If You’re Ambitious But Lazy, Please Watch This Video…
By Codie Sanchez
Summary
## Key takeaways - **Laziness is Environment, Not Personality**: Laziness isn't a personality trait. It's an environment problem—if you're surrounded by comfort excuses, you've caught the virus called average. [00:00], [00:07] - **Proximity Boosts Output 15%**: Studies show if you sit near a high performer, your output increases by 15%, but next to a toxic performer, it drops by 30%. Proximity equals performance. [00:29], [00:39] - **Outwork Past You, Role Models, Doubters**: You don't need to outwork the world—just the past you who quit, the person who has what you want by doing 10% more, and those counting on you to fail. [01:26], [02:09] - **Wealth Triangle: Mentor, Investor, Operator**: To get rich, build the wealth triangle: a mentor who's done it 10 times over, an investor who trades money for time, and an operator who executes ideas. [05:00], [05:53] - **Clean Spaces Increase Productivity 45%**: Princeton research shows a messy desk causes cortex overwhelm, making you 45% less productive—a clean desk leads to a clean brain and outputs. [07:16], [07:26] - **Rituals Lead to Discipline for Lazy People**: Rituals lead to discipline: lay gym clothes in the way to force action, light a candle before work, pair late nights with wine or Harry Potter. [09:03], [09:31]
Topics Covered
- Laziness is environment mismatch
- Proximity boosts performance 15%
- Outwork past you for riches
- Wealth needs mentor, investor, operator
- Clean spaces lift productivity 45%
Full Transcript
If you've ever called yourself lazy but still have big dreams, what if you're not lazy? You're misplaced. Laziness
not lazy? You're misplaced. Laziness
isn't a personality trait. It's an
environment problem. If you're
surrounded by comfort excuses, congratulations. You've caught the
congratulations. You've caught the virus. It's called average. Most people
virus. It's called average. Most people
think success is about discipline. But I
realized early on it starts with proximity. Like, I realized I wasn't
proximity. Like, I realized I wasn't broken. You're probably not broken.
broken. You're probably not broken.
You're just in the wrong room. This
video is about how I fixed that and how you can, too. I think fast. Let's talk
about how environment shapes your outcome. There are studies that show if
outcome. There are studies that show if you sit near a high performer, your output increases by 15%. In a study of 58,000 hours in 11 companies, proximity equals performance. But if you sat next
equals performance. But if you sat next to a toxic performer, your output dropped by 30%. Toxic workers don't just underperform, they infect. They infect
you and it spreads 30 ft wide. So if
success is contagious, we really got to be careful about catching laziness from other people, too. Because the strongest will lift you up, but the weakest are going to take you down. Where you live affects your income by 33%. There's this
study, you guys, that showed kids from the same economic background, made wildly different money by age 35, depending on who they grew up near, not parents, neighbors. It's called economic
parents, neighbors. It's called economic connectiveness. So, if you're in the
connectiveness. So, if you're in the right room, that changes everything. If
you live in the right area and have a few rich friends, that changes everything. And if you can steal
everything. And if you can steal somebody else's ambition by getting in a room with 700 other people that are ambitious, your life can change, too.
People is performance. You don't need to outwork your competition. You only need to outwork these three people to get rich. And the last one, it's not who you
rich. And the last one, it's not who you think I'm going to say. The first is the pass you. The one that stopped in the
pass you. The one that stopped in the face of something they didn't want to do. Going to the gym, waking up early,
do. Going to the gym, waking up early, working late. Past you was comfortable.
working late. Past you was comfortable.
She wants you safe, not successful. You
outwork her by doing the hard thing today that she kept putting off yesterday. And the second is the person
yesterday. And the second is the person who already has what you want. You know,
don't envy them. Study them. See how
they think, what they sacrifice, how they execute. Then quietly do 10% more.
they execute. Then quietly do 10% more.
One more call, one more rep, one more late night. And the third, the person
late night. And the third, the person who's counting on you to quit. The one
who said you'll never make it. You're
not built for this. It's too risky. You
don't argue with them. You just keep showing up until they can't ignore you.
You don't need to outwork the world.
Just those three people. Do that long enough and you won't just get rich.
You'll get free. Don't surround yourself with people you don't admire. So, the
friends that you surround yourself with, you want to make sure there's at least one thing that you admire so much you can barely stand it about them. They
don't have to have the whole package, but they got to have one. It might be they're hysterical. You wish you were
they're hysterical. You wish you were funny like that. They're super smart.
They're always teaching you things.
They've been massively successful, so you talk to them about it. What we found in all of our businesses is that A players want to work with A players. B
players want to work with C players.
Why? A players want to win. They want to be with other top performers. be
players, they don't want anybody who's better than them. So, think about the fact that if it is true that good is contagious, you better make sure that you are around people who are better than you. My new friend Mel Robbins told
than you. My new friend Mel Robbins told me something that I loved on the podcast. She was like, "Listen, if you
podcast. She was like, "Listen, if you check your phone first thing in the morning, I want you to picture that every single person you don't like on one side or another, every single person you don't like at work, every single
person who when you look at their updates online, you kind of feel icky because maybe they're doing better than you." When you wake up and you look at
you." When you wake up and you look at your phone, I want you to picture all of them surrounding your bed. They're
talking to you. They're yelling at you.
They're spewing stuff right in your face. That's what you're doing the
face. That's what you're doing the second that you wake up and you allow your phone into your brain the first thing in the morning. So, because I have a buddy who's a super high performer, Mel, she's like, "Don't do that. I only
want you to do one little tiny thing. I
want you to take that phone. I want you to put it in the bathroom every night.
That's it." And then the first 15 minutes of the day are yours, not theirs. Find friends who tell you hacks
theirs. Find friends who tell you hacks like that. Doesn't mean they have to be
like that. Doesn't mean they have to be incredible, amazing business people, but they're at least obsessed with this idea of getting better. Even better than an incredible friend is a top tier partner.
Like, this is mine. And one of the things I love about Chris, I do not love working out and I do not love stretching. my back hurts sometimes or
stretching. my back hurts sometimes or my hip hurts from sitting too much and working too hard and he will literally yell at me until I come out and stretch with him every night. He will push me out of the bed in the morning to make me
go work out with him. You don't need more friends. You need allies. You need
more friends. You need allies. You need
somebody who's pushing you to be better, not just doing what makes you comfortable. And speaking of systems, if
comfortable. And speaking of systems, if you've been looking for a way to launch a business without spending months building from scratch, let me put you onto a tool I've been exploring called Build Your Store. It's like the Shopify
co-founder you wish you had, but powered by AI. Here's how it works. You pick a
by AI. Here's how it works. You pick a niche. The AI builds your entire Shopify
niche. The AI builds your entire Shopify store. Products, branding, layout, all
store. Products, branding, layout, all done for you. Then you register your Shopify account right now. It's just $1 a month for the first 3 months. And as
part of the setup, Build Your Store also walks you through a quick AutoDS registration, which gives you access to 10 winning products in a 30-day trial for $1. End result, you got a fully
for $1. End result, you got a fully built, ready to sell store in minutes.
No coding or inventory. If you've been waiting for the right moment to start a side hustle and make money online, this is your moment. So, thanks to Build Your Store for sponsoring this video, head to the link in the description to launch your Shopify store with Build Your Store
AI today. If you want to get rich, and I
AI today. If you want to get rich, and I don't mean kind of, I mean very. It's
never a how, it's a who. And there are only three who's that matter. First, the
mentor. In rooms like this, this is your shortcut to wisdom. They've already done the thing you're trying to do 10 times over. You don't need to reinvent the
over. You don't need to reinvent the wheel. You just need to follow someone
wheel. You just need to follow someone who's already driving the car. Mine of
late is this guy, Bill Perkins, or this other guy, Joe Lndale. They've made lots of zeros and I ask them for their advice. Second is the investor. This
advice. Second is the investor. This
person understands leverage. They don't
trade time for money. They trade money for more time. They see risk differently. Where you see fear, they
differently. Where you see fear, they see an entry point. They end up being your first check or your first dollar and help you grow. Somebody like Jenny.
And the third is the operator. This is
the one who makes it real. They execute.
They don't talk about building. They
build. Without them, every idea dies in a Google doc somewhere. This person
helps build with you. They don't have to be an expert, just a doer. So you put those three together, mentor, investor, operator. That's your wealth triangle.
operator. That's your wealth triangle.
This is how you steal other people's ambition because not every empire needs to be built alone. The question is just how do you find them? You stay focused.
You narrow your group. You protect your plans because everyone in your circle is not actually in your corner. Let's be
honest, that line hits cuz it's true.
Most people don't want to see you fail.
They don't really want to see you win either, especially if your win reminds them they have been standing still. When
you're building something, energy matters. What did I do? I started
matters. What did I do? I started
treating my ideas like equity only shared with people who've proven they can invest. You don't need this big
can invest. You don't need this big group. You need a sharp one. People who
group. You need a sharp one. People who
push you, protect you, pour into you.
Because when you're playing for freedom, not followers, proximity doesn't equal loyalty. Alignment does. I think there's
loyalty. Alignment does. I think there's a little bit of life strategy to stealing people's ambitions. And one of the things that I love to do more than anything else is my husband and I play a game. We did it on the way over here.
game. We did it on the way over here.
And we'll ask each other, "What is the one thing we're so obsessed with lately?" Some hack or thing that we're
lately?" Some hack or thing that we're doing that we can't shut up about. So
for me, that might be like Whisper Flow.
I really don't like texting or keyboarding. So I talk into my little
keyboarding. So I talk into my little computer and it spits it out perfectly.
Amazing. And every single day, instead of him just saying, "How how was your day, honey?" And I say, "How was your
day, honey?" And I say, "How was your day, honey?" And we do that. We share
day, honey?" And we do that. We share
one little secret, one little hack, one little thing that we learn. So maybe try that and let me know how it goes. Now,
let's talk about the power of place. You
see this room here? So, we're in one of my rooms that I prep for before I get on stage. And there's a bunch of research
stage. And there's a bunch of research from Princeton that shows that if you live in a messy place, if you sit in a messy desk, you have what's called cortex overwhelm, which means that your brain is actually trying to process all
these things around you and it makes you 45% less productive. So, especially in the places that you need to win, keep them clean, keep them nice. My team kind of makes fun of me, but if you come into my office, I'm always like, "Can we get
rid of this?" And they're like, "Are you OCD?" And the answer is yes, I am. But
OCD?" And the answer is yes, I am. But
also, it's because a clean desk leads to a clean brain, which leads to clean outputs. So, don't overwhelm your
outputs. So, don't overwhelm your cortex. Let it breathe a little bit.
cortex. Let it breathe a little bit.
Think about having not very many things as a way to sort of meditate on your brain. This is a crazy statistic that I
brain. This is a crazy statistic that I don't know if it's true, but they say that having a clean desk will make you 94% more productive. That's why I love that line from Jordan Peterson where he says, "If you want to change the world, why don't you start with cleaning up
your room?" In life, it's really helpful
your room?" In life, it's really helpful if you want to outperform to think about what can you take one measure of control over. A lot of that could be as simple
over. A lot of that could be as simple as cleaning up. Why do they say that so many people who want control live in really clean, sterilized places? Because
it helps you assert your will on the world as opposed to having the will asserted upon you. Okay. So, I have a little rule. It's called the five-minute
little rule. It's called the five-minute rule, which means in the beginning of the day, the first thing I do when I get into the office, I survey my little desk area and I make sure nothing's messy in it. If it is, I clean it up. I rearrange
it. If it is, I clean it up. I rearrange
a little bit. the end of the day, what's the last thing I do? I write down what my to-do list is for tomorrow and I serve at the desk and I clean it up. It
actually is super annoying. I never want to do it at the end of the day. I'm one
of those cup hoarders that has like 452 cups everywhere. But it turns out that
cups everywhere. But it turns out that then when other people are around you, it ripples because you see, if I clean up tonight and I'm not lazy tonight, that means when I start the morning out,
when I have the most energy at the beginning of the day, I don't have to spend it on things that aren't very productive. If you're also a little lazy
productive. If you're also a little lazy like me, sometimes rituals lead to discipline. So, for instance, I do not
discipline. So, for instance, I do not like going to the gym. So, I learned something else from a friend, which is taking out your clothes and laying them not just on the bed, but lay them in the middle of your closet in the most
annoying way possible where you have to like walk over them every time you go do something. Why? Because you're
something. Why? Because you're
eventually either going to have to pick them up and admit defeat or you're going to have to get your ass to the gym. And
I think you should get your ass to the gym. That's at least what I tell myself.
gym. That's at least what I tell myself.
I also do lots of little routines. Like
for instance, every single day before I start working, I love to light a little candle. Sometimes a little palos santo.
candle. Sometimes a little palos santo.
Why? Cuz I kind of want to like relax into the thing that's miserable. Let's
say for instance that I know that I have to work super late on a Friday night.
How could I pair that with something kind of juicy, kind of delicious? A
glass of wine, a candle. If you're a fellow nerd like me, I love a Harry Potter movie while I'm doing a little work. That's my love language. And it
work. That's my love language. And it
means that I can kind of be lazy. Like
people aren't like, you know what she does a lot of? She watches Harry Potter and she drinks wine and that's why she is tippy-toppy. But if I pair that with
is tippy-toppy. But if I pair that with something that I know is going to help me in my day, those little rituals lead to discipline. You don't have to be a
to discipline. You don't have to be a superhero. You just have to steal other
superhero. You just have to steal other people's ambition by stealing their processes. You can steal mine. I don't
processes. You can steal mine. I don't
remember who said it, but somebody said, "You don't rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your
goals. You fall to the level of your systems." And that is true. Where in
your life can you build a way where it is super hard for you to fail? Why I
come to events like this? And hell, it's why I throw them. Because if I get in a room with 700 people who are building things simultaneously, the likelihood that I'm going to meet an investor, somebody who could get me a deal, somebody who might work for me, somebody
who I could work for is pretty damn high. I don't have to go out and recruit
high. I don't have to go out and recruit and search around the world when instead I can walk into one room and steal 700 people's homework. So today, in one
people's homework. So today, in one YouTube video, you should pat yourself on the back. I think you just stole 10 years of my ways to be lazy, but also ambitious. And if this was useful for
ambitious. And if this was useful for you, why don't you tell me which one you're going to try and try it and then follow
Loading video analysis...