How to be Lazy and Successful

Your first thought is probably to marry rich but there’s an old saying about that: “those who marry for money, work for it.”

I’m not talking about that kind of success. I’m talking about the success you earn — but doing it as easily and quickly as possible.

Start with the Easy Things

This is crucial.

No one likes to do hard things. My preferred state of existence in a pizza-induced coma or else asleep on the couch while the Office plays in the background. So when people start saying I need to take huge steps to make something of myself, well, it’s not going to work for me.

But then I learned a dirty little secret — you don’t have to take massive action: you can start with easy little baby-steps.

For example, want to get a new job? Writing a resume is hard. Googling how to write a resume is easy. Do that on day one. Then on days two and three read a couple of articles. Lookup resume templates on day four and resume examples on day five. By the second week, writing a resume will be easy: you’ll know what it is, what to include, templates to use, and examples to pull from.

Want to write more? Just get a notebook on your first day and pat yourself on the back. Then, write one sentence a day about anything. Just one. And see where those small steps take you.

Do you want to read more? Start with reading just one sentence a day. Do you never seem to be able to keep a workout habit going? Start with just five pushups or curls a day. Once you start something it’s hard to stop, starting is the hardest part. So make it the easiest.

Don't worry that reading one sentence a day won’t make you a well-read person overnight or that doing five pushups a day won’t make you fit. These little actions lead to you taking bigger actions in the future. Momentum breeds momentum.

As long as you take these small steps consistently, they will lead to bigger, better habits. Besides, doing something is always more than doing nothing. In fact, according to Atomic Habits by James Clear, getting just 1% better each day at something makes you 37X better at that thing by the end of a year.

Don’t be worried that one small step takes you nowhere. It’s not about where you are after your first step but where you are after a thousand; even though you see no change in the beginning, by the end, you’ll wonder at how far you’ve come.

Start easy.

Focus On One Thing

There’s an old Russian saying, “Those who chase two rabbits catch none.”

Having multiple interests is good. And having more than one skill is essential to success. But focus on one thing at a time.

You can’t do affiliate marketing and e-commerce and create an email list and write the next American novel and produce a low-fi ukulele album all at the same time. You have to focus on one thing first.

The good news is focusing on one thing is easier than trying to do a dozen projects all at once. It means you have time to rest and recharge. You don’t have to balance a thousand to-dos each day, you don’t have to feel like every second not working is wasted, you can have some work-life balance. And it’s the fastest way to success.

Pretty great coincidence, huh?

Chasing one rabbit at a time is the fastest way to catch a dozen. People don’t get successful in a day, it takes years of slow, steady growth.

Learn from Others

Experience is the best teacher, but others’ experience is the most efficient teacher.

There are people who have been where you are and who spent years getting where you want to be. You can shave years off your own journey by learning from other people’s stories.

Find a mentor. This is still hard for me. I guess my doubt always is why would anyone successful want to “slow down” and help me?

But here’s the thing about successful people: they want mentees. They want to leave a legacy, and they want meaning. Investing emotionally in others helps them achieve that meaning.

Plus, no one succeeds without a network. By the time someone is successful, investing in other people is as natural breathing because networks are made by giving not by taking.

So ask questions of those you want to imitate. It’s easier than learning the hard way, and you’ll make more progress.

Think One Step Ahead of Everyone Else

If you do whatever everyone else does then you’ll end up where everyone else is. Succeeding in anything means standing out from the pack.

The usual way to do this is consistency and perseverance. Most people, when they set a goal, flake and give up pretty quickly; thus you can win by just sticking to your goals longer. But that’s hard.

Here’s a way: do what no one else is doing.

For example, when I first started looking for copywriting gigs I didn’t just respond to people with job postings on Facebook groups (though I do that too). I got creative.

I saw a local guy posting ads for his own marketing agency. He was a photographer who made pages for local businesses. Instead of blowing by because it didn’t apply to me, I reached out to him and offered to do his copy, and he ended up being the first person to offer me a writing gig.

The gurus tell you to find Facebook groups and promote yourself, they don’t tell you to look for people advertising *themselves* but that’s exactly what I did. It’s how I learned to look one step ahead of everyone else.

Did you find some good advice from a guru? Great! Everyone has found it too, so how can you take it one step further than them? How can you make it your own and apply it in a way no one else is? If you can answer those questions then you can shortcut your way to success.

As they say, work smarter not harder.

Affirmations

This one is weird but it works and is easy!

I write out and recite affirmations for myself, things like “I, [insert name], will work for myself.” or “I, [insert name], get up early in the mornings.” It’s a way for me to stay focused on my goals and direct energy to them.

Affirmations also work because long term change means changing your beliefs about yourself. Affirmations help you do that.

Humans have a strong need to be consistent with their beliefs about themselves. If you believe that you are bad at math or bad at directions, that becomes a part of who you are and will never change. If you believe that you are a good person and recycle, then it will be hard for you not to recycle because it is a part of your identity.

You can’t achieve long term change without changing who you think you are, and that may take a while. You can start the process of changing what you believe about yourself with affirmations: tell yourself or write down every day the kind of person you want to be e.g. “I am a neat person who makes the bed.” “I will become a writer who publishes weekly.”

As you start to act consistently with your statements you will start to believe what you are saying more and more. And that will help you become the person you want to become.

Affirmations are a weird way to begin changing your beliefs. But it is easy and effective.

Conclusion

Here’s one last saying: “if you want something done, give it to a busy person.” True.

But I like my saying better: if you want something done efficiently, give it to a lazy person.

If you start to follow these pieces of advice, you’ll find you’ll stop being lazy. You’ll get interested in the world around you. You’ll meet passionate people who inspire you, and you’ll become a passionate and inspiring person to those around you.

There are other systems to learn when you get to a higher level. For example, you should automate whatever tasks are repetitions. Delegation is another skill needed to be successful.

But those are topics for the future. Why put more on your plate than you need to right now? This post is about making success easy…let's keep the list short and manageable and cross those other bridges when we get there.