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In my FREE e-book, the L.A.Z.Y. Mindset, I break down a four step module towards success, as a procrastin8r. The book was designed to give a sort of roadmap towards creating an easy, laid-back life.
Each letter in L.A.Z.Y. is a main principle of becoming a PRO, and not just a “crastinator”. The book is short and only about a dozen pages. Let’s be honest, it’s more of a little pamphlet, a pamphlet packed with awesome wisdom. It’s an easy, short read. I wanted it to be. I didn’t want this long-winded, heavily-worded anthology. I wanted it to be short, sweet, simple, and to the point. I mean the ultimate lazy man’s guide should be that way. Anyway, I want to provide further insight on what the book does not cover. While in the book, I go as far as to tell you each module and why it’s important, I don’t really define the modules in the way they deserve to be. The definitions are clear, but not as fleshed out as they could or should be. I want to take a closer look at these modules to help you attain the L.A.Z.Y. Mindset yourself. So starting today, and in the next coming weeks, I’ll be taking a deep dive on each of the four modules of the L.A.Z.Y. mindset, so that you can have a better understanding of what it's all about. And who knows? Maybe one day it’ll all be published in one epic compendium...eventually. I recommend starting out by grabbing your copy (or reviewing it if you already have it) before starting to read this article. It would certainly give you more clear insight but of course, that’s not necessary and completely up to you. The first step of the L.A.Z.Y Mindset is Leisure. Leisure is spending time doing whatever relaxes you and makes you feel at ease. While sleeping in or just lounging around on the couch can be considered leisure, naturally, leisure itself is not necessarily the practice of idleness. Rather, it is the practice of attaining rejuvenation. How you attain that is quite a personal experience. You do something that refreshes your mind, body, and spirit. You take a break from “the grind” and unwind a bit, doing whatever it is that allows you to do just that. Even though certain activities like lying on a hammock are what one would often associate with the word “leisure”, at its core, leisure is not so set in stone on what activities are or aren’t part of it. Leisure has a bit more of a flexible definition. In fact, a physical intense activity, though may seem quite the opposite of leisure, given that you are actively moving about and breaking a sweat, can actually be considered Leisure. One may find going on a jog to be quite therapeutic and calming, for example, or perhaps they enjoy pumping iron at the gym to blow off steam. Whatever the case may be, Leisure is NOT determined by the amount of actual activeness involved (or lack thereof) involved. You and I might consider a jog to be some form of cruel punishment, and that’s okay. That’s not our leisure. But to someone else, it might be. See, Leisure is a personal preference. One man’s Leisure is another man’s Work. You can do something that relaxes you, but someone else thinks is actually quite a hassle -- and vice versa. Playing video games is one of my Leisures. But someone might complain that it requires “too much concentration” or it “makes my thumbs hurt”. If you find no complaints about what you’re doing, or otherwise consider those complaints to be negligible, chances are, you’re enjoying yourself in leisure. Just because someone thoroughly enjoys something like golfing, and you don’t seem to “get it” at all, doesn’t make that thing not leisure. You choose your own Leisure based on your own tastes, in the same way, you decide what you consider to be a “delicious” food. As a matter of fact, it’s not really something you logically or rationally “choose”, just something you so happen to prefer. You may hate mint chocolate flavored anything, and no matter how much someone tries to convince you how “good” it tastes, you just think it tastes nasty. Similarly, there’s nothing anyone can say or do that can convince you that a certain activity is Leisure if you just don’t feel that way. You can’t convince them that a certain activity is Leisure (to them) either. Leisure is just something you find to “tastes good”, like your own appetite for specific foods and flavors and there’s really no clear cut definition on what that may or may not include. There are people that like french fries and mayonnaise, which I think is absolutely gross, but hey, if it’s something they think tastes good, then by all means, have at it. In the same vein, I think fishing is boring as hell, but if someone loves it, good on them. They can enjoy their Leisure in that activity.. They have their own tastes. I have mine. You have yours. As long as the activity doesn’t harm anything or anyone, there’s pretty much no limit to what your Leisure can be. Leisure is the lack of negative thoughts You don’t feel bogged down by it, burdened, or otherwise obligated to do it. It’s just something you do...naturally. You don’t become stressed by thoughts of it. It’s your “go-to place” to calm down and relieve stress, not spark more of it. That said, you can enjoy an activity without it being a Leisure. Sometimes what you really enjoy about a particular activity are the benefits of said activity and not the activity itself. For example, the person who likes running may not actually like running itself, for what it is. Instead what they like are the benefits of living healthy that comes from running on a consistent basis. They actually secretly detest running. It’s tiresome, time-consuming, and overall just a burden to do. BUT it does bring a bunch of health benefits like a stronger cardio. One question you need to ask yourself, when trying to find what exactly your Leisure is, is this: Would I be doing this if I didn’t get anything out of it? If the answer is NO, then you’re not in Leisure. You’re doing something you enjoy, but you’re not doing something in Leisure. See the difference? Leisure has NO benefits, other than being the activity it is. Leisure is focused on the present, being in the moment, not the benefits that participating in a certain activity can bring in the future. Professional athletes will often describe as they play their sport of choice that they are “in the zone”. They are completely focused entirely on what’s happening in the moment, not about the argument last night with their girlfriend, not about the stock market, not about their breakfast they ate this morning. They’re not even thinking of what winning the game would bring for them, at least the good ones and the ones that are truly in Leisure. They are present, completely. They are focused on playing the game itself, not attaining the victory. Victory is a result of playing the game. Playing the game is not a result of victory. In Leisure, you are fully “in the zone”, just like an athlete. You’re not thinking of anything outside of it or even what doing it could possibly bring later. You’re just...doing it. Oftentimes the phrase “just do it” is associated with this shut up, try hard, no holds barred attitude, like don’t ask any questions, just push for your goal and...do it! But here on Lazy island, “just do it” means to just do the thing and engulf yourself in the present moment of doing said thing. It’s not a matter of striving hard towards something. It’s a matter of easing back, and truly doing the thing you enjoy, without regards to getting anything out of it (other than pure enjoyment in its fundamental form) Leisure is not competitive, nor goal-oriented. In order to truly “live in the present”, in Leisure, you can’t be worried or concerned about things that may come about. While I mentioned playing video games is a Leisure for me (or at least it can be) There are certain games I can’t play for Leisure. Not to say I don’t enjoy them.I do. But certain games I play are no longer “for fun”. It becomes rather competitive, instead of just appreciating the game for what it is and well, having fun. Like I’ll be playing a game, Dead by Deadlight, for example to win and rank up. I’ll play a game like RuneScape to grind out levels. I’ll play Dark Souls to try and win achievements. The list goes on and on. While there may be something you enjoy, just because you enjoy it does not mean you are in Leisure while doing it. If there is an ulterior motive behind doing something, you’re working hard, not embracing Leisure. Someone who enjoys fishing may be trying to catch the biggest fish. That’s not true Leisure. You must fish just to fish, not to gain anything else from it. Apply the same principle to whatever activity it is you want. It is essential to have some form of Leisure in your life. Leisure rejuvenates you. It gives you energy. Without Leisure, life becomes a series of one obligation after the other. It leads to burning out and feeling quite unfulfilled. You’re constantly trying to do the “next big thing” in every aspect of your life -- your career, your family, your friends, and even your hobbies -- and this leads you to feeling rather dull and that you just aren’t good enough. You must take a step back once in a while and be able to think to yourself: “I am enough. This is enough” Whether it's playing pool, painting, or just vibing to some music, you must take the time to just enjoy yourself, enjoy what you’re doing, without any sort of goal in mind other than the simple enjoyment. We live in a society that pushes for excellence -- that you must be the best in everything you do, no matter what. It’s a highly competitive world, and we’re led to believe that if you aren’t excelling at what you’re doing, then you need to get better. You need to try harder, work harder, do it harder. We’re never told to just appreciate the activity for what it is. We’re told that it isn’t “worth the time” if you’re not completely dominating in something, no matter how trivial it may seem. You must always be better, faster, stronger. As a society, we have this fascination with achievement. We’re led to believe that if you aren’t achieving very much, then you are not worthy as a person. It’s like you need to have some sort of big impact or noteworthy skill or talent to be worthy and loveable. Look, your level of worthiness as a human being has nothing to do with your level of achievement at all. We are all equally worthy. Stop trying to achieve. Stop trying to make it big. Stop trying to be the best of the best. All of that is the real “waste of time”. We’re given some sort of standard to live up to and try to attain. Look, the standard is this: enjoy life. Enjoyment doesn’t stem from success. Quite the opposite in fact. Success stems from enjoyment. Look at successful people, celebrities, athletes, etc. They all have one thing in common: they enjoy what they’re doing. They are living a life of Leisure. That’s not to say you need to strive for that level of fame or success. That’s to say if you find happiness, if you find your Leisure, then everything else that may come (money, fame, etc) is simply a byproduct, rather than the initial goal. It’s great if you reach a high level of success and it’s great if you don’t. Life is about taking a journey, not arriving at a specific destination. Have fun. Actually have fun. Don’t worry about performing the best or always coming out on top. Don’t worry about meeting some sort of standard or protocol. “Just do it.” and enjoy it, without regards to anything else. If you like what you're doing, you'll naturally get better at it anyway. In general, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Life is not a competition and there’s no need to make it one. Like a good meal, savor the flavor and just enjoy yourself in Leisure as you take the cake one bite at a time. Make your life deliciously satisfying by liking the taste of what you’re eating (metaphorically speaking of course), in the present moment, not a search for the best recipe. After all, once you find the best, you’ll still be searching for even better. Leisure is ultimately a feeling of “just enough”. Just enough to feel satisfied. Just enough to feel good. Just enough to feel...worthy. You are worthy. Embrace yourself in Leisure and you’ll find it to be true.
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Last week, we talked about how starting your own business is one of the laziest things you can do. After all, nothing says lazy like getting other people to do work for you. And of course, you get to be your own boss, which is a pretty cool perk if I do say so myself. But one of the most awesome benefits about having your own business is that you get paid for doing something you...well, actually enjoy. That’s an absolutely beautiful thing! Cause face it --- schlepping 40 hours a week for 40 years of your life at a job you hate for a boss you resent is torture.  In essence, you just do your thing and make a living out of it, rather than doing someone else’s thing and barely putting food on the table. So how do you find that “thing” you want to make a business out of and furthermore, live a lazy lifestyle? If you listen to the sage old sappy advice, you’re told to “find your true passion”. Passion. What a word. It’s as if you need to have this deep hunger and craving to do a specific thing. Ya know, like you need this “fiery” passion to get started. Fiery, as if you must transform into this infernal hellbeast aggressively chasing after its one target, it’s one prey. It’s like you need to be so seriously obsessed with something to the point where that’s the only thing you care about and that matters to you. Your one and only. Well, fellow procrastin8rs. Get ready to simmer down, because here’s a truth bomb:  Passion is bullshit. I mean, certainly, if you’re passionate about something, that’s all well and good. I mean, it’ll no doubt make building a business (related to your passion) that much easier. But look, not many people are passionate about anything or ever will be, especially us lazy folks. Chances are, you won’t find something you really love that much, to the point where it’s literally all you think about. It’s actually a rare occurrence for someone to hold such an ardent deep appreciation for one specific thing, and to suggest that you must “find” that for yourself, is well, pretty much bullshit. It’s like searching for the Holy Grail, the needle in the haystack, the shiny Pokemon. You get the gist. It’s nearly impossible to find any sort of passion for yourself. I mean just the sheer level of commitment you need to have, the sheer amount of emotional attachment you need to give, in order to feel “passionate” about something is insane. It’s an incredible amount of desire. Saying to someone “oh just find your passion” is like suggesting “oh just find your true love.” It’s a nice little fantasy, and sure it happens on occasion, but realistically, you ain’t gon’ find it, and you’re going to wear yourself out trying to.  More likely than not, you never felt passionate about anything and quite frankly never will, but that’s okay. You don’t have to be passionate about anything in order to reach success. You just have to…like something See, you don’t have to be rigorously devoted to one specific subject, hobby, or niche. You just have to like it. You just have to appreciate it a little bit. That’s enough to get the ball rolling, that’s enough to build success. It’s much easier -- a hell of a lot easier -- to find something you simply like than it is to find some sort of “divine calling” or whatever. Relax, there’s no need to enthusiastically pursue a dream. Besides, the best way to see your dreams is to sleep.  Look at one thing you enjoy and find a way to monetize it. If you like video games, start streaming or make review videos. If you like movies, write about your film analysis in a blog. I mean you talk about the things you like anyway. All blogging or vlogging really is, is doing that and getting paid for it. Heck, if you like coffee, open a hipster coffee shop, like Colby Williams, owner of Parengo Coffee and author of Small Town Big Money did as he talked about in lvl 40 of the ProcrastiN8r Podcast. He specifically notes that he wasn’t “passionate” about coffee by any means. He just matter-of-factly likes it. He enjoys his cuppa Joe. And now he’s making big bucks. He simply asked the question “What kind of coffee shop would *I* like to go to?” and then made it a reality. He wasn’t necessarily concerned with what other people liked or wanted. He just wanted a coffee shop that suits his own personal tastes and preferences. Now his little coffee shop has become a tourist attraction, where coffee-loving hipsters go out of their way to travel to. It may sound sort of selfish to build a business that matches your own tastes. But hey, just remember other people have similar tastes as you. I mean unless you have really odd out-there sort of tastes, chances are, there’s a crowd of people that like what you like. And that’s really the key to building a successful business, the lazy way -- sharing what you like with other people who like the same thing.  Again, you don’t have to be the most passionate about it. You don’t have to be the most knowledgeable or even have the most expertise in it. You just have to know enough to be able to answer the question: What would I like enough to spend my money on? And that’s it. Whatever product, service, or content you create, you should be able to tell yourself “I’d totally pay for this myself” and mean it. If you *like* what you’re selling enough to be willing to shell out the dough for it yourself, then other people will too. Having passion is one thing. But all you really need is the basic level of appreciation, liking it in the first place. There’s this whole ridiculous idea that you have to find your “mission” in life. Man, that about sounds like I’m gonna dress up in a suit and equip myself with an arsenal of high-tech gadgets a la James Bond style. But you don’t need to be some sort of action-hero to find purpose or meaning. You can just be a dude (who likes something and abides by it). You can still have purpose, but you don’t need to make it a mission (or passion for that matter).  A mission is something that might be legitimately important to the world. A purpose is something important to you* See the difference? On one hand, you’re striving for massive impact.On the other, you’re just looking to relax and be at peace. Enjoy life. A mission is concentrated effort that *must* be done. It’s some sort of vocation or vital assignment with the tone of “do this or else”. It’s compulsory to complete. A purpose, on the contrary, is just a matter of “this gives me fulfillment because I like doing it.” It’s not obligated or required. It’s just something that means something special to you. It gives you a reason to wake up out of bed (typically around noon), not because you feel you *should* but because you feel you want to. You like to. You don’t have to go all out and make this huge impact, save the planet or whatever in some sort of passionate “mission impossible”. You only need to do...just enough. You need to be able to tell yourself: I like this. I like what I’m doing. And again, don’t need to go overboard and be passionate about what you’re doing...just enjoy it *enough* to feel satisfied. Don’t feel bad for not being able to find your passion. Very few people do. And to be fair, passion is probably a borderline mental disorder of addiction if you break it down for what it is. It’s like you need it and can’t live without it, without your passion. You’re constantly thinking of ways you can get your “fix” and will do anything to get it. That’s quite a stressful lifestyle, and not one a true procrastin8r wants to be a part of.  You instead want to aim for a more “recreational use” in what you’re doing. You can appreciate it for what it is, but at the end of the day, it’s not something you absolutely feel compelled to do. You want it and don’t need it. You want leisure over passion, something that relaxes you and makes you feel at ease, not something that’s gonna fire you up and make you feel an undying urge to get more, do more, and be more. Sometimes less is more. In creating your own business, don’t focus on making some sort of big “Passion Project”. That’s a lot of rigorous work and commitment -- something I assume as a lazy ass you want to avoid. Instead develop your interest into a profitable venue. There’s *something* that interests you.I guarantee it. I’m too slothful to make a big list of suggestions, but you know what you like, damnit! I shouldn’t have to tell you what it is you like. All I’m saying is take that interest and monetize it. When you’re making money from doing a thing you like, you’re no longer “working for a living” and instead are just “living”. What you do can become so integrated in your life that you’re no longer searching for the right career or right passion. You’re just doing what you do, and the finances are a byproduct of living your life.  What you choose to embrace as a business or monetization doesn't have to define you, in the way any sort of passion does. It’s part of you, but not who you are at the core.
I’d go as far as to argue that perhaps passion, to some extent, is a bit unhealthy. The nature of it being obsession. I mean the difference between obsession and passion is like the difference between shit and poop. But seriously, the amount of fascination you need to be “passionate” about something is really quite neurotic to bone, no doubt about it. Boiling over something because you “feel passionate about it” is really quite absurd. It creates for you a “hustle” to get done, rather than a hobby you enjoy that just so happens to pay the bills as a bonus. Whether it’s craft beer or parkour, fire poi or sewing, whatever the hell it is you like doing, go ahead and make it your business, aka, your passive income source, from it. Forget passion. Be lazy and do whatever you like. Your life doesn’t need to be an absolute upbeat thrill full of passion. It just needs to be simple. Take it easy, N8 Creating a business. Sounds like a try-hard thing to do. Seems like a lot of work. Quite ambitious.
I mean, certainly going about building a profitable company from the ground up can be an arduous task, if you put it that way. The idea of being an “enterprising entrepreneur” has its own stigma of being a go-getter. But starting a business is actually one of the laziest things you can do. Entrepreneurs are not hardworking folks at all, rather some of the most slothful personalities on the face of the planet. They are ProcrastiN8rs at heart. They are people that said “I hate working”, not those who said “I LOVE work so much that I want to do MORE of it”, contrary to popular belief. No doubt starting your own business is a lazy man’s dream. I mean think about it... For one, you get to be your own boss. You get to make your own decisions, and you don’t have to follow orders as a labor slave. For another, you get to do something you actually enjoy. It’s not just a means to pay the bills. You don’t schlep 9 to 5 doing something you hate just to put a roof over your head and food on the table. You like doing it, and the financial incentive becomes simply a bonus, rather than a necessity to live. You’d do it for free anyway. And finally, you can be a total bum and lounge around all day. Nowadays, with the nice little invention of the Interwebs, you don’t need to sit at a cubicle desk or wear a three piece suit or uniform. You can lay on the couch in your PJs, running your own business from home. Now of course, we’re lead to believe that “starting a business” is a big thing, like it’s “mission impossible.” It’s as if this whole business thing is reserved for the most diligent, the most passionate. Even the word “business” sounds intimidating. Like it’s some hardcore enterprise you must inaugurate using a plethora of feats and talents. That’s a bunch of bullshit. And I think deep down you know that. If you’re trapped in the 9-5 grind, your boss right now is probably one of the laziest motherfuckers you know, but guess what? You’re the one working for him. The typical big boss man is not that talented; he just so happens to be the one in charge. The thing is, they don’t have to be so talented or even hard working at all. They just have to know enough and do enough to keep the business running. A business can basically become more of a rather passive source of income, as opposed to a “hard-earned living”. Business owners, entrepreneurs, are people that chose laziness over working hard. They chose to use other people’s talents and work ethic to grow an income, instead of their own.That’s what you have to remember. That’s what you have to keep in mind. If you can be lazy, you can start a business. It’s as simple as that. Laziness, I’d go as far as to say, is the key component to creating successful entrepreneurship. You have to want to NOT work so bad that you feel the compulsion to either delegate or eliminate the tedious tasks you don’t want to deal with. You shouldn’t be the one mopping the floors (heck you don’t even need a physical office since you can do everything from a laptop) or replying to all the e-mails from clients/customers. Get other people to do it. You only need to assure that things are running smoothly, no more, noless. It’s like watering plants, not that hard to do, and it’ll grow on it’s own without very much of your time or labor. Your goal is not to perform the whole circus, but just set up the tent. Let the acrobats and clowns perform the show. Your jobs is...well, actually you don’t have a job. See, there’s a difference between creating your own business and “creating your own job.” Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of replacing their 9 to 5 job with…*another job* that they just so happen to be in charge over. These are the businesses that fail. These are the business that suck and wipe out in less than two years (the average lifespan of a business). That’s because the entrepreneur himself becomes burned out and loses focus (mostly because they’re trying to do too much and wearing themselves thin) But the ones that make it, the ones that are successful, aren’t the ones grinding out work ‘til the ass crack of dawn. No. They’re the ones sleeping in ‘til noon and barely putting in more than a handful of hours each week. Creating your own job means you give yourself an endless series of tasks. You tell yourself “I have to do this” or “I have to do that”. Sure, you become your own boss, but you become a rather bastard of a boss *to yourself*. You end up sacrificing your own sanity for the sake of the business...and that’s no bueno. Creating your own business means outsourcing that work to some form of either automation or delegation. You get machines and software to do most of the heavy labor for you. Then you get *other people* to do the work that requires human input. The work you do yourself is very little, and at that, hardly counts as work because well, it’s something you’d appreciate doing anyway. There’s no point in leaving your job, just to enter another job that requires far more work, and in all fairness, probably far less pay. You instead want to have no job. You want to create a situation where you’re earning money without the hard work, amirite? I mean that’s why you’re here reading this blog, right? You’re sick of working. So don’t replace work with more work. Don’t create for yourself another job and slap your own business title on it. The important question to ask is not “How do I run this business?” It’s “How do I make this passive income?” You don’t want to be actively doing as much as possible in your own business. That’s a job. Literally. You want to sit back as things get done as you make bank. Now, that’s true (lazy) entrepreneurship. Use your Lazy Leadership and get other people to do the work for you. Guide them, encourage them, make them feel valuable and worthy. Take care of your employees and your employees will take care of you (by providing you with a passive income in your business). You just have to have the courage to say what it is you want, what it is that needs to get done, and *trust* that it will get done. You set the direction and tell others which way it is then lean back and procrastinate. You don’t demand -- that’s exhausting. And you don’t micromanage -- that’s a lot of work. And you most certainly don’t insist on doing it yourself so it can “be done the right way.” -- that’s , again, putting yourself in a job you created for yourself. Part of running a successful business is letting go and going with the flow, trusting others to go in the direction you point them in. You have to accept that not everything is within your control. Trying to control everything yourself is what leads to a business failure. And speaking of failure, when it comes to business, and anything in life, you’re gonna fuck up. You’re going to make mistakes. Things won’t always go as planned. People may disappoint you in their performance. But mistakes are meh. They don’t matter. They’re part of the learning process. The growing pains. You can’t reach the heights of success without a few falls here and there. You’re gonna fail and fail hard. You don’t have to like it, just accept it. Failing does not make you a failure. You’ll get better, slow n’ steady. No business is a million dollar success overnight (or there are at least very few that are). Focus on *improvement* and you’ll get there...eventually. You might have even come to realize that if you do run your own business, you can be a lazy fuck and get away with it. But you, like many, are held back by the fear of failure. It’s not so much the disdain for the work itself involved in creating a business. After all, you know it’s not much work at all, especially when you like what you’re doing. But the fear of fucking up and putting your time, money, and life at risk is too much to handle. You might put in all this planning, hiring, and goal-setting just to watch it fall flat on its face and end up broke. But what’s the alternative? Working a dead end job for 40+ years, living borderline broke that entire time, with the small *possibility* that you *might* be able to retire? Risk is relative. Every choice you make risks losing out on something else. In this case, it’s basically a choice between freedom and stability. You can either live a life of lazy leisure, doing what you want, but risk having it taken away in an instant. Or live a life of a hard work grind, with a stable job, but risk never really doing what you want and feeling unfulfilled on your death bed, like you were just another work grunt, another cog in the wheel your whole life. That’s for you to decide. Me personally, I’m one to take the lazy path, always. It’s not so much a question of whether or not you’re willing to do what it takes to start your own business because it doesn’t take much. It’s whether or not you’re willing to give up the safety of a cozy desk job in exchange for freedom. I personally think it’s more cozy on the couch though. access to run a business. Brick and mortars stores are a thing of the past. There are actually people called “digital nomads” that live a life of leisure, travelling the world, that pay for their excursions by running a business on a laptop. These are real procrastinators. You don’t even need an actual product. Content can be your product. You can talk about, write about, video about whatever it is you’re interested in. Look at all the streamers like Ninja and Pewtie Pie making millions a year just doing what they love - playing video games. I mean not everybody is going to necessarily reach that level of success of course, but you could get “just enough” subscribers to not have to worry about paying bills. Aim to live a simple, easy, life by making whatever it is you do “profitable enough” to support yourself. A brand nowadays doesn’t need to be a big company with a large executive board. It can just be you. Literally. You are your own brand. But seriously, we live in the digital age and literally the only thing you need is a laptop and Internet You are profitable. You just gotta know how to...sell yourself. You don’t have to go out and get a job or put together a whole multi-branch corporate structure in your own business. You just have to sell who you are to the type of people you want to talk to. While it is possible to actually go about organizing departments and workflow, it’s not completely necessary for a brand any more. I mean we have this idea that a brand is a big thing. Like it’s full of different departments and personale. But at its core, a brand is just a personality. And you, yourself are a personality, no? You *can* of course go about that route of putting together multiple departments into one solid work flow, if you want to, but again ,you don’t have to in order to “start a business”. Putting together some type of “corporate structure” does allow the business to be more passive. That’s the type of business where you just lean back and let things take care of themselves. The other type of business is where you just post what you do.This allows you to worry less about the intricacies of how things are going with everyone else, but does require you to actually participate and do more (since ya know, YOU are the brand). But when you’re creating content or heck, maybe even freelancing, you’re simply profitizing the hobby you’d “waste time” with anyway. In other words, even though as a content creator or freelancer business, you have to literally “take matters into your own hands” so to speak, since ti really is just a hobby of yours, something you want to do, it really feels just as passive as one more structured, with multiple employees. Heck ,during this global pandemic even businesses that are otherwise brick and mortar are running things virtually. This entire coronavirus thing has proves that running a business is completely possible online. No expensive real estate investment necessary. Ideally, you do what you want and pay yourself for it. Choose how much you think an hour of your time is worth. Then decide the tasks you’ll be personally responsible for. If you’re say, worth a hundred dollars an hour, there’s no sense paying someone that much to answer e-mails. So in other words, don’t do the work that you wouldn’t pay someone to do at the salary you set for yourself, instead find someone else to do it. When you’re your own boss, be the boss you like. You want to escape the Belligerent Boss that’s always micromanaging you and screaming at you to overwork while being underpaid. So, when you become your own boss, don’t be that guy. Don’t criticize yourself excessively and put yourself under the pressure of a huge workload. You don’t like when *someone else* does it to you, so don’t do it to yourself. If you are your own boss, don’t become a boss you hate. Starting a business, while appears to be quite an ambitious project is simply a matter of saying “No” to work. It’s saying “Fuck a steady pay check. I’m doing what I want to earn a living” and going for it. And remember, you can be lazy and ambitious at the same time. You can attain goals, slow n’ steady. Don’t be intimidated by how much work starting a business is. The truth is, it’s not a lot at all. And certainly don’t succumb to the fear of failure. After all man, mistakes are meh. If you want to escape the 9 to 5 grind, do the lazy thing and start your own business. Take it easy, N8 Leadership. It’s a positive thing
It’s an attribute that looks good on any resume and is sought after hardcore in the corporate world. People want to hire a good leader. But even if you’re a lazy ass like me and aren’t going to be applying for a new job any time soon, leadership has its benefits. I mean to put it bluntly and in a thumbnail version. What is leadership? The ability to get people to do shit for you. I don’t know about you, but I like getting other people to do shit for me, so I don’t have to do it in the first place. It’s that simple. Naturally, I want to be a strong leader, if anything, so I have less things I actually have to do myself. Besides, if you think about it, I mean really, think about it. The most successful people in the world are the greatest leaders, and in turn, the most lazy people on the face of this earth. Seriously, you don’t reach high levels of success working hard all by yourself. Doesn’t matter how talented you are, how diligent you are, or how knowledgeable. If you try to do things as a “lone wolf” so to speak, your success (and that of your business) is completely limited to your own capabilities. You only have so much time, so much expertise. By adding people to your “team”, by leading others, you are literally multiplying the capabilities and success you can have. You expand the knowledge, productivity, and talents beyond just yourself. Put it this way, a group of ten average Joes are probably waaay more efficient at running a business than one single Ace genius entrepreneur. It’s better (and not to mention more efficient) to practice leadership skills over productivity skills. Getting other people to do shit for you is key to minimizing effort and maximizing results. Now there are two ways to go about doing that, two ways to go about influencing others. One is a rather brash and unruly. The other is a more cool, calm and laid back approach. I’ll let you guess which one we’re going for. Both styes of “influence” achieve the same goal of getting other people to do shit for you, but one is a hell of a lot easier and also makes you a hell of a lot more well liked. See ,there’s a difference between being a Belligerent Boss being a Lazy Leader. We’ll dive into the nitty gritty details, but to give the TLDR version: A Lazy Leader gets people to Follow his/her direction, while a Hardworking Manager Forces them to go a certain way. It all comes down to commanding versus inspiring. Go with the flow A Lazy Leader has Vision. A Belligerent Boss, on the other hand, has Plans. Plans are rigid, everything must be followed to a tee. There’s no deviating from the plan. But plans can fail. Plans can collapse. Things may not always go “according to the plan”. But vision? Vision never fails. While there may be failure along the way to achieve said vision, mistakes are meh and the Vision doesn’t go away. With Vision, you are flexible. You can go with the flow and adapt to changes. You can handle setbacks with poise and grace. Whereas with plans, you’re not really able to accommodate any sort of unexpected turn of events. You induce panic and stress when the plan fails because you were counting on things happening a certain way. What happens when they don’t go exactly how you had planned? Well, now you’re fucked. Building a solid Vision though will keep you moving forward slow n’ steady, no matter how heavy shit hits the fan. Unlike having a plan, no solid set of instructions on how to get from point A to point B. This allows you to be creative and resourceful in achieving your goal. You become no longer limited by any sort of “protocol” and can instead “use your discretion” to accomplish what needs to be done. There’s only so much Preparation you can do. At some point, you have to realize that not everything (or everyone) is completely under your control. Let it go and be able to go with the flow. Plans take a lot of prep-work and rarely go precisely as written. That’s just the reality. So cut the planning and instead give people a Vision. That’s not to say you shouldn’t have some sort of “direction” to go to get started, but to lay out every single detail is a waste of energy and a waste of time. Take the Lazy path and simply heed to your Vision. When you do this, nothing is a hassle.When you go with the flow and maintain your Vision, you can put your worries aside because the details take care of themselves. Be flexible. Adaptability is a stronger skill than preparedness. In saying all that, don’t try to micro-manage. This is literally the process of doing someone’s job, without actually physically doing it. It results in a larger workload and a larger stress burden on your part, and also just annoys the hell out of the other person, making them think “God, can’t he trust I do anythingright? Accept that people won’t always do it “your way”. You can correct them, but don’t keep nagging or berating them about it until they do it. Show you appreciate what they’ve done, then go ahead and offer a suggestion to help them improve. A Belligerent Boss expects things to be done a certain way, to be done according to plan. Period. No ifs, and, or buts about it.. This honestly decreases the level of productivity, because now the boss and employees alike, are giving a fuck about details that don’t need to be given a fuck about. Provide Vision for people and they’ll find a way to bring it to life. You don’t have to be a Belligerent Boss e and try and assure every t is crossed. Just sit back and trust they’ll get it done. Give the benefit of the doubt If you’re so doubtful that one of your employees or people on your team will complete their task, you have to ask yourself why you even hired them or chose them for that matter, in the first place. Part of Lazy Leadership is knowing who to assign to what task. Assign the right people to the right task and ease on back. You don’t have to billergerently “check in” to see “how things are coming along” if you know that they’re fully capable of completing the task you assigned them. Set your Vision and let people make it happen. If they don’t get it done, you can discipline them then and there, but until then, just believe the shit you want them to get done will in fact get done. Aim for integrity, not control. Trust others and they will trust you. Never assume a person will lie, cheat, or steal, unless they have done something to prove otherwise. Integrity is the one thing you’ve got in life that actually fucking matters. No matter your riches or successes -- they’re all worthless without strong integrity. When you say something, mean it. Honesty is honestly the best policy. Don’t sugarcoat things. Don’t give vague answers. Just tell the truth. No icing. No confetti. No bullshit. If you like the way someone did something, offer a compliment. If you didn’t like it, offer some criticism. Match your words with your honest feelings. If you’re not 100% honest, if you’re not fully embracing integrity, then what you’re doing is trying to control things. You’re trying to control a certain image. You’re trying to manipulate. Manipulation is the tactic of a Boss used to get his way. You have to be okay with not getting your way sometimes. You have to let the truth speak for itself, rather than trying to hide it. That’s the way of a Lazy Leader. I mean, concocting a certain story or image is a lot of work, man. Don’t give ‘em lip service. Just keep it real, dude. Decide and Abide Be decisive but open to feedback. Make a decision and stick to it. Don’t easily back down from your decisions, but at the same time, don’t be so rigid about them. You’ll wear yourself thin by backing in and out of decisions. Just make one and again, go with the flow. A Belligerent Boss will insist it’s “my way or the highway”, giving little room for any sort of feedback or improvement. They’d rather be right than do what is best. Your team may have better solutions, better ideas than you can think of. Don’t discredit them just to show them you’re the one in charge. Make your principles clear though. You must draw the line somewhere. Let them know where that line is. Set solid boundaries and don’t let people walk all over them...or you. Hold people accountable but more importantly, hold yourself accountable to those principles. A Belligerent Boss doesn’t have principles, but has “rules”. Those rules he enforces, he doesn’t seem to apply to himself. He breaks his own rules.This leads to people not respecting him or even taking him seriously at all in some cases. Even if everyone seems to “follow the rules”, if you don’t abide by them yourself, people may still see you as their boss, but not as someone they actually look up to. They’ll see you as a man (or woman) just trying to control things and put people under control. Rules, to a Boss, serve no other purpose than to get people to submit. Principles, to a Lazy Leader, on the other hand, are set to show people “the way” -- the way to act, think, and behave; instead of feeling forced to obey, they are inspired to achieve a certain status quo (one you set with your own principles in which you abide by). You can either be the person people follow orders from or be the person people actually want to be like. Lead by example. Abide by your principles, make them clear, and others will follow. Be sure to also EXPLAIN the reason behind your decisions and principles. Don’t just say “this is how you do it. No exceptions.” People should understand WHY you have your principles and WHY you made the decision you did. Taking the attitude of “well that’s the way it is” is just assholish and people will rarely respect your decision. They may “go along” with it just because ya know, you’re their boss and all, but secretly detest everything about it (and about you as a person too). That creates a hostile environment full of resentment. All of which can be avoided by being honest and upfront about your decision making process to begin with. Take it easy Relax. Control your emotions. Things might get stressful, but you don’t have to stress out. Take a step back, procrastinate, and make a rational decision before jumping up to do something on instinct. To a Belligerent Boss, every unexpected stress becomes an EMERGENCY. It’s a major problem. A crisis. It’s a reason to yell, scream, or otherwise shout in an uncontrolled manner. It’s a reason to act out belligerent and be “on edge” for a while. Funny how the one who wants to be in control the most is usually the most out of control when things get hectic.That’s because they can’t control the one thing that’s actually under their control -- themselves and their own emotions. Focus on what you can control, rather than trying to control external circumstances beyond...your control. To a Lazy Leader though, problems are nothing but opportunity. It’s an opportunity to test your ability to adapt and go with the flow, to remain steady with poise and grace, and lead your team to victory. Guide. Don’t preach Be a teacher, not a boss. Inspire, don’t command. Don’t place yourself on an almighty throne, seeking favors from others. Instead join the rally of the peasants and march them (slow n’ steady) towards that awesome vision of yours. You want people to feel like they’re an important part of something bigger, not just a replaceable cog in the machine. Make them feel like an actual person, not just a work schelepper. Calmly,. Gently, guide them in the right direction, without overly demanding a set of rules and practices. You want to be able to “sell” an idea to them, rather than tell them to accept a certain idea. People are motivated to do something when they believe it was their own choice that lead them to do it, as opposed to just being told to do it that way. Just get it done...eventually Deadlines, due dates, schedules. Those are all tools of a Belligerent Boss. A Lazy leader, on the other hand just does it...eventually. Let them do the work from home. Let them leave early. Shit man, as long as it gets done, who cares? There’s no need to set a firm schedule , telling ‘em when to eat, when to work, when to freaking take a piss. Obviously, you don’t want people taking advantage of this rather lax schedule to the point where things NEVER get done, but to imply that it’s necessary to plan the workflow down to the very minute is just ludicrous. Fail, but don’t give up. Failure is inevitable. No one runs the perfect business and you aren’t going to either. Accept it. Get used to it. Mistakes are Meh. Failure sucks, but it’s not the end of the world. You live, you learn. Life goes on. A Belligerent Boss will scrutinize everyone, pointing out what they did wrong. A Lazy Leader will ask: What can we do better? Failure is just a nudge to make improvements. Remember, everyone working for you is an idiot...and so are you! Everyone’s learning. We’re all idiots. No one knows it all. No one is capable of doing it all, creating it all, being it all. In some way or another, every person is an idiot. Even the brightest out there still have much room to learn, much room for improvement. In some way or another, you are an idiot. The amount of human knowledge that exists is impossible to know single handedly. Learn from others as much as they learn from you. It’s a collaborative team project to grow and become slightly less of an idiot every day. To a Belligerent Boss, all that matters is the Bottom Line. To a Lazy Leader, all that matters is the Top of the Mountain. Managers are so dead set on profiting what’s inside their wallet. Profit, to a Lazy Leader, is just a byproduct of achieving a worthy vision. They’re always climbing up to the top, like a sloth on a tree. Managers couldn’t care less about growth, unless there’s a dollar sign next to it. --- Wrapping Up: Ultimately, it’s up to you to choose how to influence others. You have to ask yourself what’s important, what are you actually set out to accomplish. Is it monetary? Or are there deeper intrinsic values? Is it getting your way? Or earning respect? Do you want people to fear you or love you? As always, I hope you take the lazy path to make your life not only easier, but more fulfilling and meaningful. There’s this crazy notion in our hard work corporate culture that the more you do, the more accomplished you’ll be. Create more, do more, make more, be more. (and buy more too! Murica!) We’re bombarded with messages to do as much as you can (and purchase as much as you can too) in order to climb the heights of success. “More is always better”....or so we’re told.  Make no mistake. These types of messages are purposefully designed to keep you as a diligent little corporate slave and spend-happy consumer. They are not, by any means, actual wisdom to follow. Unfortunately, they’re pretty consistent with this “GET MORE” propaganda. You get used to the idea that the more you put in, the more you get out, so you wind up emptying your wallet and exhausting your energy, in hopes to *some day* attain fame and prosperity. If you have MORE of a bigger house, if you have MORE of a nicer car, if you have MORE of a beautiful face, then and only then will you have MORE friends, MORE success, MORE...happiness. But true happiness and success doesn’t come from a perpetual loop of getting more, rather it comes from having and doing “just enough” and feeling fine. As a matter of fact, happiness is nothing but a fleeting feeling, a temporary mood, a limited time emotion. Attempting to always feel happy will set yourself up for mission impossible. What you want to aim for instead is “satisfaction”. Satisfaction is feeling relaxed and at ease. It’s believing that what you have and what you do is “just enough” to be worthy and have a meaningful life, and it’s actually pretty easy to obtain.  Look, if you follow this work hard and consume more mantra, you’ll never be happy, no matter what. You’ll always want a better car, a better job, a better... life. There’s always something *more* you’re trying to do in order to earn your happiness.The grass is always greener on the other side. And happiness seems always just “one more” step away from where you’re at. You’ll always be thinking “I’ll be happy once I...(blank)”. Then once you get to that point, there’s always *something else* you think will make you happy. And once you get that something else, well then there’s another thing you want to get. It’s a redundant pattern that leaves you feeling exhausted with your work and disappointed in yourself.You never *quite* get there. Rather than chase after the impossible and wear yourself thin in doing so, it’s best to lay back in your laziness and take satisfactions as they come, as you focus on *very little* to make yourself feel satisfied with “just enough”. See, you’ve been brainwashed to believe that success requires you to do *many* great things, achieve many great accomplishments, and you need many great talents to get there. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. On the contrary, you only need to do one thing. Make your life as simple as can be.  Do less with more focus. Every single successful person has done this. Every single rich and famous actor, actress, singer, musician, and entrepreneur alike has chosen not to “work hard” towards a multitude of things, but to find one thing they like to do and stick to it. They embraced their laziness by doing what they wanted, rather than taking the traditional “work your ass off doing something you hate for the rest of your life” approach.They found a way to truly attain freedom and with it, satisfaction. For Jim Carey, it was comedy, to make people laugh. For Bill Gates, it was connecting people through computers. For Jimmy Page, it was shredding guitar. No matter what famous celebrity you choose, it all comes down to a person that chose *one thing* and nothing more. All these people kept their life simple, in regards with how they spent their time, and look at where they went. You too must aim to simplify your life, embrace your laziness. Even the likes of successful people with “many” talents, like Dwayne the Rock Johnson as a good example, who can sing, dance, act, and even wrestle, live a rather simple life. The truth is, he has one talent: inspiring others. I mean if you’re going to go as far as dissecting one single person and each of their talents, you might as well go as far as to break down any famous guitarist. S/he knows how to strum chords, play scales, bend strings, slide up and down the fret board. Each part of “playing guitar” is technically a separate talent. But no, that’s just a level of complexity that doesn’t need to be considered. At the end of the day, the dude knows how to play guitar. There’s no need to complicate things.  f you eat pizza, you don’t run through the details of picking it up from the plate, putting it in your mouth, chewing it, digesting it, etc. You just eat the damn pizza. The details all come naturally, without even thinking about. You don’t consciously think about each and every step to make that process happen. You just...let it happen. Simple. The same principle applies to well, pretty much anything you want to achieve in life. Whether it’s eating cheesy, saucey goodness or becoming a world renowned musician, all you ever want to accomplish, all you ever want to do comes down to just One Thing. You can analyze and break it down into segments all you want but all that is just fluff. Life is not that complicated, or at the very least, doesn’t need to be. We’re lead to believe that being a “one-tracked” mind is greedy and selfish. That’s all to keep us from doing all we’re capable of. It’s a shaming tactic used to make us think that there’s always something “more” to consider. Look, doing what you want and living in satisfaction means you’re being greedy and selfish, then so be it. Embrace the one-track mind, the Lazy Mind. It’s frankly the only way you can achieve greatness. You need to decide what you’re One Thing is and stick to it. McDonald’s goal is to serve burgers. And how many burgers do they serve every year? Just one. One thing. One product. Want a Happy Meal? Well, we’ll throw a toy in it! Want a Big Mac? Well we’ll mix ketchup, mayo, and relish together, call it a “secret sauce”, throw it on a sesame seed bun with some lettuce and BOOM! Big Mac! No matter what you order at McDonald’s, you’re ordering, essentially, the same thing regardless of what you choose on the menu.  It’s a matter of simply…”repackaging”. It’s the illusion of choice and variety. So too must you re-package yourself with the single thing you’ve got going for yourself. Create the illusion that there’s a lot going on, instead of actually try hard to do a whole lotta shit. One thing. Keep it simple. Keep it lazy. I’ll use myself as an example (as selfish and greedy as that might be). Certainly, as you may already know I host the ProcrastiN8r Podcast. I put together an episode each week, writing the show prep, recording my voice, editing it in Adobe by adding a little EQ and sound effects. What you may not know is I also freelance audio production and voice work. As well, I’m a professional DJ for weddings, graduations, bar mitzvahs, and the like. Sounds complicated and ridiculous when you break it down like that. But the end of the day, my one thing is “Entertainment”. Of course, I know haters will be like “That’s not *really* lazy. You’re doing all this stuff. Writing the blog, producing a podcast, heck, even running a mobile DJ company.” The thing is, it doesn’t feel like work to me at all. I feel lazy in doing it. I get as much satisfaction from audio quote on quote work” as I do sittin’ my ass on the couch. The same may not be applied to you, and that’s fair. One man’s laziness is another man’s work. Remember that.  Laziness is not so much about avoiding doing anything, but instead doing that one thing that doesn’t feel like work and you find enjoyable. To me, Entertainment, doesn’t feel like work. I’m not saying that’ll be the same for you, but just my personal taste. Abide by your laziness and do your own thing. Hell, construction, ya know hauling ass and building shit, to some, would perfectly fit the definition of “laziness”. Laziness is a personal preference, not a set in stone principle. It’s flexible. Someone might even find lying on the couch to NOT be lazy. As crazy as that sounds. But if it’s something that feels like a burden, then it’s not. Anything that brings a burden is work. Anything that brings relaxation is laziness. That’s really it. Your goal is to find your Laziness. Find your One Thing. Finding Your “One Thing” In the movie City Slickers, Jack Palance's character, Curly, gives some advice saying that the meaning of life is just "One thing. You stick to that and everything else don't mean shit." You have to ask yourself: *What actually fucking matters to me?* Seriously take a look at how you spend your time when you have no obligation, or better yet, pay attention to what you do to PROCRASTINATE *while* you have obligations to fulfill. The way you spend your time in procrastination can tell you where your passions lie. It can tell you what’s important and what the “less” is that you need to focus more on. But passion. I hate that word. It’s like you need a rigorous amount of emotion and desire towards something. Nah, bro. Nothing about that is lazy. And truthfully, not many people are that passionate about *anything*. You don’t have to be either. You don’t have to find your passion. You just have to find what you simply...like. Like it. Like what you’re doing. Like just one thing that matters to you. Now I can’t tell you what that is. I can certainly guide you there, but to tell you, “you must do this” or “you must not do that” makes me no better than these corporate slave owners or preaching priests shouting at you what you “should” do and how to live your life. No, I’m not here to tell you how to live your life or what to do to achieve success. Not only am I too lazy to figure it out and try and write it all down for you, I just...can’t. I mean, that’s really for you to decide. Do one thing and one thing really well. What that one thing is up to you. You don’t need to complicate things. Look into the way you spend your time in procrastination to understand what that one thing is.  Are you playing video games? You could become a live streamer, a professional level tournament player, a game reviewer, a beta tester, or heck, even a programmer.
Are you watching movies? You could create your own youTube channel, write blogs reviewing films. You get the gist. Ask not “How do I stop wasting my time doing this thing?” and instead ask “How do I make this thing not a waste of time.” Re-package your laziness into something fruitful (which is kind of what I did with this whole blog here) Productivity, in my opinion, is not so much spending time doing things worthwhile, but instead turning those “pointless” procrastination activities into well, something worthwhile. You can do that by doing just One Thing. Any sort of “more” in what you’re doing is really just a matter of...decoration. It’s the re-packaging. You can always “throw a toy in it” to make that one thing a *little bit different*, but when all is said and told, you’re not really doing much other than that one thing to begin with. Keep in mind that leaders are often successful people. And leaders are not the ones “doing a whole lot”. They practice the Law of Least Effort and get other people to do the work for them. They do just one thing and keep focused on it. Focus on what you do, not what needs to be done. Put in “just enough” effort towards a single thing that actually matters to you and you’ll get there...eventually. Take it easy, N8 |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
March 2022
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