By definition laziness is a disinclination to activity or exertion despite having the ability to act or exert oneself.

By definition fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or is a threat.

From a young age we are routinely told to avoid ‘dangerous situations’. Afraid of those threats, we often tread cautiously anytime we think we might encounter one. For the most part, we know how to evaluate dangerous situations from a physical standpoint. We understand the risks and realize our physical safety is, or isn’t, worth that risk.

But what about an emotional risk? How many times in our lives have we avoided doing something that we could have been amazing at, to protect our ego, our self-esteem? I know for myself, it’s more then I’d like to admit.

We’ve all said “I could do that if I tried”, but could we? Or “If I had actually tried my hardest I could have done it”, again could we? I know for myself there are many things I really couldn’t do, even if I tried, yet those words still come out of my mouth. Why? Simply put: to make myself, my ego, feel better.

The thing with fear is, if we avoid that which we are afraid of, we don’t get hurt. If we avoid taking that risk, we avoid failing. If we never try something, we never have to come face to face with the disappointing realization that maybe we aren’t capable of doing it after all. Knowing that we have potential, but never really testing it, is safe. It’s safe because we can continue to build ourselves up in our minds. The problem with playing it safe is, it is the surest way to realizing you never accomplished ANYTHING you wanted to when you were young. Why? Because you were too scared to try. Although most of the time you told yourself you were too lazy, too busy, or that you’d try next time.

This is where laziness comes in. We blame not starting that project or business, or going after that new job we’ve been talking about because we’re ‘too lazy’, we don’t have enough time right now. I know this first hand. For years I’ve been talking about how I wanted to get into coaching and for years I told myself “I want to do it, but not right now, i have too much on the go”, “I’m too lazy to commit the time needed, I’ll start next week, next month, next year”. I wasn’t lazy, and I undoubtedly had the time. In reality I was just too scared. Talking about your hopes and dreams is easy, it’s safe. Actually going after your dream is terrifying. Why… because what if I fail.

For myself it was the fear of failing as a coach, not being good enough. Scared of what might happen to my ego if I realized I wasn’t cut out to be what I wanted, and that what I thought I wanted to do with my life was now no longer an option. The BIGGEST fear I had (and honestly still do) was failing in front of everyone around me. How embarrassing is it to try something and fall flat on your face for the whole world to see. That’s when it hit me like a ton of bricks: I realized no one was actually going to see me fail, because even if I did (which I won’t), they are too busy going through the same cycle of fear themselves, to notice.

The only person truly invested in my failure or success, is ultimately, just me. Instead of wasting my time being afraid of failing, I decided instead to address and assess where these fears were coming from. Were they real fears? For the most part, no, they were frivolous and silly. Any real fear I had was never something as drastic as life or death. I was able to picture worst case scenarios and work out a game plan as to how to deal with it, if it ever were to happen. Ultimately through self analysis, I realized that even if my ‘worst fears’ came true, it really wouldn’t be that bad, and I’d be able to handle it.

Now this isn’t to say all laziness is fear. I know there are lots of days where I’m too lazy to go outside, and instead just watch netflix until my eyeballs hurt. What I’m talking about is the perceived laziness we have around achieving those big dreams or goals: That isn’t laziness, that is fear. If there is something out there that you know you want to do, that you know will make your life better, you better, and you’ve always dreamed of doing, but for some reason are putting it off… you might want to do a little self diagnostic test to see if it’s actually fear holding you back. Below is a little snippet of my ‘is it laziness or is it fear’ self-diagnostic test. Ultimately if there’s something you really want, but for some reason aren’t acting on, fear or laziness aside, you should do it. You owe it to yourself to become the person you always dreamed of becoming.

This self­-diagnostic isn’t a measured test, it’s more about thinking and gaining perspective. It’s a way for you to figure out how important this thing is to you.

Laziness or Fear?

1. How often do you think about doing this goal or dream? How often do you talk about it with others?

2. How happy do you feel when you envision yourself having accomplished it or doing it?

3. How does this goal or dream tie into how, and who, you see yourself as in the future? Is it a large part of your future identity? Something you hope to tell your kids or grandchildren about (how proud does it make you feel)?

4. Flash forward 25 years from now and picture yourself having your morning coffee or tea. How disappointed would you be if you realized you never tried/accomplished/became this goal or dream of yours?

If you answered that you do think about/talk about this dream often; feel really happy when you think about doing it; ties into your future goals/self; is something you’d tell your kids; AND is something you’d be disappointed about if you never did, then this goal or dream is a pretty big deal to you.

Realistically, if you woke up one day and realized your life was about to end, and felt like crap because you never accomplished this goal, chances are you haven’t started because you’re too afraid to. For something that important, you WILL, and CAN, find time for. Remember that being afraid is normal and it is human. Fear reminds us that we have something to lose. Just don’t ever let it overshadow what you stand to gain if you overcome it.