Keshavan Nair Quote on Being Lazy and How Productivity is a War, Not a Battle

“When I say I lack the time to exercise, is this really true given that I have time to watch television? Perhaps it is just difficult for me to admit that I may be lazy.”

Keshavan Nair, A Higher Standard of Leadership

Beyond the Quote (265/365)

I am lazy. I am definitely not born with a “do more than I have to” nature. I desire the “comfortable” option. All of the time. I don’t want to wake up early. I don’t want to write every day. I don’t want to exercise. And I definitely don’t want to only ever eat healthy food. The easy way out is always at the forefront of my mind. The mind-numbing activities are always calling my name. And the option to do less is always looking mighty nice. Yet, day-in and day-out, I choose otherwise.

Is it because I’m actually not lazy? I don’t think so. I don’t think we ever completely “shake” our lazy nature. My lazy nature is still right inside (wherever lazy natures reside) and is constantly giving me resistance to do anything that requires effort. It doesn’t go away. It doesn’t get “quieter.” It doesn’t relent. It’s always trying to convince me to do less. And I have to fight it today just as much as I have ever had to in the past.

The question that many people ask themselves is, “How to win this fight so I don’t have to fight anymore?” And that, unfortunately, is the wrong question. I don’t think this is a battle that is fought and won. In fact, I think that the battle of overcoming “the resistance,” to “defeat” your lazy nature, and to do more of the work that requires effort and deep thought actually isn’t even a “battle” at all. It’s a war. It’s an ongoing series of battles. This is why it’s so important to pay mind to those “little battles” that you usually don’t pay much mind to on a regular basis.

You know, the battles you fight when you get home after a long day at work and decide to drink pop and eat some cookies because you had a “pretty good eating day.” Or when you decide to skip a workout because you’re “busy” and have been “pretty consistent lately.” Or when you choose to ditch the meditation because “you’re not good at it” or because you didn’t have enough time for it that day. All of these little battles that we take “L’s” for, slowly shift the momentum and power back to the side of “the resistance.” And all it takes is that slight shift in momentum to completely turn the tide of the war in our lives.

You know how it goes when one day of losing battles turns into two. Two turns into three, then four, then a week, and then before you know it, getting back on track feels impossible. Why? It’s not that your lazy nature is any louder or more prominent than it was before. No. It’s simply because the momentum has shifted to the side of “the resistance.” And the only way to get it back, is to win a small battle. Then get another “W.” Then another. The big wins happen only after the series of small wins. Start there, first.

Many of you might have experienced this first hand when you went into quarantine as a result of COVID-19. All of a sudden, all of life completely revolved around being stuck home. Gyms closed so you might of missed regular workouts. Getting food became sketchy and so maybe you weren’t eating as clean as you might have been used to. The news was streaming non-stop and was incredibly nerve-wracking so maybe your emotional center was thrown off, too. The drastic shift in lifestyle wasn’t a result of any one specific area, but as a result of those little shifts in momentum that accumulated as a result of quarantine as a whole. And those tiny shifts added up to what amounted to a drastic shift in lifestyle for the people who were affected the most. And while this may be an “extreme” example, it certainly isn’t an exception to what happens all of the time.

So, the next time you find yourself facing one of those “little” daily battles, remember that that may be time for you to step up the most. Because what is a big battle but a greater sum of small battles? Think about a massive battle being fought by hundreds of soldiers. What is that scene but hundreds of little fights being fought at the same time? Whichever side wins more little battles will, of course, win the big battle. So, if you want to start turning the tide of momentum in your life, stop looking at the battles in life as battles—look at it as an ongoing war.

And you have to show up, turn up, and fight back every damn day. My nature is lazy—but I’ll be damned if I let that nature get the best of me. I have to fight it every day. And you will have to, too. Stop being of the mindset that it’s going to go away. It won’t. And while, I can’t promise you that it will ever get easier (because it doesn’t for me), what I can promise you is that you will get better. And when you’re better, you start learning how to win battles better—faster, stronger, and in smarter ways. And that is what makes all of the difference.

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