How To Overcome Laziness And Start Building Your Online Empire in 2024

If you feel like your last year of business was a total write-off as far as your self-motivation to build an online presence went, here are a few things to keep in mind before you write YOURSELF off as well!

Let's start there - you *think* you're lazy.

How to overcome laziness even if you think you could win a competition in laziness against a geriatric cat!

Most people aren't lazy.

Unless you're wildly neglecting the basic duties of your life, such as showing up to a job regularly enough to pay rent and feed yourself, you're probably overusing the word 'lazy'.

Most of us are overworked, tired, and unmotivated to achieve more than the basic demands of our work and self-care. We call ourselves lazy when we fail to push ourselves to go beyond the basic requirements of our daily lives.

We beat ourselves up and we're asking why, why, why is it so hard to get motivated or remember to take out the trash on time? Late again! The garbage truck roars by, passing your place but stopping at the 'normal people's houses' down the street (or so you say to yourself). Because only you, THE LAZY ONE, keep forgetting to put her bins on the curb! Argh!

But reign it back for a second. Hold up. Take stock.

Modern daily life is a demanding jerk.

Life, as we all know, is a motherload of to-do lists, stress, office gossip, traffic, credit card bills, impending climate change doom and gloom, and running out of milk before you've got your first coffee of the morning to just the right color ( I hate when that happens!).

The greater the demands of our day, the less energy we have to go above that basic bar each day.

We're seeing depression, anxiety, disease, and sickness rates exploding. The light-speed pace, the stress, the isolation, the eco-anxiety (You see? We even had to make new words for the weirdness our world is making us feel!) Personally, I believe depression is a sane reaction to an insane world.

We're dealing with a level of noise, interruption, and physical speed our grandmothers couldn't even imagine (excluding the war years, of course, but I'm talking about daily, average living, sorry grandma.)

You're stretched too thin.

Stretched by time constraints, expectations, distractions, imbalances in our food, in our environment, and by - most of all - you're own damn standards.

So you forgot the trash again. Put that into perspective now.

Give yourself a break. Show yourself some self-compassion. Get off your own back already. Sure as hell enough other people are on it already, right?

And 'Lazy' is not a word any of us can use to describe another person without knowing what it's like to be them. It's also not a word you should use to describe yourself. I FORBID IT.

You're not lazy.

'Lazy' is an overused word we use to camouflage the real reasons why we lack motivation.

If you're feeling unmotivated, it's more a matter of misalignment than a lack of willpower.

Willpower will fuel your tank to meet the basic daily demands of life, but it's values and priorities that get you motivated above and beyond. When we decide to lead our lives by what we value most, we get a free fuel injection every day, which is sheer passion.

So the first step to overcoming laziness is to figure out exactly what you value in life.

Is it FREEDOM you value (like me)? Or is it your health, your career, your family, money, or having fun? Those are general ones but you could get quite specific, like novel writing or saving the chimpanzees (like Jane Goodall).

When you know your priorities, you draw a line in the sand which makes everything fall to the right or left side.

Third glass of wine, dear? No, thanks, because money is my priority and that just seems like pissing it up the wall. [I value my money.]

Are you sure you don't want another glass of wine? Am I sure?! I'll have a third and another one after THAT, thanks, because I'm having fun! [FUN is what I value in life!]

Another glass of wine hon? No, thanks, two is all I can handle before I lose sleep and feel groggy the next day. [ I value my health and clear-headedness more than anything. ]

That's how values become the compasses of our lives. Without a compass, we get lost in life. And when we are lost, we burn up a lot of fuel.

So think about what your values are, and start leading your life according to them.

Once you know what you value, start ruthlessly prioritizing it.

Great news for 'lazy' people:

Getting motivated is not about doing more, it's about doing a whole lot less.

LESS of the things that are eating up your time and not giving you much back in return, like staying up late surfing social media or staying for a third glass of wine at the bar after work.

It's cutting out the crap and prioritizing the things that give you the extra fuel injections every day. The things that get you into a creative flow. That bends our concept of time.

Take out a piece of paper. Think about your last week. How much time did you do things that were not aligned with your values? And how much time did you spend doing things that you value and that you're passionate about? Fill in two columns, one for valued time and one for time that gave you nothing back.

Most of us spend a pittance on our passions and let things we never even planned on doing eat up our time. Like complaining, procrastinating, or living your life straddled between a choice your heart already made (break up with him already!).

What if you started each day with a passion instead of the daily grind? What if you got up earlier each day so that you could work on your novel, go for a run, or bake cupcakes? I bet you that rather than feeling more tired from losing that extra hour or two of sleep, you'd feel more energy at the end of the day.

If You Want To Build An Online Empire, First Become An Empress of 'NO'

To get started with the business, blog, Etsy shop, or influencer status you've been dreaming about in between the Netflix episodes, and regretful glances at the kitchen bin, you'll need to get clear about what you value, draw that line in the sand, ruthlessly prioritize your passions, and start saying "NO" a lot more often.

Here's the thing: you're going to have to turn down the volume of your life so that you can start focusing on building a strong online presence.

You're going to have to reduce the noise, distractions, and restrictions life throws at you if you want to build an online business this New Year.

Let me give you a sampler taste from my own list of 'NO's:

A big NO for me is NO phone in the bedroom. (This one is a massive time-saver!!)

It's a big NO Netflix, unless I am done with my priority work for the day.

I use a Chrome extension called Newsfeed Eradicator which says NO to my Facebook news feed. (It replaces it with a motivational poem).

I say NO to checking emails after 6 PM at night or before 10 AM in the morning.

NO to social events, especially summer festivals in 40-degree (108 Fahrenheit) heat anymore.

And I say NO to 'can I pick your brain' coffee invitations or requests to meet in person when it could be done on video.

The more you say 'no' to things, the more mental real estate you're clearing with which to build your empire. You need every second of time and mental space you save from being snatched by all these intrusions.

Write down a list of all the things you will NOT do in 2024!

Are you willing to take your time back by the balls?

If you are, then this year is going to be a good year for you. I hope it's the year you overcome your laziness, your fears, and all the things that have been stopping you from DOING THE THING.

If you want my help, subscribe to my self-transformation newsletter Self-Reliance Rituals. 👇

It's designed to give you mental strategies, clarity, and ideas that will help you confidently take the next step toward a self-reliant future with a renewed bounce! 

I'd love to help you outgrow ugly duckling imposter syndrome and learn to kickass with your marketing to fund your alternative lifestyle DREAMS. 🪄🦢