How to Be a Lazy But Successful Person?
Procrastinating associated with laziness is commonly viewed as a bad thing. However, what if we are wrong and it is not? What if procrastinating and laziness may actually contribute to the success? Many of us sure would love that! According to Psychology Today, around 20 percent of Earth’s population are chronic procrastinators. These people sure do not view this habit as a bad thing.
Instead, they do not perceive delaying the task and spending some time being lazy as a bad thing for productivity. For them, it is just a different path of accomplishing things. Even if this way is a little bit different from the traditional way of working, it gets the job done. Nevertheless, procrastinating is widely perceived as a bad thing because its basis is love for postponing stuff. In today’s world, where deadline becomes a scary word for many people, postponing is not such a good idea if one wants to accomplish something special. Or is it?
Lazy persons are successful
The history has a lot of examples of lazy people who accomplished great success, which means that we should not dismiss procrastination and laziness as barriers to a successful future. One of the best examples is sir Winston Churchill. His performance in school was so awful that he did not try to be accepted by a college. The historians claim that one of his favorite activities was sitting on a rocking chair and he was not interested in sports at all. But what he achieved remains one of the most impressive legacies in world politics.
Another great example is Charles Darwin. Did you know that he used to sleep during the lessons and was a nightmare for his teachers? Like Churchill, he was indifferent to sport and preferred more passive activities like fishing. His favorite activity, though, was drinking in pubs. Of course, anyone who knew him would not believe that he became a world-famous scientist. But he did, even when he was as lazy as it gets.
Many other famous scientists, musicians, politicians, and entrepreneurs are known to be lazy but this quality did not hinder their success. There are countless examples of how laziness actually contributes to professional success. My friend once told me that he would sleep until the afternoon and come to the office at 4 pm to find some work from students from other parts in the world. As the result, he always had what to do and did not worry about rushing. These examples prove that even lazy people can go far and beat others. Here are some reasons why.
1. Lazy people know the value of rest
Rest is one of the most important things when it comes to productivity because it refreshes and provides energy for work. The people who prefer to keep going instead of resting make a mistake because they have less energy for accomplishing all plans they have. Moreover, straining yourself is not a very good idea because it leads to exhaustion and failure. So, there is nothing wrong with being lazy, it should not be a quality that hinders your success but fuels it!
2. Lazy people focus on their goals
Being lazy also means not paying attention to other people’s advice and imposition, which is a great way to focus. In contrast, others get distracted because they often think doing many things is the right way to go. For example, one can get to know the goal of a successful person and try to replicate their strategy for achieving goals. A lazy person, however, would not care to pay attention, which is good! It allows them to focus on their own goals instead of trying to go after other people’s priorities.
3. They use help of technology
Lazy people surely know how to take advantage of the latest gadgets and apps because they allow them to do things faster. For example, if a lazy person is given a task to write a document and send it to a number of people, he or she takes an approach that simplifies the process. Instead of opening Word and starting to type, they would go to Google Docs and start working there. When the document is completed, the person would just give the access to the people and finish. As the result, their work is efficient.
4. Lazy people are more relaxed
Taking time to get a task accomplished is a good strategy, and lazy people prefer to do this naturally! They do rush while doing something because this is now who they are. It is much easier for them for calmly do their jobs because they are more relaxed and less prone to worrying and stress. As the result, they are less affected by panic and keep doing what they do!
5. Lazy people know how to invent
Sounds strange, right? Well, think about this: a lazy employee is given many tasks that need to be completed in a short deadline. To ensure that all of them are done, this employee will find ways to optimize and automate all repetitive processes to speed up the work. As the result, they take laziness to another level! It is annoying and unbearable for lazy people to do monotonous work, so they will try to find ways to eliminate it as soon as possible. As the result, their working life becomes easier thanks to their ingenuity.
A surprising combination
Being clever, successful and lazy is actually possible, suggests this Business Insider article. These individuals make great leaders because they avoid pointless meetings, delegate, and focus on essential things required to move forward. In contrast, those who are clever and hard-working often try to fit within the existing order and simply follow given instructions. Lazy and smart people use a different approach because they often question the existing processes and try to find some new approaches.
This opinion is supported by Marc Wayshak of Huffington Post. He recently wrote that most people are taught to work harder but in reality this approach makes it more difficult than needs to be. Instead of taking the hard way to accomplish success, Marc proposes “the lazy but successful approach,” which includes five essential points: “fewer goals = more achievements” philosophy, breaking goals into manageable pieces, setting realistic deadlines, using help of others, and saying to distractions.
How to Be Lazy But Successful -Taking advantage of your laziness
As the result, taking advantage of your laziness and procrastination may be a good thing for your career. Some people use the pressure of a looming deadline to speed up the working process, saying that it does not matter when it is done. This makes a perfect sense because as long as work is done before the deadline, no one really cares that it was completed a few hours ago. So, if you work best in the waning hours before the final day, perhaps it is your unique way to work. You should not say no to it.
There is a literature on how to accomplish success for lazy people. For example, a famous writer Marc Allen wrote a book called The Type-Z Guide to Success: A Lazy Person’s Manifesto to Wealth and Fulfillment to show how anyone disorganized and flat-out lazy can create a life of their dreams. It shows a practical approach for those who consider themselves lazy to achieve wealth without giving up their essential quality. Allen described these people as “Type Z personality,” or the laZy personality, which is the opposite to the Type A workaholic personality. The book received great reviews on Amazon because it provided usable and doable Type Z approaches to business and life.
Accomplishing things in the unique way
Lazy people can be successful because their way of accomplishing things is unique and different from the traditional “hard-working” philosophy. Moreover, laziness can give some advantages because it usually means appreciation of rest, skills of inventing, and a more focused approach. Many examples from the history showed that lazy people can be world-famous despite their failures in education. Following a unique way instead of the traditional one is a great method that should be encouraged.
If you think of yourself as a lazy person, you can find something familiar in this article that reminds you of your style of working. Do not get discouraged when people say that laziness is a bad thing for success because it is not. In fact, you can easily make it work to get some advantage over people who burn the midnight oil trying to blend in. So if you prefer to stay in bed a little bit longer and enjoy working when you want, this is your unique way that should be used to lead you to success.
Why ‘C’ Students Are Likely to Be More Successful in Life
Worrying about your bad grades in college?
You’re not alone.
For years, society has placed a large stigma on bad grades – and an overwhelming importance on good grades. College students often feel pressured to get good grades because they believe these scores directly influence their future.
It’s high time for students of all types—trapped in the blind pursuit of A’s—to learn a little secret from previous generations:
In school good grades matter, but…
In the real world, it’s all about passion, experience, and balls.
Once you’ve had your first job experiences, no one will ask you about your GPA. Real life is about making your way through it, not how well you can write essays or regurgitate facts you heard in the classroom. What matters most is how you adapt to new circumstances and how quickly you learn the few skills you really need – not how well you can learn everything.
Failing at an early age can teach you more about life, more than always getting A’s. You can always gain more book knowledge after you get out of school; however, facing obstacles in your early stages of life can provide very valuable lessons.
Admitting your failures, accepting negative feedback, finding the power to motivate yourself under pressure – good-paying, innovative companies are willing to pay a lot for these skills.
Grades don’t indicate your true curiosity, passion, or creativity. Some people simply don’t like research and avoid tedious study; however, this doesn’t mean they’re any less intelligent than their peers.
Actually, bad grades often mean they’re smarter!
People with bad grades can be extremely successful.
There are countless examples of brilliant people who didn’t do well in school.
Thomas Edison was probably the most famous and productive inventor of all time. He had more than 1,000 patents in his name and became a self-made multimillionaire. However, he dropped out of school after only three months of formal education.
George Bernard Shaw, a co-founder of the London School of Economics, with a Nobel Prize for Literature and an Oscar on his shelf, gave up school at about 16!
Former president John F. Kennedy grew up in the shadow of his older brother, a football star and leading student. However, the younger brother turned out to be the more successful one. His rebellious character led him to start a group at the school called “The Muckers Club” that pulled crazy pranks all the time. This same energy served him well when he grew up to be the President of the United States.
Another famous American politician, Benjamin Franklin, was a diplomat, author, scientist, inventor, printer, publisher, founding father—and a coauthor of the Declaration of Independence. He was only missing one thing: a high school diploma.
In fact, many American leaders weren’t brilliant at school: Lyndon B. Johnson, George H.W. Bush, and Vice President Joe Biden – to name just a few.
Being lazy syudent can stop you from earning millions of dollars
In addition to political leaders, a number of incredibly successful entrepreneurs had a limited academic background – but this didn’t stop them from earning millions of dollars.
Bill Gates, an innovator in the field of personal computing and a great philanthropist, dropped out of college to develop his own company (Microsoft). His unfinished college degree didn’t stop him from becoming the richest man in the world.
Other entrepreneurs never finished college, such as Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. Elizabeth Holmes, the youngest female billionaire, dropped out of Stanford on her way to greatness.
Famous businessman and philanthropist, David H. Murdock, grew up in a poor family in Ohio. He dropped out of high school in 9th grade. After serving in the Army, he moved to Detroit and became homeless. However, he got a loan of $1,200 to buy a diner that was going out of business. After making a quick profit, he entered the real estate world. Recently, Murdock ranked as the 190th-richest person on the “Forbes 400”.
So, if you graduated from high school or college without flying colors (or not at all), don’t stress out. Many outstanding people have proved that grades don’t dictate success. Success requires passion, continuous improvement, and motivation.
What differentiates “C” Students from others is that they understand the most important lessons in life aren’t learned in the classroom. This kind of knowledge has to be acquired the “hard way” – often through failure.
But you’ve already learned this lesson, haven’t you?
