You’re Not Lazy. You’re Stuck.
The Difference Changes Everything
I need to tell you something that might reframe your entire life.
You’re not lazy.
I know. You’ve called yourself that. Maybe this morning. Maybe while scrolling instead of doing the thing you know you should do. Maybe while lying in bed, watching the minutes tick, wondering why you can’t just get up and function like a normal person.
You’re not lazy. You’re not weak. You’re not undisciplined.
You’re stuck.
And there’s a difference—a biological, measurable, scientifically documented difference—between a character flaw and a nervous system state.
Here’s what’s actually happening.
Your nervous system has its own intelligence. Dr. Stephen Porges calls it neuroception—your body’s unconscious threat-detection system. It’s running right now. While you read this. It’s assessing your environment, your breathing, your muscle tension, the sounds around you. Making calculations you’ll never consciously access.
And here’s the problem that defines modern life: your nervous system can’t tell the difference between a hungry lion and a demanding boss. Between a life-threatening attack and an overflowing inbox. Between mortal danger and your average Tuesday.
It responds the same way to all of it. Fight. Flight. Freeze.
When your body thinks you’re in danger—real or not—it doesn’t ask questions. Cortisol floods. Adrenaline spikes. Your prefrontal cortex—the part of your brain responsible for planning, deciding, and seeing the big picture—goes fuzzy.
You’re not lazy. Your survival brain has hijacked the controls.
That “laziness” you beat yourself up about? It’s freeze response. Your nervous system decided the threat level was too high and shut down non-essential functions. Executive function. Motivation. Creativity. Joy.
Those aren’t character traits. They’re luxuries your body can’t afford when it thinks you’re about to die.
The productivity industry doesn’t want you to know this. They need you to believe it’s a willpower problem—because willpower problems have purchasable solutions. Apps. Planners. Courses. Coaching packages. An entire economy built on the assumption that you’re one strategy away from fixing yourself.
But you’re not broken. You’re dysregulated.
And the fix isn’t another productivity system. It’s not a new morning routine or a better app or a motivational podcast that gets you fired up for 48 hours before you crash again.
The fix starts in your body. Not your mind.
You can’t change your life from the neck up.
That’s the premise of the book I’m releasing March 15. It’s called The Shift, and it’s built on a simple idea: your body decides what’s possible before your mind gets involved. If your nervous system doesn’t feel safe, no amount of thinking, believing, or trying harder will produce lasting change.
I know this because I lived it. I spent 30 years working from the neck up—and then my body collapsed under the weight of everything I was ignoring.
The way back wasn’t willpower. It was regulation. Body first. Then mind. Then everything else.
More on that next week.
For now, just sit with this: what if the thing you’ve been calling laziness is actually your body trying to protect you?
What if you’re not failing at discipline—you’re succeeding at survival?
And what if the path forward isn’t pushing harder, but learning to signal safety to a nervous system that’s been on high alert for years?
That changes things.
It changed everything for me.
Want to help? Join the launch team.
