Being Lazy Is a Form of Self Protection

Why don’t people work hard when it’s in their best interest to do so?

The answer can be found by observing Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson:

The (short) answer is that it’s really risky to work hard, because then if you fail you can no longer say that you failed because you didn’t work hard. It’s a form of self-protection.

That’s why Phil Mickelson has that almost absurdly calm demeanor.

If he loses, he can always say: “Well, I could have practiced more, and maybe next year I will and I’ll win then.”

When Tiger Woods loses, what does he tell himself?

He worked as hard as he possibly could.

He prepared like no one else in the game and he still lost.

That has to be devastating, and dealing with that kind of conclusion takes a very special and rare kind of resilience.

Most of the psychological research on this is focused on why some kids don’t study for tests – which is a much more serious version of the same problem.

If you get drunk the night before an exam instead of studying and you fail, then the problem is that you got drunk.

If you do study and you fail, the problem is that you’re stupid – and stupid, for a student, is a death sentence.

The point is that it is far more psychologically dangerous and difficult to prepare for a task than not to prepare.

People think that Tiger is tougher than Mickelson because he works harder.

Wrong.

Tiger is tougher than Mickelson and because of that, he works harder.

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Takeaway:

We all must suffer one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.

Consider the disciplines because disciplines weigh ounces; regrets weigh tons.

Working hard requires discipline, but the regret of not working hard can ultimately hurt more.

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Caveat:

Naturally, you might read this and say, “ArE YoU imPLYing MicKELsoN DoESnT woRK haRD?”

I fully acknowledge that this is not the perfect analogy and it is possible to share this concept without comparing Mickelson to Woods.

The goal of sharing this is not to “put down Mickelson” in any way, shape, or form. Mickelson’s achievements are incredibly admirable and he is one of the best golfers to ever live.

What I like about this take from @gladwell is that it highlights Tiger’s work ethic and demonstrates how:

1. Working hard is actually really risky.

2. Not working hard is a form of self-protection

3. It’s easy to “hedge and preserve optionality.” It’s hard to go all-in on something.

4. It’s far more psychologically dangerous and difficult to prepare for a task than not to prepare.

***

Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know below.

I hope you enjoyed this post and if you did:

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Arjun Mahadevan (Mr. LLC 🇺🇸)

⁦‪@ArjunMahadevan‬⁩

Why don’t people work hard when it’s in their best interest to do so?

The answer can be found by observing Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson:

The (short) answer is that it’s really risky to work hard, because then if you fail you can no longer say that you failed because you… pic.twitter.com/n8nymcekkP

8/8/23, 8:17 AM

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