Comments on: Showdown Day 1: Fred Gratzon

By: yet another f*$#&@! learning experience

yet another f*$#&@! learning experience — Sat, 26 Mar 2005 00:36:37 +0000

Productivity Blog Showdown

Been lazy these past few days, not much in the way of posts as a result. Job searching, resume twiddling, and I’m really going to have to permanently erase Civ III from my hard drive. That’s always been the worst time sinkhole for me.

Keeping with…

By: Terry Storch

Terry Storch — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 05:09:58 +0000

Fred, I was tracking with ya until the wheels off comment about the big bang theory.

However, I will not hold that against you… I like the concept, but I really don’t think of this as being lazy. I truly think of it as doing what you are designed to do!

By: Open Loops

Open Loops — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 18:03:39 +0000

It’s On!

Ooooh, Baby!

By: anton

anton — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 04:15:36 +0000

There is wisdom to what Fred is preaching and “enjoying what you do” as a philosophy is very powerful. Steve’s mental model of hard work and success is soo cliche already. I think both are saying the same thing that our success is relative to each one’s personality, goals and source of Joy. But I think this debate is about what philosophy or mental models works best. I like Fred’s look of the world since it is out of the box and provocative.

I would give the first round to Fred (10pts) and Steve (9pts) similar to boxing points system.

Anton

By: Allegro

Allegro — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 04:00:45 +0000

At the end of day one, Fred has a leg up – make that two legs up – in the hammock.

Fred’s real secret is in chapter 14 and appendix A of his book. But I doubt if the hard workers will read that far. They’re too busy setting goals and defining their purpose – no time for laziness!

By: jagernot

jagernot — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 03:29:50 +0000

Doing absolutely nothing is impossible anyway. Even if you sit in meditation, when you come out of it, you are doing something. What is possible to do is nothing of what someone wants you to do. Ofcourse, as Dan says, one’s lazy lifestyle is built out of the hardwork of others. Especially if the lazy man is enjoying the fruits of the toilers but the lazy man is not bothered by it. He goes on living. And when he cant, he dies.

What bothers me in this showdown is the participants are concerned with ’success’ in life. Success here seems to mean how much you can get away with whilst also making a wad of cash. It seems to me Fred is only peddling a different set of tools than Steve Pavlina to achieve this success. Like his EOM email trick, laziness is a trick. A tip. A tool to achieve success. First drop your idea of success. Inaction (Laziness is what a toiler would call anyway) is automatic. Thats what the masters say that the kingdom of God is within you. Just stop going after things and it will flower.

By: Crimson

Crimson — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 01:13:38 +0000

I think Fred’s definition of “laziness” may be being misinterpreted (possibly because of his emphasis on it). I don’t think he really means doing nothing as in not having any goals, or not growing. He means enjoying what you do. When you enjoy what you are doing, you are no longer fighting it, but rather growing as you do it. It stops being a struggle and starts being a natural thing. On the outside when you say that you spend X number of hours doing something, it sounds like tough work and maybe on some level it is. But when you’re enjoying it, it truly stops being work in the back-breaking Puritan Ethic sense.

However, most people’s equate laziness with doing absolutely nothing, with possibly the occasional Cheetoes run thrown in. I don’t think Fred (and most definitely not Steve) advocates this particular form of laziness as a lifestyle choice. But if I’m wrong, I’m willing to be corrected…and if you know of a way to make this lifestyle a livable option, PLEASE correct me. :)

By: Rick Dunstan

Rick Dunstan — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 23:54:17 +0000

Too bad going with the flow of Nature was not one of the concepts defined by Steve and Fred. Because Steve puts going with the flow in a very narrow context, when success from going with the flow of Nature is cosmic. All the prolific productivity of the cosmos is from the laws of Nature. A tsunami is caused from a shift in the structure of the ocean floor. That shift makes the ocean rise high with tremendous power that can produce a lot of change. But all the while Nature is resting in Its cosmic status. A tsunami is a very small detail from Nature’s cosmic perspective. So going with the flow of Nature requires one to be cosmic in stature instead of worrying about small details. Going with the flow of Nature one enjoys all the small details in the context of the whole big picture. Or in other words one does less and accomplishes more because they are simultaneously engaged with all aspects of project instead of being caught up with a few small details of it. Who or what organizes the small details? Nature.

By: None of Your Business

None of Your Business — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 21:46:11 +0000

Slacker Manager: Showdown Day 1

This is going to make for some great reading. I actually slowed right down today to make sure I read the full texts of both Fred Gratzon (Lazy Guy)and his counterpart, Steve Pavlina (Hard Work Guy). You should check this out. So far, I’m leaning in L…

By: Open Loops

Open Loops — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 21:24:41 +0000

It’s On!

Ooooh, Baby!