Elon Musk often intrigues viewers with his unique X-posts. This time was no exception.
On Monday, September 8, the Tesla CEO re-shared a video about laziness, what causes it and how to overcome the feeling.
What
In the video, Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip and an author known for books on persuasion and success was seen explaining “How some people never feel lazy and how to copy them?”
Scott revealed, “What if laziness is a habit of thinking about the cost of things or the effort, instead of thinking about the payoff? What if you could reverse laziness by simply developing a habit of thinking more about, let's say, delicious food that you would like to enjoy, instead of how long it would take you to get up and go get it?”
The man also shared an example in the clip. He said, “If you were to test it at home and try to see if you can think more about the good outcome and less about the work, would you get it done? Why does a woman who goes through this awful childbirth have a second child? Don't they always say the same thing? ‘If I remember how bad this was, I wouldn't do it again'. "
“So, not thinking about the effort is vital to the actual survival of humanity. If we're focused on how hard it was to have a baby, you just wouldn't do it. But if you focus on how awesome it would be to have a family, well, there you go. You are going through the pain because you have already committed.”
His concluding words were, “Am I ambitious? Or do I simply have a thinking habit that produces dopamine because I'm thinking about the positive outcome? And is dopamine the thing that gets me up and moving?”
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 8, 2025
The post received several reactions.
“Laziness is a symptom of no vision, no hunger and no plan. If you ever felt lazy, it's because your soul forgot what it's fighting for. Pursue a goal. It can be anything. As long as it gets you out of bed and straight to work. Once you have a goal bigger than yourself, you'll do anything to achieve it,” commented a user.
“The intrinsic structure of dopamine charges neuroleptic static energy, thereby moving the spinal fluid to dictate influence regulating morphogenic structure. Our appendages cannot help but to obey,' agreed another.
“Sleep loss wrecks energy systems in the body, spiking cortisol and draining glucose from the brain's control centres. That drop makes effort feel heavier and laziness kick harder,” wrote an individual.
“So the trick isn't about 'motivation' at all. It's about hacking your dopamine cycle. Makes you wonder - how many of our habits are even our own?” wondered one person.
