Why Lazy is a Good Thing in a World of Ambition

Oxymoron…now, there’s a good word for you.  For me it still has a ring of intrigue even though I learned its meaning years ago.  I guess it still fascinates me because of the lilt of the word and the curiosity its use creates.

A couple of real life examples may help satisfy your curiosity about the word.  There is a sane madness why the concept behind the word is so appropriate for the learning points of this post.

Using sane madness in the foregoing sentence IS one example of an oxymoron.

Here’s another one.  Fool’s gold is worthless gold.  The oxymoron is…worthless gold.

And…another to confirm the “sane madness” to which I referred above…It is a good thing to practice lazy ambition in this fast moving world.  Oxymoron?  Lazy ambition.

Here’s the challenge you face in surviving the cataract-like flow of life today.  You must figure the best ways to be “lazy” in successfully pursuing your ambitions or life will force you over the waterfall of all consuming stress.

So, by lazy ambition I’m meaning you must constantly challenge yourself to work with efficiency and effectiveness.

Oops…two more words needing clarification.  Efficiency is doing the right things in the shortest time and effectiveness is doing things in the best or right way.

What’s the implication of all this?

Well, today’s world is moving so fast regardless of personal ambitions you can fall behind very quickly.  Your entire life can be consumed by just trying to keep up.

You must become as “efficient and effective” (lazy) as you can if you are to keep up, so you can realize your life’s ambitions.

Here are 10 tips on how and why to be “lazy” in this world of ambition:

·         Do find your passion—It is the most important thing you can do to achieve all your ambitions in the most efficient and effective (lazy) way.  Mind map around the keywords, finding my passion. 

·         Don’t pursue any ambition where you do not have a strong sense of enthusiasm and excitement about achieving it.  You, for sure, will not be effective and you won’t pay the price to find the most efficient ways.

·         Do build a detailed plan—with passion comes purpose and building a plan shows you how to achieve your purpose in the most efficient and effective (lazy) way.  Use Amazon keywords, life planner, to find planning resources.

·         Don’t skip the planning step.  Here’s the risk if you do skip planning:  Around and around you go and where you stop you will never know.

·         Keep track of your trip—measuring your progress toward achieving the goals in your plan is to what the directions coming from the voice in your GPS software is to reaching your programmed destination.  Read this article about the importance of measuring progress toward your goals.

·         If you don’t measure your progress within your plan, you can’t clearly determine how close you are to achieving your goals.  You will absolutely be caught in a whirlpool of misdirection.

·         Set a “doneline.”  To guarantee success you must have a clear timeline to follow.  Read this article in Forbes Magazine for further confirmation and understanding of this tip.

·         Don’t set a “doneline” and you will not know the pace you should set for completing all aspects of your plan.  Getting it done (taking action) is the greatest difference between those who succeed and those who fail.

·         Be adaptable to the unexpected—even your best laid plans will be disrupted by circumstances that were unknown when you built your plan.  This YouTube video reinforces this point very well and offers specific “how to’s.”

·         Don’t adapt and the inevitable changes in your life will become stone walls totally blocking your progress.  There is no (lazy) way to success when the need for adaptability is denied.

Here’s a closing oxymoron for you...Following each of the above single multiple (oxymoron) steps will help you deal with this overwhelmingly ambitious world one step at a time.  You WILL be more efficient and effective (lazy) by doing so.

Which of the above tips will you be most efficient and effective (lazy) in implementing first?

Please share your thoughts by commenting below.  

And…please forward this information to others by following the social media share link at the top or bottom of this post. 

Thank you.