking about exercise, dancing, yoga, or simply walking around the house for 10-15 minutes, it didn’t really matter as long as I got myself off the couch and did something active.
I have a video on how to take better care of yourself as a woman that you can find on my YouTube channel by visiting: youtube.com/coachsimona The next thing I did that got me from lazy to disciplined was Moving into action quickly I’m going to share with you three techniques that will get you out of a rut. The first one is the 5-second rule by Mel Robbins. It goes like this: whenever you have an idea and you feel that urge to take action, count down from 5: 5,4,3,2,1, and simply do it.
The next technique for moving into action is the 2-minute rule by David Allen If something takes you less than 2 minutes to do, just do it immediately. No hassle, no overthinking. If it’s that simple and quick to do, why postpone it in time? The third technique for moving into action is The Pomodoro technique It’s all about working for a set period of time (25 minutes for example) and taking a
small break after that (for instance, 5 minutes). That helped me a lot when it comes to not overwhelming myself and focusing on one thing at a time. The next thing that helped me go from lazy to disciplined is: 4. Reframing my mind If you want to have long-term results, you need to work on changing your mindset. Being lazy is a habit that I felt strongly connected to in the past and even thought that being lazy was a part of my identity. Now, here’s where it gets really interesting.
If what you say and what you do are in harmony, you’re working with your mind, instead of against it. But if you’re having problems with either one of them, here’s what you can do about it. If you want to stop being lazy, you need to work on the story you’ve created for yourself in your mind first. If you’re being lazy, that means you’re in a victim mentality. You’re letting life
happen to you. You’re not proactive, you’re not going after your goals, and you’re choosing your identity to call yourself “lazy person”. If you take action consistently and get into the habit of being productive, you will shift your identity in time. And that’s when real change happens. Now, sometimes reframing your mind seems almost impossible because there are a lot of aspects of your personality that you don’t like or don’t want to associate yourself with.
I’ve created a free cheat sheet on how to get to know your shadow self. If you want to download it, just click the first link in the description box below or head over to: coachsimona.com/shadow The next thing I did to go from lazy to disciplined is I decided to: Stop overcomplicating things You might be feeling lazy or unmotivated, because everything seems so hard and overwhelming, that it’s just easier to do nothing. It takes a lot of courage to go after the things you want.
So, how do you stop overcomplicating things? I recommend breaking big tasks into smaller chunks. For example, if your goal is to write a book, commit to writing 100 words per day. Another thing you can do to stop overcomplicating things is to stop having so many things on your plate and learn to ask for help. If you delegate a task to someone else, that doesn’t make you lazy. It makes you efficient, because you can spend that time and energy on something else that really moves the needle.
You can hire qualified experts to help you out. And it doesn’t have to cost you much, you just need to get out of the laziness limbo and delegate the tasks you’re dreading to do yourself. The next thing I did to go from lazy to disciplined is: Rewarding myself One of the best ways to stay motivated in time and actually get excited to take action consistently is to reward yourself every time you have a small win.
Every time you hit a new milestone, reward yourself. Reward yourself for publishing your first YouTube video or finishing off a project at work. It doesn’t have to be a big goal to be meaningful to you. Every achievement counts. If you’re struggling with rewarding yourself, that’s a clear sign that you’re not being kind
and compassionate with yourself. So if you want to discover my proven step-by-step framework on how to love yourself unconditionally, check out the self-love toolkit by visiting: www.theselflovetoolkit.com The next thing I had to do to go from lazy to disciplined was: Letting go of perfectionism Now that you’re taking consistent action and you’re motivated and excited,
be careful not to go to the other end of the spectrum which is perfectionism. It’s so tempting to change “just one more thing” or add “just one more detail”. Perfectionism is a waste of your time. Nobody cares about the minor details as much as you do. I know how difficult it was for me to deal with my perfectionism, so I’m going to be honest with you: don’t expect miracles. Just try to do things 95% perfectly.Then drop to 90%, then 85% and so on. Aim for progress, not perfection.
The next thing I did to go from lazy and disciplined was: Giving myself permission to be lazy Here’s the thing: laziness is not bad. It’s not something to be ashamed of. It’s actually a pretty good way to decompress after a long day at work or on the weekends. The problem is we attach this shameful label and we feel guilty when we don’t do anything. That’s actually counterproductive. You need to know how to slow down, decompress,
and relax. Only by doing guilt-free, absolutely careless activities and having fun in life, you’ll recharge your batteries and get inspired to take action. Laziness is not your enemy if it’s deliberate. The important thing is to remember this: Awareness itself is curative. Know when you’re being lazy, why you’re being lazy, and you’ll know whether or not that’s something you want to do at any given moment in your life.
Thanks so much for tuning in! If you enjoyed this podcast episode, please like it, subscribe, and I’ll see you in the next one!