I

August 30th

WHEN YOU FEEL LAZY

“Anything that must yet be done, virtue can do with courage and

promptness. For anyone would call it a sign of foolishness for one

to undertake a task with a lazy and begrudging spirit, or to push

the body in one direction and the mind in another, to be torn apart

by wildly divergent impulses.”

—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 31.b–32

f you start something and right away feel yourself getting lazy and
irritated, first ask yourself: Why am I doing this? If it really is a necessity,
ask yourself: What’s behind my reluctance? Fear? Spite? Fatigue?
Don’t forge ahead hoping that someone will come along and relieve you
of this task you don’t want to do. Or that someone else will suddenly
explain why what you’re doing matters. Don’t be the person who says yes
with their mouth but no with their actions. Steve Jobs told BusinessWeek in
2005, only midway through Apple’s stunning rise to becoming one of the
world’s most valuable companies: “Quality is much better than quantity....
One home run is much better than two doubles.”