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Telltale Games just announced its closing its doors Literally they JUST announced it and closed. Effective immediately. I mean like legitimately they held a meeting and just made everybody leave within 30 minutes, according to Kotaku. No severance pay or anything. Employees literally got back to their desks and their e-mail accounts were already disabled. They were told their health insurance benefits would stop by the end of the month and given no severance pay. Oh and the icing on the cake: “at least one employee had joined Telltale only one week before the closure and had relocated across the country to do so. Another was a foreign national in the country on a work visa who must now leave “within a few days.” ‘, Kotaku reports. They were literally pushing for hard work and sacrifice until the very last minute. That’s f*cked up. It’s not like you suddenly out of no where realize you have to close your company. Oh whoops. Made a boo boo there. C’mon. They saw this coming. Rush out the building. Good bye. We’re done. See ya! Rushing, rushing, rushing. That was really the mantra of the company over the course of a decade. They pushed a “work hard” environment and “get it done NOW” schedule. How does this happen? I mean that’s what leads to success right? Hard work? Dead lines? How does a company that pushes those things collapse? It makes no sense. I mean we’re told time and time again that if you work hard, you’ll earn success. That if you push beyond your limits, you’ll land among the stars Well what in the actual the f*ck? What happened? How does the storytelling game company that pushed all these hard work messages and values on their employees crash into failure? Where did they go wrong? I mean there seems to be a bit of an inconsistency here. They were literally following the recipe for success to a T. There’s NO WAY a hardworking, crunch-time pushing, results-driven company like Telltale slammed down onto the concrete from the skies above. There’s NO WAY they could have failed. They were hard workers.  Well, that’s because as I’ve said time and time again: hard work does NOT lead to success, contrary to popular belief. Laziness is the secret ingredient to success that they never tell you to add. Why would they? It creates competition. It’s like if Coca-Cola were to release their recipe. Successful people and companies don’t share the recipes to their tasty success. You have to kind of use your taste buds and identify it yourself. Luckily for you, I’m a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to the ways of the sloth and I definitely taste some laziness in that good ole recipe for success. Anyway, let’s break down what ultimately led to Telltale’s demise and how it is similar to what we are doing in society. Don’t worry though. Good vibes. We’re going to also sprinkle in ways it could have been avoided -- ways the Lazy Mindset could have prevented a catastrophe. While they did offer unlimited paid vacation time, taking time off was frowned down upon and discouraged. Plus, it would put the heavy weight of hard work onto the shoulders of other people. It’s like those “pay what you want” gimmicks, where technically you don’t HAVE TO pay, but if you don’t then you just look like an asshole. But hell, if I worked there, I’d totally procrastinate and show up late, take time off. I’m not bound to the work hard mantra of anyone. I’m your employee. Not your slave. I’d encourage my co-workers to do the same. Also, it was never actually required, under the company’s official policy and job description, to work over time, skip lunches, but the environment created within the company made it feel like you had to anyway, according to several employees from reports in The Verge. Should’ve brought up and pointed to the books, man. This just goes to show you that even if laziness and leisure is written into rule, people don’t follow it if they feel social pressure not to. We have to create a social environment that encourages leisure and appreciates it, eradicating one that has disdain for laziness. Break from the herd and be the sheep that lies down, instead of working hard on breaking the fence for the wolf. People were pushed to achieve, meet deadlines, and hit a certain minimal objectives, and they all burned out. Month after month, they received e-mails from the higher-ups, motivating them to succeed through difficult times. There was never time to appreciate or celebrate or relax or cherish their accomplishments. One thing done. Good. Boom. Move to the next one. Not even a "thank you" or a "good job". No absorbing the victory or relishing in it. No appreciating the fact that you just won or did something amazing, as if they were some kind of mindless machine, , that is specifically designed to complete tasks, and not like, an actual human being Had they been more lazy in their working culture, they probably would still be making awesome stories. Melissa Hutchinson, Voice Actress of Clementine from Telltale’s Walking Dead, AKA the cutest little girl who grows into the a complete bad ass of a woman in the Walker apocalypse, according to PCGamer, writes in a commemorating letter that only episode 2 of the final season is confirmed and we may not actually see an end or conclusion to the series. This is beyond disappointing. It reminds me of the time NBC’s Heroes came to an end with a huge cliffhanger. Goddamnit, just wrap it up and give me some sort of conclusion (And no, by the way, the relaunch of “Heroes Reborn did not cut it) Telltale Games developed point and click narrative storytelling games from the very beginning in 2004, making titles such as Sam& Max and Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park was bad, and a lot of critics agree. “Your game developers were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should.” It wasn’t until the release of The Walking Dead in 2012 that they gained the reputation as “the story guys", after winning several Game of the Year awards and having their highest launch in sales. They really began to focus, not on the game-play elements or puzzles. But on the characters. They created these character you actually, well, give a shit about. You care about them. They’re not just some half-ass written characters with no-depth. No they are fully developed, fully real, fully human and relatable characters you feel you get to actually know as a person. It’s the combination of these deeply written characters along with the gripping plot and heavy hard hitting morale choices that make Telltale Games titles so enticing and truly a masterpiece. I mean damnit, Telltale, making me choose the life and death between two equally likeable characters is just-- it's one of the hardest things! (this is one of the first major choices by the way, so not really a spoiler, and I mean, it’s an apocalyptic story so obviously there’s going to be some death involved; it’s not exactly Care Bears here) People say Dark Souls is one of the hardest games, but obviously, these players that say that never did a playthrough of Telltale’s Walking Dead. Sure, getting your ass handed to you by the same giant dragon multiple times is hard and frustrating, but try deciding what to tell a little girl, who’s been surviving up in a tree house alone when the zombie infection outbreaks, and is left with a babysitter away from her parents. As a (lazy) gamer myself, it’s kind of sad seeing one of my favorite studios close. I really enjoyed their stories. I mean I enjoyed the Choose Your Own Scare Goosebumps and other Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid, and Teltalle brought back the spirit of those books and put it on modern technology. It was nostalgic, powerful, and entertaining all at once. And I’m not going to lie, sometimes those invisible ninjas cutting onions would definitely be running around my living room while playing the Walking Dead series during some moments. Especially the end of the first one. That’s all I’ll say. If you haven’t had a chance to play Telltale Games, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Really you are. All of them are good (well, okay a lot of them): Borderlands, Batman, Guardians of the Galaxy, but the Walking Dead, especially the first season, is in my opinion, is by far the top of their work. A must play for sure. Kind of like there are “must watch” movies. We have “must play” games now. It’s literally on every device now, including both iOS and Android, so there’s really no excuse at this point to NOT play it. You pretty much have to try harder not to play then just kick back, relax, and watch the equivalent of a cinematic Choose Your Own Adventure. You can download the first episode for free, and buy the rest at a a premium. Totally worth it. Anyway, so everything’s Pure Conquest on the user-end, but behind the scenes, not so much. They were working 100 hour weeks. One employee told The Verge said “The demands on production only became more intense with each successful release, and at some point, you just don’t have anything left to give.” Another described it as being “on fire”, yeah hot and heavy, hectic and relentless. And as I mentioned earlier, they did TECHNICALLY receive leisure benefits like vacations and breaks, but they never actually “got” to take it. The work was demanding and nonstop. They didn’t even have time to record their progress, update each other with information in e-mails or private company wikis. They drove for results and those record keeping tasks did not lead to numbers and results. It was a waste of time. This” waste of time” could have boosted their morale. Keeping track of progress and perhaps offering incentive for reaching certain milestones along that progress goes a long way in inspiring both creativity and productivity. Gamification, a sense of progress and leveling up along with gaining rewards for good behavior, is so vital But it makes sense that they didn’t take into account gamification (yet alone a simple raw sense of progress), since they were focused on hard work for the sake of getting things done.. The only e-mail employees would receive, as I mentioned earlier, was encouragement to suck it up and just push through the difficulty. I mean you know it’s bad when Lead Developers Sean Vanaman and Jake Rodkin decide to up and leave right after the release of The Walking Dead (chapter one). This was the company’s biggest success -- the largest sales, the highest ratings; it won dozens upon dozens of rewards for Game of the Year. Like, c’mon, wouldn’t these guys want to continue flying on their success plane? They worked hard and earned it. Now they gotta keep going! Drive it up! Go for something bigger! Fly higher! Be bigger! Be bolder! See? This is what happens when you “keep on driving” to the next goal. You burn out. You need a break. You need a celebration on your goals and accomplishments. You need to take it slow n’ steady. You don’t stop completely and settle, but you do take time to wipe the sweat off your forehead and maybe pour yourself a glass of rum n’ coke, sit back, relax. Oh, I should mention, Telltale DID actually offer employees food and drinks to try and boost morale, but just providing these things is not enough. You have to give the time for them to appreciate it, and allow them to take the time away from work, not think about it, not discuss it. While I couldn’t find any evidence of this directly, I imagine they were probably forced (or at least heavily “encouraged”) to work at their desk with their food and drink. That doesn't boost morale. If you have someone live in a porto potty and offer them food & drink, it doesn't matter, they're still living in a porto potty. Telltale was adding new employees to their staff, and pushing out new story games for that matter, faster than the Dugger family was pushing out babies. But seriously, they went from a small indie company of less than 100 employees to a large scale business of over 300 in a few short months. They TRIPLED their employee size. Then they started to shove about 3 games a year out on the shelves. That's crazy. It normally takes YEARS to develop just a SINGLE game by an even larger team of developers than Telltale had. They were moving and growing at an godlike fast speed and expecting an inhuman rate of productivity. The growth was like cancer, too quick, a mutation. Slow growth is natural and healthy. Do less, grow slower, with a more direct and focused path. They rushed to grow things and win the (corporate) race. Then, like the speedy hare that sprinted as fast as he could, ultimately lost the race. They didn't take their time to cultivate their success and move slowly, evolving one step at a time from a small indie company into a big developer. Instead, they blitzed right through each small achievement, every minuscule obstacle, and winded up falling flat on their face from burn out and fatigue. They grew too fast for their own good. They could have examined each obstacle and analyzed each goal with a bit of the old Procrastination lens, but chose to bolt forward without hesitation. They tripped themselves up due to their lack of focus and ran out of energy and motivation due to their unruly relentless behavior and hard-working mindset. Rather than taking the time to write their own music and understand how all the notes flowed together, they slapped down a proven formula on their note sheet and played the concert. They lost the passion for creating stories and instead used the pen to write a best selling novel, rather than a deeply passionate work of literary (or gaming) art. They burdened their creativity and possibility by following a systematic approach, as opposed to one that lazily allowed ideas to come to fruition, slowly over time, letting the mind procrastinate, get distracted and explore something new. They constructed stories like a blueprint building. They did not write or grow them. They worked as engineers, not artists (or developers for that matter). Yeah, it worked and Telltale continued to tell great stories, but the audience could tell it was missing...something. It was missing passion and artistic expression. You look at a company like Pixar, which to this day has not had a single flop at the cinema. Every movie they make from Toy Story to Cars absolutely nails it both in the box office and the emotional appeal. They encourage procrastination distractions, allowing the brains of their employees to discover things outside of the box, the formulated system that "works". Telltale was so gun-ho about WHAT works that they never took the time to examine WHY it works. They became a game factory, not a studio. They heavily pushed for results and sales rather than encourage actual art in it's purest form. They looked at the science without the philosophy, and one without the other is boring, mundane, and pointless. Art without science doesn't make sense. Science without art doesn't make fulfillment. True art takes time and is NOT rushed on to the shelves as soon as possible. It has to marinate and yes, sometimes even do things outside the "proven" formula. The entire point of art is to break away from the proof, evidence, and hard facts. It is the beauty and expression of emotional exploration. The Sistine Chapel was not painted in a day. It took time and cultivation to allow ideas to flow; it was slow progress. The fact is, Telltale stopped allowing humans to create art and instead forced carbon machines to run a calculated mathematical equation. Our brains, as human beings, are not designed to be completely 100% logical and problem solving. That's certainly part of the makeup both psychologically and biologically, and what sets us apart from other living inhabitants on this planet, but part of that makeup, too, is emotional expression. While it is important to control emotions and keep them check, not just burst out with them in an intense uncontrolled tantrum, it is also important not to ignore their existence and to allow them to "come out" in a positive way. One of the positive ways of letting out all that emotion: the sadness, the happiness, the pain, the joy, the anger, the satisfaction, is through art. If art is set to be some sort of calculated formula, as Telltale clearly made so for their employees, then those real emotions we feel, those employees felt, are suppressed and they eat us up inside. They need to be released in a calm and satisfying way and nothing is as calm and as satisfying as art. Telltale had their employees hold in all that emotion and created a hectic stressful environment to further accelerate the growth of that negative emotional cloud. They created all this stress, all this pressure, all this negative emotion, without providing the means or facility for recreation to balance the work and pressure with leisure, or art to express and release those feelings. Thus lead to the burn out. They even went as far as burning out the youthful energy of recent college grads. From the reports on The Verge: “You’d get a lot of people coming right out of school, going, ‘Oh I really want to prove myself, and I really want to make sure that they see that I’m contributing,’” says a source familiar with the company. “The thing that broke my heart the most was seeing new team members that were just so gung-ho and optimistic and excited to be at Telltale get overused and abused because they did not feel comfortable drawing the line in the sand to say, ‘This is my limit.’ They either worked themselves out and would get sick or would become bitter.” This is a pattern, we as society do for our youth. Take their ambition, enthusiasm, and youthful energy, then run it dry, instead of cultivating it and helping it grow and flourish. We teach them to be hardworking corporate slaves, rather than strong individuals and confident (lazy) leaders who can take a stand for themselves and others. If you don't put the right fuel in a car, it won't run. Likewise, if you don't give the proper physical, mental, and emotional nourishment, fuel, to a person (or a group of people, a company like Teltale) s/he won't be able to run either. Everyone at Telltale was just depleted and were not given the proper fuel to continue heading down the path of success. They were completely on "E" and could move no further. You don't necessarily need a full tank of gas to run a car, but you do need at least some amount of fuel to go anywhere. You have to go at a steady pace and not accelerate, otherwise you'll burn fuel quicker. And you need to take pit stops once in a while to relax and refuel. Procrastinate with Purpose. Now let's look at the leadership of Telltale's toxic "work hard, drive and go get 'em" nonstop culture. Kevin Brunner and Dan Connors, the founders, were known for their micromanagement boss style. These weren't real leaders. A real leader is laid back and confident in others. Micromanaging is tedious work and a real leader is too lazy for that. After the wonderful success of Telltale's Walking Dead, Bruner pushed his ideas and demanded credit. While some of ideas were spot on, like the decision to add text in the dialogue that a certain character you're talking to "will remember that", a impactful little notorious feature in the series, he also stifled the creative growth and insisted that his own ideas be the final say. He even had the nickname of “Sauron” around the work place because his fiery evil gaze was always watching. A lazy leader, a strong leader instead starts the brainstorm and allows others to make it rain and thunderclap, and doesn't try to steer the clouds in a certain direction. Later in September 2017, Pete Hawley former SVP and GM of Zynga took over Telltale Games. Within a month, he laid off 25% of the staff. Quite a remarkable achievement within 30 days. Reminds me of our president. Anyway, employees said Hawley had a more laid back leader style and the work became less pressured and hectic, which is surprising because Zynga notoriously pushes IAP (In-App Purchases) in their games. Zynga are the guys that made Farmville, if that says anything. That's where the original "buy more energy now or bug the shit out of your friends to get more" business model was created. They were drug dealers luring in addicts. Buy more energy to get your fix or tell your friends so you all can get high. From a business perspective, it was genius, but from a gaming perspective, and perhaps even an ethical one, it was utter trash. Maybe they weren't the first to do it, to create this casual game you could pay or invite friends to keep playing, but certainly the largest and most popular at the time. Zynga changed the gaming industry forever, for the worse, and ultimately encouraged, not only their own, but in general, developers to build cash cows rather than actual games. But I digress. By the time Hawley took over and started to calm things down a bit, though, many of the key talents behind the works of Telltale's had left, under their own decision. Remember if you don't like the work you're doing, be a procrastinator and leave. Find something better. It was too little too late and Telltale was finished. Like cancer, their expedient growth was a death sentence. Now as of writing they still have 25 employees (down from 400, after layoffs), and promise to wrap up some of the projects, which hopefully means we’ll see a conclusion to the Walking Dead series. Future projects such as the Wolf Among Us Season 2 and Stranger things though are unlikely to release though, and essentially canceled. Nothing is officially confirmed yet, and it’s all speculation, but it’s very clear, that when Telltale knocks out over 90% of their staff, they are on their way out. There are probably about a thousand and one tales similar to that of Telltale's demise. So many company's and start ups follow the false notion that "hard work" is the key to success only to fall in their tracks. What they fail to realize is that hard work is not the key itself to success, but rather just one tooth on the key. There are other teeth on this key, including, dare I say, laziness. Seems contradictory, I know. But the key to success is one of balance. ("Research" is a time to reflect on experience and data and discover new opportunities, instead of "just do it". It is Procrastinating with Purpose, for example) Certainly you can force work and picklock your way through doors of opportunity, but eventually the picklock will break. It's better to take the time to forge a key that'll open these doors with very little effort. They will open naturally, without any force or wiggling around, if you actually have the key to success. And you may say well what about Amazon, for example, and their unfair hardworking, stress-driven environment. Well, I believe it's not a matter of if the employees of IF large successful companies will burn out but WHEN. But alas, that's a whole other topic.. In society as a whole, we’re heading down the same path as Telltale and it may be our Final Chapter. To quote an employee from the Verge report:“They were just trying to get their job done right now, but nobody was looking long-term and being like, ‘This is unsustainable.’” It is unsustainable, the way we’re pushing for results and success NOW, on the large scale, not just this particular business that failed, but in the long game, the future we’re headed towards, if we don’t slow it all down, will lead to destruction. We’re destroying mental health, environmental health, physical health all in the name of “NOW!” Society is just like Veruca Salt form Willy Wonka, wanting it all NOW. Slow down. Procrastinate. Take it easy. Working hard has no pay off in the long run. Telltale employees, reflect on this fact and how they should have been more lazy during their time working there, in some Tweets gathered by the Verge: “None of my sleepless nights or long hours on weekends trying to ship a game on time got me severance today,” tweeted now-former Telltale character artist Brandon Cebenka in the hours following the meeting. “Don’t work overtime unless you’re paid for it, y’all. Protect your health. Companies don’t care about you.” Another ex-employee said that they’d wished they taken more vacation time while they still had a job. “All I want right now is to REST for a couple of days,” they tweeted. “But since we got no severance and our insurance expires at the end of the month, I don’t have that luxury.” If we make the right decisions, embrace the L.A.Z.Y. Mindset, eliminate the “work hard" mantra", slow down our pace, take time to relax and appreciate leisure, we can make it a happy ending.
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No Money? No Sports Knowledge? No Problem. Make money with these sports apps without depositing a single dime or watching a single game This dude loves sports. He loves watching sports and of course drinking with his buddies and talking sports. SPOOORTTS! Cliche manliness aside, guess what? He’s getting paid to do just that: to be all about sports! He’s a true PROcrastinator. Laziness is about doing what you want and getting away with it, avoiding obligation to fulfill desire, and Beege manages to embrace the laziness. Beege Jaquay is a social media marketer and blogger for Game Time Blitz. He has a couple kids and is paying down a house; he has bills to pay and mouths to feed. But he isn’t working a full time job. He’s too lazy for that. And pursuing a career as a professional athlete is too much hard work and persistence. While he’s no billionaire with a fleet of yachts, Ferraris, and mansions, he makes enough money to support his Lazy Lifestyle of getting to sit on his ass at home, making a living watching sports and talking about them, like he would do anyway if he wasn’t making an income. So how does he do this? He uses a series of FREE sports betting apps to win money and doesn’t spend a single dime to cash out hundreds each month. He also turns the conversations he’s having with his buddies about sports into blog articles. Easy, lemon squeezy. We're going to cover the easy ones today, that anyone can play, even if you're like me and know nothing about sports; we may cover the more advanced apps in the future. Please note: This blog post was originally supposed to air as a Podcast episode, hence the interview format, but due to some technical difficulties, the audio was not recorded to our quality standards, and we were both too lazy to re-record. The sound was audible, but definitely not publishable, so I managed to transcribe the full interview. We’ve since fixed the issue and we may have him back to visit Lazy Island...eventually. Anyway, below is the transcript: We’ve got an interview here and today we’re going to be talking to Beege Jaquays, who’s going to be talking to us about sports apps and how you can make money using sports apps, and you don’t even have to be a super sports fan because he’s gonna make it real easy for us. Hello, Beege, introduce yourself and tell us about who you are and what you’re all about.  My name’s Beege Jaquays from Michigan. I’m pretty good when it comes to sports apps. I got a couple tips and tricks and yeah, let’s start making some money. So first to start off, you actually are a part of your own sports app so tell us a little bit about that. It’s called Game Time Blitz and I do all the social media stuff for them. Great, great app with some different contests, where you predict the outcome of certain [professional sports [games]. ALl the questions are 50/50 and doens’t really require any knowledge. 50/50 that’s just like playing red or black on roulette at the casino. Yeah even without knowing anything, you still have that 50/50 chance That’s right up my alley, because I’m not really a sports guy, but we’re not really gonna make this an informmercial just for that app, so you basically created this lifestyle of watching sports, doing what you want, and making some bets on these sports apps, where a lot of the apps don’t actually require you to deposit real money. You just kind of win with 50/50 or whatever sort of thing. So tell us more about this sports betting lifestyle. So yeah I actually don’t do any deposit or anything So no deposits at all? You’ve invested zero dollars into sports betting? There are options to deposit. I just personally don’t deposit, so not matter what my winnings are I always started at zero and free. Now just kind of spitballing, how much are you making per month by not investing in these sports apps and just using them? I mean it definitely fluctuates, but I’d say I guarantee anywhere from $300-$600 per month. I mean, that’s rent. That’s pretty good. Yeah, like I said, it doesn’t really require knowledge it’s all in my phone and it’s max, I mean, maybe an hour a day. Now you said it doesn't require knowledge. Now I’m assuming your a sports guy and you like to watch sports, and knowledge probably does help or probably doesn’t hurt, but how does a person that doesn’t really pay attention to sports know what to bet on or what to do? Where do they start? A lot of the apps that do help almost like Game TIme Blitz, where its a 50/50 chance of getting a quesiton right or wrong, that definitely helps with not requiring any knowledge. But a lot of the apps that I do play with, they’ll provide you with information and almost create like the decision you would need to make in order to be proficient. So I mean, the work, the hard work is already done for you. You’re just clicking buttons, man. I mean having some sports knowledge can benefit you, which it has benefited me. But as far as like a new user, it’s not hard to jump on. At the same time, not being involved in sports -- it kind of gives you the advantage ‘cause you’re not emotionally attached to the team, you’re not emotionally attached to the game, so you can kind of look at the numbers and the stats and be like “okay, this is the best decision to make” and you’re not worried about like “well, that’s MY guy. I need to choose him or that’s MY team I need to choose them, and you’re more objective. With someone like me, I’m definitely bias towards certain players or teams or leagues and stuff, so that would definitely benefit a new user that doesn’t really follow sports.  Has being emotionally attached to a certain player or team ever caused a loss in betting? Not necessarily, although I almost did last week., actually. I’m a huge Packers fan. I always pretty much feel like they’re gonna win, so I did bet “win” last week and they almost threw it. But yeah, yeah, I try and keep my heart out of it and just play with the head. Yeah and of course I bet no one was betting that the Eagles were gonna win the SuperBowl, and even me, I’m from Philadelphia, so you know, that’s like the state religion out here and no one was expecting it, but that was absolutely insane. And just the emotion -- you know because you’re a sports guy (And it’s funny because we were talking about NOT talking about sports but here we are going into it), but just the emotion. Like this is not, when you like a team right? When you like a team, that’s not just a team to you, that’s --- you with the Green Bay Packers for example that’s like pretty much wrapped up in your identity, right? My walls are covered in it, most of my clothing, everything is--- You bleed green, yeah Correct, yeah, and gold. And so...you understand, how like literally there have been people that have been waiting for that moment their entire life. They’re the underdogs, they’re losing, then finally, it breaks the moment. Yeah, man congrats! Yeah, thanks man. World f*cking champions. Anyway, getting back to these [sports] apps and what not. Let’s just run down quickly: What are some of the apps that you actually recommend to get started with sports betting for FREE and not have any and not have any sports knowledge required [other than Game Time Blitz]? I would go with Play Line. I’ve been doing that for quite some time now. You pretty much just guess the stats of the player: how many touch downs will Brady throw? Boom! Called it, that’s a pretty cool one just pick the winners of the game, like who you think’s gonna win. You wanna keep a streak going for that. Then, of course, you’ve got the big guys like FanDuel and DraftKings -- they do the free rolls all the time. If you win those, you get 500 bucks and stuff so that’s nice. A new one is Winner Winner Chicken Dinner [laughs] Now that sounds crazy. Okay. It’s actually it’s a legitimate sports book just like You’re Betting it Big, except it’s 100% free Yeah, you can’t knock it ‘cause of the name because even if you think about the big companies like Google or Yahoo -- that is actually a real weird word if you think about it. Another really,really good one I recommend it’s Predict Picks (enter 011672 after clicking invited by friend). That ones about players and if they do good or bad. You can say if [you think] they [will do either] good or bad. That one I just won $500 with this past month, but usually about $300 each month it seems. Yeah so people could be basically paying at least about half their rent or grocery bill with these apps. Yeah, I don’t actually have a full-time job. I’m a part time student, single dad, and I’m paying on a house, so I definitely gotta have an income and this is most what I’m doing. This is the majority of it and a little bit from blogging too -- social media and blogging. That’s kind of a little part time gig there. So getting into the technical details here, as you’re running these apps. Now do you have like multiple phones or are you just like running it on one device. What’s your set up look like when playing these apps? Yeah so I’ve got my standard phone that I also use to talk to people on Facebook and stuff, but I’ve got a whole other device that has probably like 40 sports apps on it. So you have like your “main phone”, which you use to call and text and what not, and then I suppose your “phone farm phone” I call it the money phone. It only has [sports] apps on it that I use to make money. So what phone do you recommend to install all these apps on and use for that? I’d go with Android, just because if you have Apple you have no way of getting the Android version There’s really not that many [sports betting apps] that are iOS only. We covered the apps, Game Blitz, blogging, so tell us about this Lazy Lifestyle, man. I mean, you’re doing what you want. You’re a guy that’s all about sports. Just tell us how you feel about this and how pure conquest it is. My biggest thing is I stopped working the whole 9-5 effect full time. And then I wanted to spend a little bit more time home with the kids, so i had to find an extra income. And the sports apps [were just kind of a win here and there at the time. Then I was like “well maybe I should try and focus on this a little bit more”, so i just went on this kind of “quest” to try and find EVERY sports app that I could to try and make money off of. And it turned into something that I can do what I want, when I want for the most part and yeah, it’s nice. I mean I’m not well-off and rich by any means, but I got the lazy lifestyle and can kick back and I’m still here to go. Yeah, doing what you wanna do, and that’s the lazy way. It definitely helps that I’m passionate about sports ‘cause it’s like “Hey, gimme cash” Yeah and I think that’s mostly what laziness is -- it’s about just doing what you want and getting away with it and doing stuff that’s easy. So you mentioned “quest” which is kind of awesome ‘cause we talk about gamification a lot on the ProcrastiN8r. So along this journey, along this quest, I imagine you came across some apps that just didn’t work or just weren’t worth your time. For sure, there’s a bunch out there that require deposits and like I said, I’ve never used funds to deposit. Unless you’re giving it away for free, I’m not doing it. Yeah, so in other words if people are trying to look for other [sports] apps to join, try to avoid ones that MAKE you pay because there are so many that are free out there. They definitely have advantages, if it’s a deal that you’re willing to deposit then go for it. I just personally I only do free ones and all my money is free bet. And that way I mean they say don’t risk more than you’re willing to lose. Well, I’m not willing to lose anything. Right yeah so a lot of these sports app and what a lot of people probably get discouraged about is the whole sports betting and gambling, especially with it being legalized now. Not depositing money and me playing for free takes the gambling aspect out of it. Yeah, cause then it’s just more like a fun phone app game, as opposed to okay, like you’re sweating a little bit because you’re risking money.So you can play these sports apps absolutely no risk. Now I wanna cover a few more questions then we’ll start wrapping up, but so you have your list, are you still out there looking and researching for new sports apps? Facebook’s amazing algorithm likes to recommend to me like almost daily Oh yeah, I mean I think we pretty much have to accept the fact that Facebook and Google knows everything about us at this point. Yeah, you’re right. With that being said, a couple months ago when the sports betting...was legalized, even though a lot of things have been policed for it, it’s created this whole accurate aware sports action you can talk about anywhere..cause they have to follow regulations so, I mean I can honestly say that there’s probably a new one that’s legit coming out later day. So I try to keep up with them, check them out, see what’s going on, ya know. See if it’s worth your time. Yeah and if it makes the list, it’ll be on the home screen of my money phone. It’s funny you mention Facebook and finding ways to make money because we actually met though group on Facebook [of] passive income earners making money on their phone. And so last thing, of course: where do we find you? Where can we get a hold of you and follow your foot steps in making money on these sports apps? Definitely find me on Facebook. I’ve been thinking here coming up next week I’m going to be creating a group messenger that will be just about all of this: making moneyw tih the sports apps and maybe even a bit of sports discussion to help out with noobies or tlak about new apps, that way we kinda separate from other businesses and stuff,. But yeah, definitely add me on Facebook Here are all of the links to the dozens of apps we mentioned to make money for playing sports betting where you don’t even need money. That is awesome. I am sold because I don’t like to spend money and I also do not really follow sports too much, so that’s perfect for me. And if you DO like sports, then this is just heads on, top tier Pure Conquest, and you should definitely get on this. THE LIST: Game Time Blitz PlayLine PredictPicks (Use Invite Code: 011672 for a free $25, which is Beeg's ref code ) Winner Winner Chicken Dinner Boom! Called It Kroo Sports Fan Duel Draft Kings You don’t want to work a 9-5 job. Your ultimate goal is to get out of that. You hate getting up in the morning. You hate meeting deadlines and going to boring meetings. You hate the repetitive grind. But maybe, you’re just not “there” yet and don’t have the resources yet to leave it. Yet maybe, you need a quote on quote “real” job to pay the bills. Yet being the key word. You’ll get where you want to be, slowly, eventually. Remember also, you don’t NEED to do anything. It’s just a matter of whether or not you care enough about the consequences of not doing said action. You’re too lazy to care about consequences. You’re getting a 9-5 job because you want a consistent income/pay check for now. For now. That’s key, it doesn’t have to last forever. You can quit or stop going to work when you want to, if you feel like it. And what’s worse case scenario? Stop paying your bills then either go to jail and get free room and board, access to a gym, and healthcare or become homeless and be a nomad who travels wherever he wants. It may sound preposterous to suggest not caring if you wind up in prison or on the streets from lack of a good work ethic, but that’s how much HBDC (Honey Badger Don’t Care ) you need as a PROCrastinator. And so what if you’re in the 9-5 grind right now? You’re moving slowly towards what you want. You’re not stuck in it. You deliberately chose to be there and can lay on the couch at home instead if you want to. It’s your world, your island. The world is your hammock.  If you lose your job, no big deal, man. There’s another one out there you can find later, and if you don’t, you’ll still be good. While you’re out on the job hunt though, you’ll no doubt come across these little mind games called “Interviews”. You just have to know how to play them. Think of it like an old game of Starcraft (or chess for that matter) where you have to build the proper strategy to conquer your opponent. You win by setting things up in a tactful arrangements and swooping in to crush the opposition, not reacting blindly to your opponent turn by turn, moment to moment. If you’re lazy, sitting at home playing PC and board strategy games, like me, you know victory comes when you predict your opponent’s decisions, dodge them with ease and set up your own traps. It’s deliberation, not reaction. Likewise, when it comes to job interviews, you’re not answering questions as they come, you’re looking at the overall picture of where the conversation is headed and the implied reason behind each of your opponent’s moves (in this case, interview questions). Job interviews are screening to make sure you’re going to be an obedient hardworking slave. You, as a procrastinator, a Lazy Mastermind, must recognize these manipulative tactics and shut them down, spin it on its head, and put them in your (bed) frame. You make it clear, you’re not a hardworking slave. As a matter of fact, you’re just lazy. Sounds controversial and counter intuitive but it’ll land you the job and open up doors for further promotions in the future. You will pass any job interview with ease. If you’re entering the corporate world, may God, Zeus, Kratos, Raiden, and whatever other deity bless your soul, but may these tips on landing a corporate job help you. You want to get hired during an interview? The main point to keep in mind throughout the duration of the interview process is this: Leaders are lazy. They get other people and systems to do the work for them. You are demonstrating you are leader by demonstrating you are lazy. I will be writing the rest of this article by first stating the typical interview question you will be given, then interpreting what they really mean, through the lens of the Lazy Mindset, I will then tell you what they are looking for if you want to show you’re a mindless hardworking slave, and finally I will suggest a response you should use to show the interviewer that you are a PROcrastiantor and true leader. Here are the top common interview questions and answers. 1. What they ask: Can you give an example of how you handled a stressful situation in your previous work experience? What they really mean: I’m going to harass and bully you and stress you out, and I want to make sure that you’re going to keep your mouth shut and just listen to exactly what I say and follow my instruction without any questions or hesitation. Please give me an example of how you did that in the past so I know that you’re mentally weak and easily manipulated. The answer they expect: Yes, I had this dreadfully awful and stressful situation arise and I did my darndest to put a stop to it. I was successful, and it tired me out, but I’d do it again if I had to. What you should say instead: I create a stress-free work environment and don’t tolerate drama. If something does come up, I handle it nonchalantly and don’t get worked up. I have not solved a stressful problem because my life is a drama free and stress free zone and that includes my work life. It wasn’t stressful for me at all, maybe for some, but not for me.. I’ve had unexpected things happen, sure, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Like I said, my life is drama and stress free. 2. What they ask: Tell me about a time that you were given a large work load. How did you juggle things to get it all done? What they really mean: I want to make sure you strive for impossible go above and beyond to meet standards. I am going to push your limits -- drain your resources mentally, physically, and emotionally, and I want you to make sure you just suck up and do it rather than stick up for yourself. The answer they expect: I slugged for hours on end to get this project done all by myself to meet the deadline. I was multi-tasking many things at once. I worked overtime and lost sleep. What you should stay instead: Easy. First, I made a list of things I wanted to do and a list of things I didn’t want to do. Everything on the second list was delegated to my subordinates. I inspired and encouraged them,and they did the work for me I then found ways to automate as many things as possible on my own to-do list with software solutions. No juggling involved. I found an easy way to do what I had to get done, done. I’m not going to do circus tricks when there’s a simpler method of completing tasks.  3. What they ask: What are your career goals? Where do you see yourself in 10 years? What they really mean: I want to make sure you’re a loyal little slave and won’t be running off my field or raising some sort of protest. I want see that you’re going to dutifully work for me and only me. I’m going to be your mastermaster and I want to be assured you see me as yours for years to come. The answer they expect: I plan to be moving on up in the company. I will do whatever it takes to be promoted. It’s my dream job to work here and for this company. I believe in their mission and am a fan of some of the leaders. What you should stay instead: Retired. One word, simple, to the point, and “ambitious”, whatever that means. You just don’t want to be working your whole life and have no intention of working under the same company for years. 4. What they ask: Tell me about a time you were a successful leader. What they really mean: I don’t want you to actually hold any position of power. I just want you to be around to bark at other slaves when I’m not around. You may think you make decisions, but I can always override them, so they better be in line with what I actually want. What you should say instead: “Hold on. “ Pause for a moment. “Now repeat the question.” They repeat it. “There ya go.” By pausing you did things on your time. Then you tell them in a firm, yet friendly tone to repeat the question. Don’t ask it as a question and don’t say “please”. You’re too lazy to add polite word vomit. Just say it and get to the point. You show not only that you can lead, but you can lead your potential boss or hiring person. Small acts of servitude lead to larger compliance in the future. I’ve been on both sides of the spectrum, and I can honestly tell you, from the interviewers’ perspective, they’re not really listening to you (as the interviewee) or your story or your experience. 5. What they ask: What is your weakness? What they really mean: I want to actually hear about a strength, you idiot, but I’m disguising this question What you should say instead: I’m lazy. I prefer to have people do things for me by delegating them, so I’ve developed strong leadership skills. I’m also creative in finding ways to make things faster, easier, and more efficient because I’m too lazy to do things the hard way. They’re listening to the way you tell it and the attitude you have, and the amount of calmness and confidence you present. The more you embrace your laziness, the more relaxed you become. The more relaxed you became, the stronger level of confidence you will radiate. Likewise, the more embrace your "waste of time hobby, the better skilled and knowledgeable you'll become at it, just naturally without even trying, like playing round after round of Fortnite. They’re looking for passion and confidence -- the two ingredients for success. Passion is a fancy way of saying “I like doing the damned thing” and confidence is a fancy word for saying “I don’t give a fuck. The lazier you are, the easier it is to embrace these two things and ultimately, reach success. If you work hard for passion and confidence, if you’re trying hard to be more confident or you’re trying hard to find a passion, you’re going about it the wrong way. You don’t force these things. They come to you naturally, easily. If it doesn’t put your mind at ease then it’s not your passion, and confidence is not about “feeling better” about yourself, it’s about feeling too lazy to care how your existence interrupts others’. Another tip during the interview, in general, is to use good body language for an interview. Start by taking up space and make yourself comfortable. Lean back, stretch, physically show that you’re cozy sitting in the room with them. Be so comfortable to the point where you make them feel like they’re coming into YOUR office. Pretend it’s your office and lounge out. I’m not saying you should put your feet up on the desk or lay across the chairs or actually take a nap during the interview, but just put your hands behind your head and lean back ever so slightly. Keep your arms open and relaxed. No tense body language, loosen those muscles up. You don’t have to lean in and pretend to be interested. You don’t have to sit all prim and proper in an uncomfortable position. Do NOT slouch though. Slouching is a stress-induced, anxiety-driven sitting position. You’re not stressed; you’re care free, cool, confident, and lazy. You’r e also not anxious, you’re relaxed. You’r elaid BACK, not slouched forward. We’ll have to go more into lazy body language in the future, but for now you’ve got enough basics to cover a job interview. Again, don’t get a job if you don’t want to. Do it because it’s easier to pay the bills by going to it right now. You must always take the easy way out. Then quit when you feel like it and find it no longer necessary or you’re just tired of it. By the way, I once had a roommate who had absolutely zero experience in retail or management, but he used stories he heard from his friends who had worked in those job to pass interviews and landed a gig as a Shift Manager at GameStop. I personally don't encourage lying because it takes too much effort to remember stuff instead of just telling the truth, but alas, another topic for another time. Take it easy. Take it reeeaaaal easy. The problem is not that you are lazy, the problem is that you feel guilty about it.
“Oh woe is me. I’m nothing but a lazy bum.I’m never going to go anywhere. I’m worthless, a waste of space. I suck and will never amount to anything” Stop that. Remove the guilt. You’re lazy. Engulf yourself in the laziness. Embrace it. Love it. Become it. If you were paying attention and reading my blog, you’ll remember that earlier I talked about how you should do things in the hardest, most difficult, most elaborate way possible, in order to realize how easy you have it. You take the time to wash your dishes bit hand or create a recipe from complete scratch, for example to appreciate the modern dish washer and microwave able meals, for example. Well this week, I’m going to say, do absolutely nothing, whether easy or hard, just don’t do it. Seems a bit completely hypocritical now. One week I’m telling you one thing, the next week I’m telling you the other. You have to keep in mind the big picture here. You are training yourself to become a Lazy Mastermind. You are trying to be lazy and get away with it, not just be lazy. Just like the Karate Kid waxed a car to learn the art of karate, you too must perform some odd tasks to learn the art of procrastination. Perhaps you did things the hard way and just felt like you were wasting time and not getting things done fast enough. It made you feel frustrated by doing the things the hard way, not appreciative of doing things the normal way. Perhaps you couldn’t even motivate yourself to do the things on your to do list the normal way, yet alone the hard way and just sat there doing nothing anyway. Well that’s why we need to just do nothing, and you need to do nothing without remorse. Go ahead and skip class or work today, but don’t feel bad about your decision to do so. Go ahead and skip your chores today, but don’t feel like you’re a dirty slob. Go ahead and skip your date tonight, but don’t feel like you’re a bad lover. If you’re really lazy, then why do you put so much energy in worrying about the consequences of your behavior? If you’re really lazy, then why does it bother you when you don’t do something? A real lazy person doesn’t give a single f*ck how his behavior effects others or what personal consequences said behavior entails. He’s too lazy to care. He’s Aloof, like a honey badger. Honey badger don’t care. Honey badger lazy as f*ck. (the A. in L.A.Z.Y.) When was the last time you were truly lazy, completely in Leisure, without any thought or care about what you had to do? Probably never. Because even when you’re playing video games or watching Netflix or eating pizza instead of working on that project you’re supposed to be working on, YOU’RE STILL, in the back of the head, THINKING ABOUT THAT PROJECT, and how you SHOULD be working on it. It still haunts you like Boo in the Ghost House. You have to escape that hardworking mindset and enter the Lazy Mindset. You have to stop being a go-getter and be a procrastinator. You have to be fully immersed in Leisure (the L in Lazy) If you’re actually lazy, a real procrastinator, there’s nothing you should be doing other than exactly what you’re doing right now. You should be doing nothing and you’re too lazy to care about other options. See, in most cases, when you’re quote on quote “procrastinating”, you’re not being lazy, not really, you’re not REALLY procrastinating, you’re just distracting yourself. You’re not enjoying Leisure and relaxation, the perks of true procrastination and laziness, you’re instead simply interrupting your hard work. You see procrastination and laziness as a sort of interference with your hardworking lifestyle, rather than seeing hard work and productivity as an interference to your lazy lifestyle. You see the difference? It’s all about priority. You feel it is more important to go to work or class or get your chores done than it is to lounge around doing whatever exactly it is you want. Often times, even when you go on quote on quote “vacation”, you’re not actually vacationing, you’re working -- just in a beach or mountaint setting, instead of a cubicle one. You answer e-mails on your phone or take some calls from your boss, subordinates, or clients. You may be doing research and writing some reports on your laptop. You do homework and reading. You’re not on vacation at all. You’re just temporarily setting up office in a different location. Hotels have Business Rooms. Hotels should be places of leisure, not business. People plan vacation time to go on a “business trip” That’s a bit of an oxy moron there. Business trip. Stop that madness now. Do nothing. Be lazy. Be a procrastinator. Take a real trip. A lazy trip. A trip of Leisure. Pack your bags and go somewhere, like the shores of Lazy Island, and forget about your obligations completely. Don’t do work. Don’t do what you have to do. Don’t even think about it. And most importantly, don’t feel guilty about it. Don’t look back. Don’t give a single fuck. You are a procrastinator and you don't care what anyone else thinks or wants; you're too lazy to care. When you procrastinate, you need to stop thinking about what you “should” be doing. Instead, focus on just living in the moment and enjoying the leisure of what you’re doing, whether that’s watching the Doctor travel everywhere in time and space or aiming for the head and shooting zombies or whatever. Just completely engulf yourself in the lazy leisure of the thing you’re doing, without thinking about the outside world or the chain of obligations you have to meet. You don’t have to be anything. You’re a lazy procrastinator, remember? And that means you do what you want when you want and don’t care about the later burdens, causes, or consequences. Caring about those things takes too much damn effort. You don’t want to put effort into anything you don’t have to, and guess what? You don’t HAVE TO do anything. That’s the attitude you need to have. That’s the Lazy Mindset. Now to be clear, doing nothing over a long period of time can be self destructive, but the premise and mindset behind it is not. The goal here is for you to get in the habit of doing what you want with no remorse. Laziness is the tool you use to build that habit. When you start doing things on your own terms without feeling guilty, you’ll be able to accomplish a lot more and will feel less limited by forces of obligation. Obligations, you’ll find, are simply mental blocks that a true procrastinator completely ignores. So kick your feet back, relax, tell your boss to piss off ‘cause you have a whole bunch of nothing to catch up on. Until next time, take it easy, take it reeeaal easy! N8 |
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March 2022
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