Success may mean differently in different contexts for different people. I think, success is a corporate coined term for happiness. True success is when you can ride life gracefully in all situations.
Many times, what powers one's happiness is not the once-in-a-time big life decisions or the events, but rather the culmination of how we handle many small things that happen every single day.
Most of the biographies of successful people often cover major events, opportunities, struggles, and how they overcome those challenges but usually omits their everyday habits due to the time, space, and mostly unattractive nature of those activities. The truth is, those mundane daily chores are what prepared and pushed them to win the battles.
You may think you are not lazy just because you are working and are keeping up to average standards of wealth, health, and relationships. You may usually be aware of this, and if not, people around you will point to you quickly if any of these standards fall below the line.
As these conventional wisdom of life make sure you are not falling below the line, they also become a curse by not allowing you to reach greater heights easily. The band of the average is so wide, and we usually do not understand whether that we are improving or degrading.
We take it for a grant, to procrastinate on many petty things that do not show any symptoms of degradation quickly.
For example, these are some of the small activities that are proven to bring happiness to everyone irrespective of age or profession.
- Do the damn 7-minute exercise a day.
- Read or write for at least 15-minute every day.
- Tidy up the place in about 10 minutes a day.
- Keep in touch with near ones with a message or a quick phone call.
- Eat healthy with fresh cooking instead of frozen food.
- Appreciate being alive every day.
They altogether can be done in less than an hour in a day, and nobody can claim they cannot spend at least an hour in a day if they wish for long-lasting happiness.
However, many people find themselves not able to do this. In an impact-driven world, these petty habits may not produce results quickly, and at the same time, not doing them also does not punish us much.
"Petty Laziness" - I call it for all the procrastination we do for things that may not change our life upside down but are essential in drafting our life and lead to the stepping stone of our habit-building and success.
With a little bit of practice, we can identify petty laziness easily.
Just ask yourself, following questions whenever you try to delay/skip doing things
- Is it making you uncomfortable to do the activity?
- Are you trying to give a lot of reasons for not doing it?
- Will you forget the alternative actions, that you are undertaking within a day or two?
If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, you may be at the mercy of "petty laziness".
Identifying this trait is more than half of the battle. Improving this awareness will elevate you to build strong habits.
"Start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can!"
- Arthur Ashe - American Tennis Player.
Climbing from average to great is usually a slow process as it requires tweaking your efficiency step by step. It involves doing mundane things repeatedly, meticulously without expecting an adrenaline push or quick gratifications.
Let 2022 be our step forward in building our habits, breaking one limitation (petty laziness) at a time.
Wishing you all a very happy new year!
