It's funny how often, at least in my experience, the same idea will come up several times in a short period. This gives me the chance to look at it from different perspectives and maybe learn something new.

Recently I was reading some blogs and I ran across one I thought looked interesting. I'm an information hog, so I skimmed through the first page of his blog quickly and moved on to the next page or two. The guy had discussed several topics of interest and I was really starting to think about adding him as a friend, until I ran across a post that went something like this (maybe a bit exaggerated):

"I'm lazy. I don't like to work, to exert myself, etc. I'd love to just be able to lounge around and not do much. Maybe that's why I find the prospect of getting a job in academia appealing."

As my kids say, "BONK!" I learned a long time ago to stay away from lazy people. Who knows, maybe this guy is thinking he's being cool by writing something like that, that people will be impressed that he's laid back, doesn't take himself too seriously, etc., but for me it's a complete turn-off.

My wife is the same way. She was discussing some folks she'd worked with, recounting various shortcomings, some fairly serious, but all in a calm voice, until one guy's name came up and she blurts out "Oh, I can't stand him - he's lazy", as if that was the cardinal sin!

Just this afternoon this idea came up in a different way. I was talking with our oldest daughter who's back after six weeks in LA. She was remarking how the people she met were all very active. I told her that's one of the things I've been trying to convey to her and our other kids, that they should find stuff to do and not just sit around watching TV, playing endless computer games, or whatever.

There are active people here in Houston, too, but I think they're fairly invisible, so it's hard to impress on our kids growing up in the suburbs (a bizarre culture, in my mind...) how it's "normal" to be that way, and especially how MANY opportunities there are to do stuff by their teen years.

She also remarked how people are more encouraging and positive in California, which seems to be the case. I've always been fascinated by the Silicon Valley culture, for example, and how someone could blow $1 million on a failed startup, and people would still think they were great, or at least OK, for trying. I think that attitude's had a lot to do with why it's one of the wealthiest places in the world.

Folks most places, on the other hand, seem to get slightly puzzled whenever someone does something, as if the default state is "Don't do anything"! As I've told our kids many times, it's the ones who actually try that get criticized, because until you do something, there's usually not much to find fault with.

I can't help but wonder if misplaced/excessive criticism at an early age can engender laziness. Maybe kids grow up afraid to be less than perfect and end up criticized.

As an entrepreneur, I've become amazed over the years at how risk-averse most adults really are. They'd rather not do anything than try and risk looking bad.

I guess you could say the inability to truly appreciate upside opportunity (as opposed to just downside risk) is one of the leading indicators of laziness!

Tags: character, entrepreneurship, risk, work
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