Many people have a syndrome that I call passive-lazy syndrome, and they are not aware of it.

Let me tell you what it is about. At different times in life we have goals we want to achieve. Then we hit a roadblock, and sometimes the roadblock is only imaginary. Instead of facing the real problem, many people turn to peripheral things. These are things that make them look like they are doing something when they are actually doing nothing. They make excuses and complain about every other thing apart from the one thing they are supposed to be doing.

That is passive laziness. You are not lying on the couch. You are busy. But you are busy in the wrong direction.

The Freelancer Who Worries About Getting Paid

Being in the digital space, I've met a lot of people who want to go into freelancing. Maybe they want to make money on Fiverr or Upwork. They come to me and say, "I have issues setting up my payment system. How do I get paid?"

Maybe one of the platforms asked them for a valid ID, an international passport or a driving licence, and they don't have it. Now they hold on to that missing document as the reason they are not making money.

But they know that is not the real problem. The real problem is setting up the account, optimising it and getting clients. You haven't had a single client pay you yet, but you are bothered about how you will receive the money. And any time someone mentions freelancing, that is what you complain about.

That is not your real problem. Your real problem is that you don't want to do the hard work of setting up the account and creating a gig.

The Trader Who Blames the Location

Sometimes you see someone in business, maybe a trade, and they complain, "Nobody is buying from me. This business is not working." They shift the problem to the location. "The people here are not interested in what I sell."

Meanwhile, they get to the shop at 12 noon. When they get there, they gist around and are not sitting where they are supposed to be. But they have the appearance of activity. "I'm busy. I go there every day. Nobody is buying."

They shift the problem from their own lack of diligence to the people around them.

Somewhere in their heart they know there is something they are doing wrongly that needs to change. But admitting it would be too hard to face, so they shift the blame and keep up the appearance of being active. And when you look at them, of course they are doing something. There is motion. It is just motion in the wrong direction.

The Bible puts it plainly: "In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury" (Proverbs 14:23, KJV). Talk, complaints and busyness don't pay. Labour on the right thing does.

A Form of Activity Without the Power

Paul describes people "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof" (2 Timothy 3:5, KJV). I see the same pattern in passive laziness. There is a form. Something is going on. But it is not the real thing.

Picture it this way. Imagine the main thing you need to lift will take 100 units of energy. Around it are small things that need one or two units each. The passively lazy person moves all of those small things around in different directions. They frame all kinds of problems in the world. None of it contributes to the main goal, and the main thing never moves.

Why? Because facing the real thing requires more energy, and you don't want to put that energy in. The small things give you satisfaction. They indulge you and make you feel, "I'm doing something. I'm moving." So what do we say about you? You are lazy, but you have a form of activity.

The Job That Becomes the Excuse

Here is another example. You work a job and the income is not good enough. You know there is no way to scale beyond a certain amount there. Even if you work for years, your salary will stop at a ceiling.

What you should be thinking about is how to pivot. Maybe you move into a related career, add something to what you do, start a business or learn a new skill. You know that. But you won't take the decision. You tell yourself, "I'm busy. I work so hard at this job." And then you make the job itself the reason you can't do anything else.

You can write plans and document everything on paper, but when it is time to start acting, nothing happens. That is passive laziness.

The YouTuber Still Waiting for a Better Camera

This ties closely to procrastination. Some people want to start a YouTube channel. First they say they don't have a phone. Somehow they get a phone, and now the camera isn't good enough. Then it's something else, and something else.

The truth is that the problem is not what you have or don't have. The problem is that you are passively lazy about the real work: thinking up content, picking up the phone, shooting, editing and posting. That is the actual problem, and you have to face it.

Solomon saw this long ago: "He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap" (Ecclesiastes 11:4, KJV). If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never plant anything.

The Man Who Keeps Redrawing His House

Let me paint one more picture. A man wants to build a house. He spends all his time drawing the plan on the ground, marking where each room will go. He never carries a block or lays a foundation.

One night it rains and the plan is wiped away. "Oh, my plan is gone." He goes back and draws again. Then he says, "I think I missed where the kitchen was supposed to be. That first plan was the best. I have to get it back." He thinks and thinks, finally draws something good enough and says, "Later I'll call a bricklayer." The next day he comes back, and a dog has walked over the drawing. So he starts again.

Every day he is doing something. He has land and something he needs to build. But ask him, "How much will this house cost?" He has no idea. He has never consulted a civil engineer or even a bricklayer.

Why? Because he likes the idea of owning a house, but he would rather spend his money eating and enjoying himself. He is not ready to make the sacrifice of putting that money into the project. Ask him and he'll say, "Yes, I'm making plans." But he has done nothing about it.

Jesus asked this very question: "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?" (Luke 14:28, KJV). Counting the cost is part of the real work. Redrawing the plan forever is not.

Only You Can Diagnose It

Here is the important part. Nobody can diagnose passive laziness for you. Only you can. Other people will see you moving and assume you are working.

Somewhere in your mind you may already know, "This is not the direction I should be facing." When you recognise it, you have to make the decision to face the problem and deal with it squarely. That is when change begins. You will get far more results from facing the real issue than from all the tiny things that give you the illusion of progress.

A Practical Takeaway

Take a few honest minutes with God this week and try this:

1. Name the goal. Write down the one thing you've wanted to achieve for a while.
2. Name the real work. What is the 100-unit task, the thing that would actually move it? Be honest with yourself.
3. List your small things. What have you been doing instead? The complaints, the reasons, the endless planning.
4. Count the cost. Find out what the real thing requires in time, money or effort, like the builder in Luke 14.
5. Take one step on the real thing today. Create the gig. Open the shop on time. Shoot the first video. Call the bricklayer.

Passive laziness is a big hindrance to success, and many people are not aware of it. Now you are. Stop circling and start moving.

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God bless you,
Michael Adegoke