In his book “The Accidental Creative”, Todd Henry is quoted as saying:
“the love of comfort is frequently the enemy of greatness.” I could not
agree more. Comfort enters our lives when we lose our hunger and usually because we have found success. Success, if not managed well, can allow us to get really lazy.  A major part of our inspiration to do amazing work is the drive and hunger to accomplish or achieve our goals. What are some signs we are getting lazy?

1. We start to believe we have arrived. Success makes us believe we
have done all we can do and have developed a form of accomplishment. When we get comfortable we stop hustling and take for granted the success we have been blessed with.

2. We stop believing there is more to be done. Unmanaged success removes the challenge. When we were hungry, we were challenged by our jobs and opportunities. The minute we stop having vision, we have embraced a posture of comfort.

3. We forget there is someone who is better than us. Every day, someone new is arriving with more talent than we have, who will work harder, and who has better ideas. Being lazy breeds arrogance.

4. We stop listening to the coach. There is always more we can learn, uncover, develop, and be taught. When we stop being teachable, we start regressing – both creatively and as a leader.

5. We forget there is someone who wants what we are taking for granted. When we are hungry, we are hunters. We are chasing opportunity and challenge. We look for things to accomplish. When we get lazy, we become the hunted. We position ourselves in a place where we stop chasing and start being chased.

6. We lose sight of the fact that we are responsible to steward our resources, leadership, and talents. When we stop stewarding, we start grazing. Leadership and creativity are a gift. We are responsible for them and when we stop doing what it takes to manage them, we start to lose the equity we have built.

7. We lose intensity. This one is scary. When we lose intensity, we
don’t have the ambition to make adjustments, fight, and enhance our
worlds. Intensity makes us get up excited in the morning to come face
the challenges because we have vision for what we get to accomplish. A loss
of intensity often can be traced back to a loss of clarity of vision or expectation. Intensity is something we get to control, so we have to make sure we are keeping it high.

8. Rather than creating, we remix stuff we have already created. Simple as that. We start mailing it in and get a little lazy. We trade the excitement of creating for the comfort of completing.

Greatness is special. Greatness makes people leave talking about the things
we create. We have the ability to create really great things if we are willing to do the work required to push for excellence in the last 10%. Everyone starts well, but greatness happens when we plan, execute, and finish with the same passion that we start.

Have you ever noticed yourself getting lazy?
If so, what do you do to break out of that posture?