I wrote about getting more from less. The way I figure, this is not about being lazy. It is about utilizing the most precious commodity we have in this lifetime, our time, in the most effective way possible.

This applies to how we work, how we workout, how we relax, how we play and just about everything else we do. Everything we do takes time. It pays to spend more time on the things that are going to give you MORE REWARDS and less time on the things that are most likely to result in boredom, frustration or perhaps even PAIN.

This philosophy is a simple and intuitive one to grasp. Yet, it is so hard to implement. Why?

I think that most of us feel genuinely guilty if we don’t work hard. We actually go through self-sabotage if we don’t give it a full effort. If we don’t work hard, we don’t expect out-sized rewards either. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

When you consider a hard-working and very intelligent person or a lazy and equally intelligent person….which one do you think would be more successful in the long run? The lazy person of course!

It is the smart and lazy person that knows how to delegate, knows how to say NO to stupid projects, knows how to network, knows how to outsource, knows how to sell their results and skills in ways that get them noticed. In general, it is the smart yet lazy person that gets ahead.

What happens to the smart yet hard-working folks? They do OK, though they probably end up working twice as many hours…for a smart yet lazy boss!

The message here is that it pays to learn how to be lazy (and smart!). If you want to be in control of your life, find some of these people, and learn how they make such a big impact yet manage to get out of the office at a reasonable time. Model their best behaviors. Soon enough, maybe you’ll be one of them :)