Battling Excuses and Overcoming Laziness
It’s so hard sometimes to remember from one second to the next why you are so fired up about something.
Honestly, sometimes it’s absolutely exhausting. Talking myself out of moments of utter…well…laziness. Or what, ultimately, feels like laziness.
“I’m so tired but I know deep down I want to go do that thing. I know that CEO me wants to create that thing.”
Although laziness, I guess, is always a potential factor, for me, more often than not my excuses are merely (or not so merely) a disguise for self-doubt and fear.
I’ve made the conscious choice to only pursue endeavours that fire me up and get me excited about life so I know that the reason I’m deflecting from actually doing them is NOT that I sincerely don’t want to.
That would have been the case a year ago. Heck, two months ago. I was constantly battling with myself to get things done because I felt like I really should want to do them. I was trying to force myself into momentum.
Although it definitely sometimes takes a push, I’ve come to realize that it shouldn’t be that hard to feel excited to pursue life, whether it be in your relationships, career, money, home. Life should NOT feel hard most of the time. If it feels hard ALL of the time, you need to take a look at what you can change to line yourself up with what you really want to be doing.
For me that looked like me committing to supporting myself around my love of writing and of words in general. I am still very new to it all, but I have made the decision. There is no going back.
I am committed to building a life that I love where I have the freedom to have the lifestyle I choose and to have the ability to support myself and my dreams doing something I love.
Does that mean it’s easy to get motivated all the time? As previously discussed, absolutely not.
In fact, today is the perfect example. And, honestly, as I’m writing this I am having a battle in my head about what a slacker I am and how I don’t know how I expect to ever succeed.
I woke up fired up and ready to go, I felt inspired and ready to take on the world! Fast forward to one hour of trying to tire out one hyper puppy later, I am feeling tired and unfocused. Like I let the inspiration slip through my fingers and back out into the universe.
I feel like I let myself down, and it’s only 10:30 in the morning.
This is bullshit. I know it, you know it (I hope), and the universe knows it.
Everything I need is within me, I just need to sit down and do the work. The inspiration will come to me, the motivation will come to me. If it doesn’t I can do it anyway.
The point of creating the life that I absolutely love is having the freedom to play with my puppy for an hour in the morning if I want to (or if she demands it).
Kicking myself over not following a particular schedule I had for some reason placed in my head is not effective. It is not useful. I’m choosing to let it go.
I’m choosing to remind myself that it can be easy. There is plenty of time in the day to get everything I want to get done and more.
Ultimately it comes down to knowing that what I the most “tired” of is knowing what I am capable of and leaving it on the table because of fear and my excuses.
I just need to kick my own ass into remembering what I’m working for, and who I am.
I need to celebrate every moment.
But, mostly, I need to tell all my excuses to fuck off.
“Puppy” has been my favourite excuses machine lately.
“I should wait to do this when I know I’ll be able to focus.”
“I should probably wait to do this because she’s going to wake up soon.”
“I just can’t focus when I know that she might wake up and disturb my flow.”
Dude, please. EXCUSES.
I am calling myself out here and now. Put your butt in that chair or wherever you want to work (you have the freedom to choose you lucky biatch) and do the fucking thing you know you should be doing. The thing that you know “successful” Steph would OBVIOUSLY be doing.
You know that getting started is the hardest part because that’s when the self-doubt and fear is at its peak. It’s the easiest to avoid the work because it isn’t in motion yet.
So, give yourself a damn “I’m a motherfreaking unstoppable badass” pep talk and get on with your day however you see fit.
It isn’t about the money (although, yes please). It’s about feeling fulfilled and proud of myself. It’s about understanding that I am enough just as I am and I don’t need anything else to get my shit done. It’s never going to be perfect. In fact, perfect does not exist. Perfectionism is your procrastination in disguise.
You know it’s inside you. You know it’s what you want and you KNOW you are capable of creating it. Logically you know this. Theoretically you know this. Deep down you know this.
You just need more practice.
You just need to keep reminding yourself.
Being disciplined in your life means more than completing the tasks on your to-do list, it means working on your mindset everyday. It means being disciplined in who you want to be.
Right now, this feels exhausting sometimes but I am doing it anyway.
Stop, take the pause, and remind yourself. Why am I doing this? Why does it matter?
Do I really need a nap or am I just making excuses?
Sit in the uncomfortable feeling that you feel overwhelmed or unsure for a second. Explore it. Are you avoiding something? Why? Should you be?
Again, this can be exhausting. But, I know it’s what I need in my life right now.
I need to stop trying to rush to doing the next thing without acknowledging how I’m feeling. I need to be more consistent in being intentional throughout my day. Of avoiding the “busy work”. Of using tasks as a distraction rather than a means to move the needle in my business and life.
Some days, like today, I wake up with the understanding that I am capable of absolutely anything, that I am going to crush this day in the way that I want and know I can, and I’m going to complete everything I set out to do and more. And, then I trust that motivation will just carry me through my day without any thought or effort. I’ll just float from one task that scares me, to the next.
It will not always be as constant as it is now, but I need practice.
I need to practice getting myself into motivation mode. I need to consciously take the time to get myself fired up.
I am unavailable for believing that feeling unmotivated or uninspired is a valid excuse for not executing in my life.
I AM IN CONTROL OF MY OWN LIFE.
I CHOOSE to take needle moving action everyday.
I CHOOSE to take intentional action everyday.
I CHOOSE to be present throughout my day.
I CHOOSE to say buh bye to all my lameass excuses.
So it’s time to fire yourself up and set off in the direction you want to go.
Just do it and thank yourself later for the pep talk. For believing in yourself. For backing yourself no matter what.
For reminding yourself that the woman you are and are going to be is not going to be stopped by her fears and excuses. She is going to kick those fears to the curb as many times as she needs to until they hit the road for good.
She is unstoppable.
She is unapologetic.
She is a needle mover.
She is an action taker.
I’ll probably give myself this pep talk at least two more times today because my fear gremlin really likes to remind me how far I am from having it all together. That little demon is the worst.
But, I will that little demon off and go about kicking ass the way I know I want to ( with caffeination).
I wanted to share my pep talk with you from one girl trying to figure it out to another.
So from one girl leveling up to another: I believe in you! You are a badass just as you are! We got this.
Just keep on keeping on!
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