The Disease Called Laziness

I learn something cool everyday in school. And one of them is the word "self-efficacy". The way you say it is "effikasy". And this maybe one of the most important psychological concepts I've learnt.

The textbook definition of self-efficacy is the extent to which you believe you have control of your destiny by mobilizing whatever resources you have to make something come true. In short, it means the extent to which you get off your lazy ass and get things done.

The opposite word of self-efficacy is laziness. And unfortunately, this word is more common than the one I introduced to you. People become lazy for various reasons. Sometimes its a combination of personality and situation. Some people are just born to be laid back. While others have encountered problems and mistakes in their lives that have led them to be discouraged. I have seen this too often. People who have screwed up before. But then have no discipline to pick themselves up from the ground and start again. Instead they become disillusioned and lazy. This leads them to do poorly in many areas of their life, and it starts a downward spiral. People low on self-efficacy don't make first moves, don't make the effort, don't aim for more and are happy with just skimming through and moving along quietly in life.

I was talking to Emilia about this. About this whole idea of self-efficacy. And we both agreed it has much to do with upbringing. I think both our parents have made sure we never take anything for granted. If we have opportunities to succeed in life, we were taught to take them. I think for many, they were never encouraged to try their best, to challenge themselves, to make the most out of their situations, and its sad to see that they are unable to get out of the cycle. It is definately true that some are born into more favourable situations than others, where some come from better backgrounds than others. But I think it is more important how you make use of what you have despite your situation that determines the true winner. We cannot change the situation we were born in, but we can definately try our best and work hard to do make a change for ourselves and our loved ones. I truly believe everyone is born to succeed to some extent. It is sad to say, some people don't make use of all the opportunities they have. All the more one should work harder if they feel they are not in an ideal situation. They rely on other people to guide, direct and persuade them to do good things for themselves. The danger is that sometimes, the most important decisions have to be made by ourselves when no one is around.

One of my closest friends is Soonkit. Despite having to work part-time in secondary school and JC, he managed to work hard enough to get into University and now he's studying engineering at NUS. My army friend Vincent has only secondary school education and a Shatec diploma but he's a chef at Chjimes today. These are just some of the people I know that have managed to excel despite of their backgrounds. And I am very proud of them. It's not propoganda, but Singapore is a highly meritocratic country, which means your opportunities are based on your performance and not your background. And my 2 friends here are testimony to this fact.

Self-efficacy isn't just about work. It affects other parts of our lives. Self-efficacy is about going out of your way to do something for people, believing you can make a difference in someone's life. It could be as small as keeping in touch with a friend, to trying to help someone out of a bad situation. Self-efficacy affects every part of our life. And so does laziness. I did a self-test during one of my psych classes, and I know I am high on self-efficacy. I used to think it meant being uptight. But I think I appreciate this quality more than I know. I see how me and my closest friends work hard to maximise our opportunities, and I feel more secure about the future. I know my bros Dz and St can understand me when I say we've got to do our best and seek new opportunities.

Laziness is a disease that strikes the weak. And unfortunately, only a person can help himself. I've tried to help friends to believe in themselves, but at the end of the day, in the long run, it really depends solely on the person himself. Despite fallbacks and screw-ups, a person must pick himself up and aim high. I believe that we can all make it too, no matter who we are or what our backgrounds are, if we begin to make a small change, one step at a time. And I wish we could all believe in ourselves.