The cause is the same. They're busy, and they stay busy as a way of avoiding something they do not want to face. Nobody has to tell them. Deep down they know. In fact, if you remind them, they often respond with anger or irritation. If they aren't busy at work or with the kids, they're often busy watching TV, fishing, playing golf or shopping. Yet, deep down they know they are avoiding something im- portant. That's the most common form of laziness. Laziness by staying busy. So what is the cure for laziness? The answer is a little greed. For many of us, we were raised thinking of greed or de- sire as bad. "Greedy people are bad people," my mom use to say. Yet, we all have inside of us this yearning to have nice things, new things or exciting things. So to keep that emotion of desire under control, often parents found ways of suppressing that desire with guilt. "You only think about yourself. Don't you know you have brothers and sisters?" was one of my mom's favorites. Or "You want me to buy you what?" was a favorite of my dad. "Do you think we're made of money? Do you think money grows on trees? We're not rich people, you know." It wasn't so much the words but the angry guilt-trip that went with the words that got to me. Or the reverse guilt-trip was the "I'm sacrificing my life to buy this for you. I'm buying this for you because I never had this advantage when I was a kid." I have a neighbor who is stone broke, but can't park his car in his garage. The garage is filled with toys for his kids. Those spoiled brats get everything they ask for. "I don't want them to Overcoming Obstacles 205 cerned about what you wanted to buy, but that "How can I afford it?" created a stronger mind and a dynamic spirit. Thus, he rarely gave Mike or me anything. Instead he would ask, "How can you afford it?" and that included col- lege, which we paid for ourselves. It was not the goal but the process of attaining the goal we desired that he wanted us to learn. The problem I sense today is that there are millions of people who feel guilty about their greed. It's an old con- ditioning from their childhood. Their desire to have the finer things that life offers. Most have been conditioned subconsciously to say, "You can't have that," or "You'll never afford that." When I decided to exit the rat race, it was simply a question. "How can I afford to never work again?" And my mind began to kick out answers and solutions. The hard- est part was fighting my real parents' dogma of "We can't afford that." Or "Stop thinking only about yourself." Or "Why don't you think about others?" and other such words designed to instill guilt to suppress my greed. So how do you beat laziness? The answer is a little greed. It's that radio station WII-FM, which stands for "What's In It-For Me?" A person needs to sit down and ask, "What's in it for me if I'm healthy, sexy and good looking?" Or "What would my life be like if I never had to work again?" Or "What would I do if I had all the money I needed?" Without that little greed, the desire to have some- thing better, progress is not made.