Tata Karbelashvili on Overcoming Laziness, Setting Priorities and Experimenting

Co-founder at Flyfit Studio and planning specialist of production chain at Pepsico. Freelancer Master of Ceremony, encouraging couples with her speech on their Big Day. Loves hiking, traveling, overcoming challenges and new opportunities. Lives in Tbilisi with her favorite cat - Tessa, alternatively and more precisely, under the domination of her cat.

- What is your main driving force?

Since childhood I developed the habit of giving my absolute best to whatever I do. Even when I find myself with some free time on my hands, I try to spend it on something that truly interests me. Especially now, when I have opened my own Pole Sport Studio and found an activity which I enjoy immensely, it is my goal to do as much as I can for its future development.

When I don't feel like doing something because I feel lazy, tired or just moody, I tell myself - “Tata, you can do it now, and there is no real reason not to do it, just get up and get it done.”

- Overcoming laziness is not easy, what made you develop this habit?

Mum

I think it was my mum. While my dad used to openly praise me when I was a child, my mum was less likely to do so. Even though I knew how proud of me she was, she always made me feel that I could do better. So I used to tell myself - “Tata, show the result that will make your mother say - Well done! You did your best!” As a child, I felt much lazier to do certain things, but over time, overcoming laziness became a habit and now I can't behave any differently, I require maximum effort from myself.

Friends and TED

My friends also ask me how I manage to overcome my own lazy self. So I often have this kind of motivational talks with them - “what is the reason behind not doing something? Feeling lazy? Moody? You do have a goal you want to achieve and even if you don't do this now, you will have to do it later anyways. Do you think your laziness will disappear later?” When I am in the same mood and I feel like procrastinating, I recall my motivational talks and immediately tell myself - “What's your excuse for not doing it when you constantly call on your friends to get things done?” Sometimes I call my friends and ask them to recite my own motivational talks back to me. There is one speech on TED Talks about procrastination which I love returning to when I'm feeling particularly lazy. It actually works, I tell myself after listening to it - “Ok Tata, now get up and just do what you have to do.”

Failed to or didn't?

When I was a second-grade university student, I failed to (or didn't?) prepare my homework for the subject “Performance and Speech,” because I had lots of other staff to do. Approaching the lecturer, I excused myself with the phrase - "I failed to do my homework, because I did not have enough time". I don't exactly remember how the answer was formulated but this part just stuck with me - “Tata, there is no such word as “failed to” but there is a word “didn't”, If you had really wanted to do it, you could have slept less, put other things aside until later, got your homework done on your way here, right? This means, you just did not have enough desire to do it.” After this conversation, when there's some task to do, I always ask myself - am I not able to do it, or simply do not want to do it? For example, if I have injured my right hand, and I'm unable to exercise with my injured hand, this does not mean that I have the excuse not to exercise at all. I still can do other types of exercises and develop in other way.

- Does this mean that you have set your priorities? Do you know what you truly want and you put your efforts in it? You can't have enough time and resources to cover everything, can you?

Yes, I did have to filter some of the activities and rearrange my list of priorities. Currently, I have suspended my Turkish language classes, which I love so much and have been studying for four years already. However, I try to maintain my connection with it in certain ways including watching Turkish movies, listening to Turkish music or Reading books in Turkish language. Of course, it requires more effort than, for example, watching movies in English, here I have to concentrate to catch certain phrases. I watched the animated movie “Claus” in Turkish six times last year and now it feels weird to me when I hear it in English.

- Do you feel stressed or rather satisfied by setting such challenges to yourself?

I feel satisfaction. I know what I want, I know what I like to do and taking these small, but challenging steps getting me closer to my goals, make me feel fulfilled. However, I do not allow myself to stay in this self satisfactory state for a long period of time, I like to focus on the next step and continue to develop.

I feel the same when I go hiking. This is the challenge I set for myself. This year, during our trip to Kakhisi Lake, the locals told us (girls), that as there was no proper route, we would never make it without knowing which path to take. On our way to the lake, it became dark, we found ourselves in the middle of mud and berry bushes, with heavy backpacks, but thinking of difficult situations we've successfully overcome before kept us going and yes, we made it to the lake. After conquering such obstacles, I get the feeling of true pride and joy and I tell myself - "see, you really did it". In general, I think anyone can do anything, all you need is enough desire.

- You constantly work on yourself, your every step is well-organized, do you know where you are going?

Step by Step

Now that I have opened my own studio, I know that I want to direct all my efforts to develop it with small, but consistent steps. As for long-term plans, in my experience setting such goals can often be disappointing. In some cases things didn't work out as planned because of the external factors (because you don't control everything) or on the way to the goal my own priorities have changed. Eventually, I realized that some things depend on me and some things don't, so I try not to set great hopes on something vague and distant.

I also learned that when certain things don't work out, new opportunities, that you have not considered before, unleash in the process. So, if something does not seem to go as I planned, I feel sad for a brief moment, then I look ahead and say - “okay, this one did not work out, what other options do I have? what else can I do?”.

Focusing on Present

Earlier in my life I would often compare myself to those who I regarded more successful. I used to think - “Tata, why didn't you choose the same path? Why didn't you pursue the same dream?” later, it came to me that I should not regret anything, because if I regret and keep my focus on it, then I keep digging in the past. I learned to overcome regretful feelings and let go of annoying thoughts - “if it had happened this way, it would have been much better!” How do I know that it would have been better? Now I try to focus on the present and all the positive things that are happening in my life at that moment and never regret.

- Can you say that you live in the present and enjoy your daily life?

I try to enjoy my daily life and have a glimpse of the nearest future. Trying to find positive sides in everything that I do helps me a lot. Any situation, even negative can be regarded in positive context as well.

Positive in the Negative

Before the pandemic I quit my job, I was too exhausted both physically and mentally and felt that it was the right time to quit. I had some savings and I told myself -"Rest for a month or two, then find another job." Shortly after the pandemic started, all my job interviews were canceled and I found myself stuck at home. At first I panicked, then I thought - “Tata, you actually have free time, what can you use it for?” Then it came to me, I always wanted to have quality exercise videos in Georgian language available on YouTube. Also, I was interested in making and editing videos, so I decided to create a YouTube channel. Eventually, it was a great experience, my future students got to know me through these videos and my channel served as an additional motivation for opening my own studio.

New Opportunities

Roughly four years ago I accidentally heard about pole sport classes held in Tbilisi from an acquaintance. In a month or so I finally held the trainers’ phone number. I was curious and I thought - "Let’s give it a try". I tried and I liked it so much that I knew I would continue to develop in this direction. 4 years later I opened my own studio.

I started studying Turkish language and hosting wedding ceremonies totally unplanned as well. In the first case my friend's praise of her Turkish language teacher motivated me and in the second case I had an unexpected offer from a friend working in the wedding business and I thought -"why not?"

It turns out I get into many activities without planning, I just take the opportunities offered by the universe. If I like something after my initial attempts I continue, if I dislike it, I simply stop. Enjoying the process of doing is important for me.

- Do you listen to yourself and do you think you know yourself well? Do you clearly know why you do things or why you don't?

I like analyzing my actions. If I do something, I know why I do it. If I don't do something, that also has a certain reason and is not spontaneous. This helps me keep my mind clear and stay true to myself.

Listening to my inner voice is crucial, it helps me stay motivated. First of all, I know what I want and I know what I need to do to be satisfied with myself (at least for a while). So, I keep moving and taking new steps in the desired direction of development.

Mini Lessons from Tata

1. You have neither reason nor time for laziness

2. Both laziness and overcoming it are just habits

3. Determine what you want the most, what you want less and what you don't want at all

4. Do something for what you want the most on daily basis

5. If you're stuck in laziness, listen to this

6. Keep no regrets for past events

7. No matter what happens, try to concentrate on the positive side, what opportunities do you have now?

8. Accept unplanned possibilities offered by the universe

9. Talk to yourself (and others, just for balance)

10. Go hiking, but make sure to check the route in advance