Below are 5 of the easiest lazy traits to recognize.
Being a full-time mom and manager of a small alpaca farm I make a point of leaving one day a week as a ‘lazy day’. Now, to me, a lazy day means I don’t do anything beyond what has to be done, farm chores, mommy chores etc. I leave the dishes be, the floor doesn’t get vacuumed, the laundry doesn’t get done. For one day every thing that does not depend on me for it’s health and livelihood gets forgotten. It’s a great day to relax, chit chat with friends, take a leisure bath and even read that latest romance novel. So does that mean I take on lazy traits? Absolutely not.
1. Blame game.
The laziest trait of all, is never holding yourself responsible for your actions or the bad luck that happens to you. In life there are only a few true accidents, the rest of the bad luck this world suffers from can be honestly laid onto one or a group of people in any given situation. Most of the time if you would have done something differently, made the right choice instead of the wrong, did the ethical thing, asked for help, not lost your cool, or had showed up on time that thing that happened would not have. You show up to work 15 minutes late and the boss yells at you. Do you blame the traffic for being backed up, the wife for not having breakfast on the table, your dry cleaner for loosing your shirt? Or do you take responsibility and next time make a point of leaving early because you know traffic will be backed up, you get up a little earlier and help your wife make breakfast and you make sure to have a back up shirt for when the dry cleaner goofs.
Lazy people will always point the blame elsewhere. Non-lazy people will look at themselves first and ask “What could I have done differently?”
2. Addictions
Have you ever taken a look at all the ‘Support Groups’ out there, alcoholics anonymous is one that everyone is aware of, as well as Narcotics anonymous. But did you know there is a ‘Spenders’ anonymous and a ‘TV talk show watchers’ anonymous? Addictions’ are everywhere, you can be addicted to drinking, smoking, drugs, gambling, sex, chocolate, you can even be addicted to video games, the Internet, email. Some people are addicted to spending too much money, sitting on the sofa, hell even being lazy can be blamed on addiction. You know what all addictions have in common? “I’m addicted, I have no choice. I can’t help myself. I’m not in control.” Have you ever heard someone or even yourself accuse addiction for your behavior? This lazy trait is linked to the Blame Game lazy trait, it’s blaming something other then yourself for the problems you face. Addictions is just going one step beyond the blame game, you actually get to name it. Now don’t get me wrong there are some real dousers of addictions out there. Chemical addictions such as cigarettes, drugs, pain killers, alcohol, etc are a very serious matter and can be very difficult to stop.
Lazy people will refuse to get help and milk the ‘addiction’ for all it’s worth. Non-lazy people will seek out help when they can not curb the ‘addiction’ alone.
3. Unethical
Cheating, lying, stealing are three separate actions but still fall under unethical. Whether it’s coming up with next months rent by stealing, covering up something you did wrong with a lie or even cheating on your spouse because you ‘just weren’t getting your needs met at home’. All unethical practices, all ways to get out of making an effort, all pure laziness. Now days people are becoming more and more aware of body language, in order to tell if someone is hiding something, not telling the truth, etc. Body language is something that only the most skillful can fake, the majority of us would fail at.
Lazy people will cut corners and fore-go all effort with lies, stealing and cheating. Non-lazy people will make that extra effort to do what’s honest, be honest.
4. Spoiled
Have you ever taken a close look at the neighbors spoiled kid, or that kid in the grocery store who’s throwing a fit because they can’t get what they want? When you see someone throw a tantrum, get upset when things don’t go their way, the first word that usually comes to forethought is ‘Spoiled’. In general if a person isn’t spoiled they take responsibility for their actions, make an effort to get along with others as well as share their bounty. Being spoiled goes just as well for adults as for children. Next time you get upset when something doesn’t go your way, picture yourself as a 6 year old and wonder how you would appear to others. Are you behaving like a spoiled brat? Lazy people don’t like making an effort. It takes an effort to get along with others, it takes effort to hold yourself responsible, it takes effort to control your emotions. Effort is not a lazy trait; therefore lazy people fore-go effort for whatever makes them happy. This ties in with unethical but goes one step beyond.
Lazy people will not control their emotions, compromise, or share the wealth. Non-lazy people enjoy seeing everyone happy and make a point of getting along.
5. MIA
Missing in action. Unpunctual, procrastination, slow, tardy are all words to describe lazy people. I’m sure you’ve noticed that co-worker who is always late, maybe a client, friend or family member tends to show up after they say they will if they even show up at all. There will always be a valid excuse, traffic was backed up, my car broke down, I didn’t feel good, I forgot. Have you ever used one of those excuses? Yes. Everyone has used one or more of those excuses. Lazy people just tend to use those excuses even when they’re not true. Unethical, they lie. In a lot of cases lazy will not be bothered to call to inform of the waiting party that they’ll be late or will not be able to show up after all.
Lazy people will not plan ahead to make sure they’re on time and usually will not be bothered to call. Non-lazy people will at least call if they know they’ll be late.
Lazy can be easily misunderstood. Lazy does not mean unproductive or inactive. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if someone is lazy or just having some really bad luck. You might see someone spend countless hours in one position seemingly not doing anything, but don’t label them so quickly as lazy. Then you may see someone who looks active and productive, getting everything done asked of them. Who is the lazy one? Even the laziest person can come to terms with having to make a paycheck, or having to do chores. It’s the traits above that make a person genuinely lazy. Lazy is more then just what they appear on the outside. Lazy is largely the inner quality of a person. What makes that person tick.
Everyone is guilty of displaying one or more of the lazy traits at some point in life, we should however make every effort to curb those traits when we do see them.
Lazy people will be upset by this article. Non-lazy people will recognize any of the lazy traits they have and curb them quickly.
