At the Door of a New Year! We Ask: Are We Lazy Creatures?!

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At the Door of a New Year! We Ask: Are We Lazy Creatures?!

Motivation and Commitment
"To reach a port, we must sail—Sail, not tie at anchor—Sail, not drift.", Franklin Roosevelt

This is a haunting question. There is a plenty of evidence about human beings laziness compared to other creatures on the planet!

I believe that the statement that “we are lazy creatures” is true to some extent and varies from one to another. Here I will try to throw few ideas about this statement (we can debate of course).

I believe the root behind being lazy is the lack to commitment. Here I refer to the commitment to ourselves and our goals. Many of people do not have goals, objectives, or vision about what they need to achieve in career or life. Here (again) I will borrow from Lewis Carroll (in his masterpiece Alice in Wonderland) a couple of sentences which are very simple to read but very deep to understand:

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” said Alice,

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.

“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

You need to dream with an objective and set interim goals to reach that dream. Without being committed to this vision, you will lose the line of sight and you are in anywhere!

Accordingly, there are two major issues: first, you may not have an objective at all. Second, you may have an objective but we are not committed to achieve it. If you miss any one of those you will be entrapped and classified under lazy species!

To be committed, you need to be motivated to achieve your goals. Lack of motivation is the seed of laziness and the disease of being unproductive.

Some people are gifted to be self-motivated where motivation comes from their souls. Others get motivated from external sources such as mentors, role model, work in a group, needs, etc.

I noticed in many cases, those who classified as “lazy” could work very hard under pressure especially if someone or some external force set their targets. For example, many people work hard if they have exams to pass or deadline to respect. This proves that they have the capability but they lack the motive to work. This exam date or deadline time did a useful thing. It sets a target!

I have a simple recipe to follow (based on a very humbled experience):

1-      Set one or two practical goals to achieve within this year (do not set much),

2-      Set practical plans to achieve those goals,

3-      Plans must have tangible deliverables. Deliverables motivate you to continue,

4-      Plan deliverables to be close to each other, so you are always get excited with capability to progress,

5-      Discuss your goals with someone of group. Search for those who share your interests or like to see you achieving your goals,

6-      Talk about your progress, promise to achieve, and welcome tips and hints,

7-      If you are behind schedule, reschedule to put yourself on track. Do not lose directions,

8-      Remind yourself with benefits of achieving such goals,

9-      Refresh yourself by something out of your plan from time to time such as trips, gym, or any other activity out of your plan context,

10-   Once you achieve the first goal you will like the idea and you will proceed,

Do not leave yourself without goals to achieve. Remember in the absence of well-defined goals, you will be very loyal to do trivial things on daily basis. Without commitment and plans, your targets will remain dreams.

It is a start of a new year. It is time to set targets. It is time to draw a dream and commit to it. It is time to hunt!

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Comments (7)

  • Samiuddin Mohammed Reply

    Nice Writeup… especially about setting tangible and practical goals. Good Luck to all and Happy New Year. Sami

    December 30, 2011 at 10:59 am
    • Mohamed Abdel Moneim Reply

      thx sami – we (humans) need this to feel progress so let us have once.
      happy new year

      December 30, 2011 at 12:40 pm
  • What’s On Your Personal Roadmap for 2012? | Donna Denil Marketing Reply

    […] At the Door of a New Year! We Ask: Are We Lazy Creatures?! (itbok.wordpress.com) […]

    December 30, 2011 at 1:59 pm
  • Mohammed Zaki Reply

    just on time. thx Moneim.

    December 30, 2011 at 3:29 pm
  • Anonymous Reply

    Goals without plans are dreams.

    December 30, 2011 at 6:27 pm
  • Kamal Reply

    “Set one or two practical goals to achieve within this year (do not set much),”

    As addition, do not make the goal complicated or over than your ability , the goal must be easy and possible to be achieved,

    Ahmed Zewail says:
    ” The goal was as easy as was achieved faster, approaching very complex goal is impossible to apply to reality, even if it is reasonable”

    December 31, 2011 at 6:10 am

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