Haha, yes, he did, and I wish I wrote this letter myself, so immediately after reading it, I contacted John to get his approval of posting the letter on my blog.
But I’ll let you read John’s controversial email yourself. I’m not afraid to admit that I agree with him. I’m lazy. I do take action, but I’m still lazy.
I have a serious question for you. If you haven’t considered this, please do because I think it can make all the difference in the world…
Are you stuck in “education mode?”
What I mean is, are you one of those people that loves to learn about this online marketing stuff, but you never actually use the information? Or – and this is something I have been guilty of in the past for sure – are you one of those people that starts a project based on something you’ve learned, but then you peter out before seeing it all the way through?
I believe this may be the most common obstacle of them all. It’s so safe and easy to be a knowledge sponge. You soak up all that great info and daydream about how great it will be when you put it to use to make lots of money.
So why is there this disconnect? Why do so many people love to learn but dread taking action on what they learn?
Get ready, because here comes a bucket of cold water. A lot of you aren’t going to like me saying this…
I used to believe that people failed to take action because of things like fear of failure or some other lofty-sounding reason. Almost like it isn’t really your fault… you just have some kind of mental block holding you back.
I don’t believe that any more. At least, I don’t think it’s true for most people. I think the real culprit – get ready for the cold water – is plain old laziness. Ouch. If you just got mad and decided to stop reading and unsubscribe from my list, I understand. No hard feelings.
I’m not throwing stones in a glass house here. I am naturally lazy myself. I tell my wife all the time that I’d make good “idle rich.” People that win the lottery and say they’re gonna keep working even though they’re suddenly millionaires always make me laugh. In their shoes, that’s the last thing I’d do. I’d travel and play. It’s a very big world and I haven’t seen much of it.
So trust me – I know about being lazy. I battle it almost every day. I wish I had an easy solution… some magic bullet to overcome laziness and get the work done all the time. There isn’t such a thing.
Here comes some more cold water in your face. I’m not trying to be mean… just brutally honest with you. YOU are the only solution to your own laziness. You’re not going to find it by buying another WSO. There is no button to push or software to buy that will make you stop being lazy.
Sure, there are tools that make the work easier and make you more productive. I’m all about using those! But they’ll sit and collect cyberdust if YOU don’t get off your own duff and actually use them.
Here’s what I think has to happen for you to finally overcome being lazy and start to make some money online…
You must fully commit and treat what you do like you have a job to go to, with a boss and a time-clock and all the rest. Set work hours. Tell your family that when you are in your office at home (or at the computer wherever it is) that it’s work time and you are not to be disturbed unless it’s an emergency.
Here are some other tips while you’re in “work mode”:
- Don’t read/answer any emails
- Shut down Facebook, Twitter, Warrior Forum, etc.
- Turn the phone ringer or cell phone off (unless you need it for work)
- Work in short bursts instead of trying to do nothing but work for hours at a time
That last tip is very important, in my opinion. I used to try to keep going and going for hours at a stretch. All that did was burn me out and make me take whole days off to recover. Bad idea. Instead, work in 20 or 30 minute stretches, then make yourself stop and do something else for 5-10 minutes. Trust me, it makes a big difference!
At the end of the day, only you can stop being lazy. I think anyone can do it, but many just will not for whatever reason. But if you set your environment up the way I just laid out, at least it will take away the temptations. You will be able to focus better.
Hey, even a couple hours of work per day beats doing nothing, right? Try easing into this instead of beating your problem all at once. That’s what I did a few years ago.
Being naturally lazy is kind of like being an alcoholic. You will always fight the demon. Don’t imagine it just goes away. It doesn’t. I’m always going to have to work to beat this thing. So will you.
Start today. Start right now. Do one thing, even something small. Then do another small thing. Take a break, then do another. Think of your work in small chunks like that and even if you still feel lazy, you won’t be.
Hope this helps. If you read this far, I guess I didn’t lose you. For that, I’m thankful.
Take Care,
John Schwartz
Thanks for the kick in the butt, John 😀
What do you say? Are you lazy like John and me? And how do you fight the demon?