How to Light the Inner Fire

What special secret can a lazy soul use to motivate him/herself?

Here is how I do it.

Needless to say, my way is based on avoiding work. Needless to say, my way emphasizes fun, joy, and ease. And needless to say, my way “plays” like a charm.

The key for me is to start with a goal or vision for a project that inspires me from many different perspectives, each perspective addressing one or more of my passions.

I come up with my goals in a most lazy and relaxed manner. In fact, relaxation is THE essential ingredient for this process to be successful. No sweat, no effort, no strain, no pain, no pressure, no aggravation, no commute, no bosses, no deadlines, no distractions, no work; just relaxing with a quiet desire to have a new goal. Then I play with my imagination throughout the day, every day.

Major overhauls of an idea can be done effortlessly from a hammock. A million starts and restarts can be done on a leisurely walk without generating a bead of perspiration. Adjusting, tweaking and refining the goal can be done without any elbow grease. An idea can be examined from many different angles without flexing any muscle fiber. No money or effort or manpower ever need be committed in this entire process.

I simply enjoy the dreams and I don’t get impatient and try to force anything.

The closer I get to creating a pretty good idea of what I want to accomplish, the more my juices flow. When those juices reach a critical mass, the next step is automatic. I then can’t wait to get started putting the pieces together.

The formula is simple: When the goal is inspiring, the activity that is required to fulfill the goal becomes irresistible.

Now comes the coolest part.

In every case, I have found that both the vision of my goal and the activity needed to realize it naturally attract people who have sophisticated skills. These folks just want to join the fun. When you add creative, talented people to the mix, the project becomes even more fun and alluring, which attracts more talent which makes it more fun which attracts more people and so on. The whole thing becomes a delicious cycle.

And before you know it, my “job” reverts back to where I started – relaxing. And dreaming of ways to make it even bigger and better. 

Only this time I do a lot of cheerleading too. 

www.lazyway.net

Comments

[mayo]

Fred,
How do you get people together if you don't have any money or any connections like you had i TM circles.
The problem i have if i want to activate some project, the people around me just say that it's too hard, that i will not be able to do it, and most of all they have no will to help me around this ...
Fred you say YOU are lazy, what would i have to say about myself??
I don't like to work, and when i work on something i am excited about i get bored one week after....

How do i get pass this??

Cheers

[DML]

Of course the problem with your approach Fred is that people have no "free" time. Or at least they think they don't. Your approach requires people to be in a relaxed state, which means no thinking about shopping/taking Johny to soccer/dental appointments/fixing car/paying credit card bills/getting friend wedding gift/writing report for boss/etc. THESE are the kinds of things that people see as "accomplishments" because that's all they think about.

People days are so scheduled and they're convinced they need to be doing something EVERY moment, that "free thinking" time is seen as a waste.

Pity.

[Girlpaint]

Today's my birthday. Before my next one, I intend on getting my husband's screenplay sold. Where do I start? Not quite sure, but now that my goal has been envisioned, I expect the people with sophisticated skills will naturally be attracted, right? Happy Birthday to me...

[Julie Plenty]

Great post Fred. What Mayo said is quite true in that people think that they don't have free time.

A whole bunch of nonsense of course.

We can create time if we wish, but the notion of spending time alone, where ideas and solutions can come to the surface whilst relaxing and doing nothing, is anathema to some people, so they don't create it. It's not that it isn't a priority, it doesn't even appear on the agenda.

They think that they'll disappear if they are alone, so use any number of distractions (even if physically alone) to avoid hearing themselves and visualising what they truly want.

My suspicion is that if they do, they might realise that these distractions are hiding some uncomfortable truths about their jobs, marriages etc.

I've just finished reading a great book titled: "The Call of Solitude" by Ester Buchholz. She says that solitude or alonetime, as she calls it is necessary for self regulation, no matter how many attachments we might have.

She also makes the interesting point that some distractions (ie being on the Internet for hours on end), act as a kind of alonetime, for those who cannot negotiate it within their lives explicitly.

We need both alonetime and attachment, some of us in fairly equal measure, others less so. Failure to do so leads us to becoming even more like rats on the treadmill.

I personally get irritable and crabby when I don't get enough alonetime, because it is in those moments of "free thinking" that I get the best ideas, solutions. I am also invigorated and refreshed to face the world again and am more likely to extend myself to those around me, BECAUSE I am replenished. This isn't selfish, but selfless.

Not all of the relaxation required needs to be done alone. But I think that some of the resistance to just relaxing has something to do with the fact that wanting alonetime (unless you're an artist or scholar etc) is quite stigmatized.

Therefore the great gifts inherent in what you described, go unnoticed and unused.

[Michael Hotz]

Dear Fred,

I'd like to acknowledge you with applause. Great article.

Thank you.
Michael

[Kasey Kite]

>In every case, I have found that both the
>vision of my goal and the activity needed to
>realize it naturally attract people who have
>sophisticated skills. These folks just want
>to join the fun.

This is so absurd I don't even believe you.

[Fred Gratzon]

It happened each step of the way with my ice cream business. It happened throughout my telecom business. It happened with my first book. And I am convinced it will happen with my second. It even happened on a couple of failed ventures.

But you are free not to believe me; I don't care.

[Rachel]

That's OK Fred. I beleive you. Why? Because everything you said happened every step of the way with my business. Truth needs no believing.

[T Young]

Great article. It is so true that we live over scheduled lives but it's the moments that you spend alone (thinking time) where the great breakthroughs occur. You are a great inspiration for working smarter in life.

[Del]

Successful Small Business Owners create systems that are delegated to others. To free ourselves from our business we must develop systems and then delegate. An entrepreneur is an "idea person" not a doer, and an entrepreneur can live the lazy life while having others do the work. Unfortunately most small business owners work themselves to death, your lazy approach is refreshing!!

[DaftAida]

The ultimate motivation for me at the moment is to draw in funding to purchase a system called 'Grow Rich While You Sleep' Now, that would be perfect, no?

[Mayo]

DaftAida, DON'T BUY ANY SYSTEM!!!!

First read the book, read other related books, then read more books, if you can rent them at your library, and latter put them in you OWN PRIVATE LIBARARY.

Beware of systems, there are some legit but most of them are pure and simple frauds...

Cheers

[John Hill]

Great post, it's always so much easier to get motivated to start a new project if you are passionate about the goal at hand.

[Vicki Ponce]

daydreaming with intention/purpose & goals in technicolor with total sound, texture & emtional crescendo has resulted in proven great manifestations in my life! Do it , see the outcome desired and enjoy the results!

fred I am with you! I simply need more consistency for greater a nd better daydreaming for better outcomes more frequently
M Vicki P

[joe]

This all sounds so good.but all i ever did in my life was hard work.Of late I relize that i cannot keep up working 16 hours the rest of my life and still not be able to pay the bills. I trying to learn the internet business for about 2 years, and after much effort,lots of studying,i have compleely falied.So how do you become successful the lazy way?How do you turn your passion into a online business? How can stop working hard and become successful the lazy way?

[Cha]

Fred,
Wow! I love this arcticle. This explains why in 1 year I now have 26 books with titles that have to be written. I wrote 4 in 2 weeks but when back into that I have to work hard mode and I couldn't come up with jack. Now I know that to get them all written I will relax and dream about all the characters and plots and let they fall into place and bingo, it is done!! I am so excited. I do so appreciate your website and your awesome insights.

[Truthseeker1234]

Hey joe,

I think the main flaw with your hard work approach is the fact that you don't like what you are doing. In order to break out of the cycle you must drop everything and really figure out what makes you excited. I theorize that you'd get much better results if you just did whatever makes you happy (sleeping in, watching 30 sportsgames in a row, playing video games all night, getting wasted at parties or getting high, etc...) and try to monetize it. It may sound ridiculous but there are these things called bars, mobile video game party trucks, drug trade, etc which make a ton of cash from the above. To all the people who complain about "I had a great idea but nobody joined in..." let's face it - your idea was NOT fun enough. Who would resist a job that was fun all day with great people? Your idea may have been a start but it wasn't the final answer. Follow the chain - follow the trail - the clues for a bit longer. I've had TONS of ideas which sounded fun on the surface but I've quickly abandoned because they had no "staying power". As Steve Pavlina in his blog says these are just hints, just fragments or clues to the REAL thing you should be doing. Go for the truth and stop for nothing less.

OK maybe the example above with drug trading may not make any sense but my point is you can only break the cycle of hard work by focusing on what you want and ABANDONING WHAT YOU DON'T WANT. You don't like working 16 hours a day?!? STOP TELLING YOURSELF YOU HAVE OBLIGATIONS TO! LET GO FOR A SECOND! I used to work 2 jobs thinking more money would make me happy - it doesn't correlate. Happiness is appreciation for what you have - for what is - anyway.... Lots of things in life are like chinese finger traps - the more hard work you expend the tighter the trap gets. You have to relax to leave the chinese finger trap.

Swimming and singing are two activities which utilize the notion of efficiency instead of hard work to get ahead. Getting buff and flaaping hard in the water will only make you sink instead of swim. Trying to work out your diaphragm and transfer huge volumes of air from your abdomen to your throat will only damage your voice. Once again in these cases hard work is not the answer - it is efficiency - it is the 3rd way paradigm charissa conti speaks about in her blogs. It is not a choice between a and b only - it is choice c (which is both a AND b) - it is breaking the trap by leaving the system itself.

To summarize in your case stop working and just enjoy yourself. Even though you may go bankrupt and etc... at least you would have a chance at an insight to break the cycle. A small time away might generate enough of a spark to start a business you'd enjoy. Continuing to work will only guarantee your enslavement to the system forever.

Wishing you the very best.

[Jack's Customized Fat Loss Review]

when something is pushing you to do things that you must do, go grab the chance and do it. it may be the best time to do it.

- Jack Leak