Lazy Students

When I used to live with my mother. She had a little terrier named phoebe.

Phoebe was the cutest, a golden coat like a labrador yet so small you could almost fit her in your bag like Paris Hilton. She had a long nose like a beaver.

so she struggled to get her tongue past her nostrils to give kisses.

As a student early mornings weren’t a thing. There would be days where I didn’t leave the room. I thought I was a night owl. My mother had a word for it though- Lazy.

For whatever reason Phoebe slept by my bedside.

Phoebe was very considerate during the day. Being house trained she would bark to let people know she needed to do her business.

At night she didn’t want to wake anybody up, so instead she would leave her packages at my doorstep.

One morning trying not to disturb the peace I get up after one snooze button on the alarm.

As I take my steps, making my way from the doorway towards the toilet.

I feel a warm mush underneath one of my feet.

Followed by a squelching noise.

I check under my foot and there it is. A nice lump of pooh under my foot.

I could even see a piece of undigested corn in it.

With shame I regret I did not proceed to pick up the rest of the faeces instead after washing my foot I went back to bed and left the squished mush for my mother.

A Life lesson wrapped in Dog Poop

I am happy to report that she did pick up the pooh for quite a while.

But then her work hours changed

It came to me that I was the one who needed to take care of the mess.

Otherwise I was left with the aftermath- the smell, the chance of the dog eating the pooh and then getting sick. Leaving sick and dog poop on the floor which is never a good sign.

The next morning groggy from the night before, I roll out of bed

and Squish.

Phoebe left her poop a little closer to me as a gift.

So I went down the stairs grabbed the biggest gloves I could find in the house.

They looked so old they could have been worn by Mary Poppins.

Just to be extra safe I wrapped the gloves in tissue paper and went back up.

I was faced with all sorts of thoughts. “Just leave it, it’s fine” “Pick it up later”. “Do you know how many germs you’re touching/”

But overcoming the urge for once. Like a brave hero defusing a bomb. I reach down extending my arm like those machines in the carnivals you use to pick up teddy bears.

And I grabbed it, brought it to the toilet and flushed. All done in a matter of seconds……..

The Resistance

Have you ever set yourself a goal? Or tell yourself “I need to go to the gym” or “I need to stop eating crap on the weekends”.

But the time comes there’s always some reason to skip it. Maybe you feel too lazy to pick up dog pooh, maybe you’re too good. Maybe you are afraid of it.

Why do we delay and procrastinate, put off, postpone. The main reason being most of the worthwhile things in life provide little or no immediate gratification.

In fact it can be quite the opposite. Being productive and picking up poop is good for my house but at the time it is anything but enjoyable.

Impulse buying the day you get paid might feel amazing until the end of the month comes and you realise there is still too much month left in your money and you’re broke.

Training and exercise require literally turning up to hurt yourself in the short term in order to be healthy later on.

When we set out to work on something worthwhile we are faced with what Steven Pressfield.

“Any act that rejects immediate gratification in favor of long term growth, health or integrity”– gives rise to the resistance.

“The resistance cannot be seen or heard, but felt. An energy field radiating from a work-in-potential.”

I really didn’t want to pick up Pheobe’s dog pooh.

But I persevered.

I picked it up for the day,

And then another day.

What I began to realise. No matter the decision, whether picking up the dog poop, or more important deciding to go to the gym or not.

It’s all the same feeling.

As the days passed when I picked up Pheobe’s poop.

I noticed I started other tasks I would have never dreamed of doing.

I began to take out the bins, I started doing the dishes (With different gloves).

I started cooking healthier meals and gradually stopped skipping the gym.

You need to realise picking up dog poop, doing the dishes, writing a blog, going to the gym instead of watching Netflix. Choosing a healthy alternative to eat.

These are all part of the same thing. Part of the same skill of saying yes to the short term discomfort for future rewards.

When I picked up the dog pooh, I was training my brain.

I was training my brain to say yes to something I don’t particularly want to do.

And saying no the short term desire of leaving it for later, or worse leaving it to my poor mother.

Pick Up Your Pooh

Now I am not saying you need to get your own dog and start picking up its pooh to start losing weight.

But on a very small scale, Phoebe was teaching me self control.

This had a spillover effect because worthwhile ventures require us to overcome the resistance of laziness.

Think of your own diet or your own life. What do you find easy that you still find yourself delaying every day?

Do you find that you never make a lunch and instead always buy the unhealthy option?

Or maybe you never get up early to do the healthy food shop for the week?

Or maybe you tell yourself you will be productive on your day off and find yourself binge watching the television all day?

From today I want you to find your own Poop and
pick it up.

What I mean by that. Find something, one thing, that you know you will improve you as a person but gives you resistance.
As you go to do the task, feel the resistance try to stop you. Let it sit with you. And as you do- Pick up the poop. Do your task.

Overtime you’ll begin to train your willpower into other tasks.

The dog poop might not get you fit. But going to the gym even when you don’t feel very motivated?

That will.

If all else fails, you can become a professional dog pooper scooper I suppose.