23 November 2009

Letter from Lhasa, number 158. (Gratzon 2003): The Lazy Way to Success

Letter from Lhasa, number 158. (Gratzon 2003): The Lazy Way to Success

by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Gratzon, F., The Lazy Way to Success. How to do Nothing and Accomplish Everything, Soma Press, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, 2003.

(Gratzon 2003).

Fred Gratzon

According to this book, there is no connection between hard work and success. On the contrary, hard work and success are negatively correlated. “The fastest way to success is the laziest.” (Gratzon 2003, p. 13)

Use the brain for doing the job avoiding work. “The basis of success is not hard work. The basis of success is doing less.” (Gratzon 2003, p. 42). “The Creative Person Is a Lazy Person” (Gratzon 2003, p. 43). “Your work (I hate to even say that unpleasant word) should be fun. Pure, unadulterated FUN. Your work (oh, God, I did it again) should produce happiness.” (Gratzon 2003, p. 54)

Having been intimately involved in the life cycles of my own businesses, I have seen what fuels growth and what causes rot. Fun fuels growth. Disapproval causes cancer. Having fun is the fastest way to the goal because fun is the goal (or at least one of them). So, HAVE FUN! Play with everything. Play with things, play with ideas, play with machines, play with co-workers, play with customers, play with words, play with food, play with fabric, play with paint, play with academics, play with money, play with music, play with science, play with technology, play with computers, play with kids, play with friends, play with grandma, etc., etc., etc. Above all, play with what you are doing right now.

“I believe that if it isn’t fun, you are wasting your chances for success.

(Gratzon 2003, p. 54)

Do not focus on money. Focus on passion.

It’s simply in the cards. God, quite obviously, wants each of us to be a rip-roaring success — wealthy, healthy, happy, filled with love, and of maximum usefulness to His creation. And it’s equally obvious that He designed each of us, not to mention the whole Enchilada, accordingly. In this light, let us consider the concept of calling.

“By calling I don’t mean a job or a profession, which simply describes one’s activity. That definition is superficial. My meaning is an individual’s highest purpose. In ancient India this was called a person’s dharma.

“Everyone has this kind of purpose or calling in life. And everyone has also been generously endowed with the talent necessary to fulfill it.

“The value of a calling is on two levels. First, it is the means to an individual’s greatest possible growth, success, and happiness. And second, it is the avenue through which one makes the greatest contribution to the world.

“But there is one characteristic of a calling that is particularly cherished by those of the Lazy Persuasion. A calling is, by marvelous happenstance, the easiest, most irresistible path to follow, the easiest path that produces the most results — what could be more perfect?”

(Gratzon 2003, p. 72)

The secret of solving problems is functioning on a more subtle level, which will always result in working less and accomplishing more. And to take this one delicious step further, the subtler the level of the solution, the more far-reaching the influence will be.

Good leaders don’t work. They don’t exercise terrifying authority. Good leaders create an inspired vision and sell it with a spirit that makes Big Ten cheerleaders seem like geriatric cases.” (Gratzon 2003, p. 129)

One of the “secrets” is commitment, ...COMMITMENT!

One thing is sure — commitment brings good luck. But if per chance your luck seems thin, that support of Nature is not abundantly there like it should be, take that as a sign from Nature to correct your course. Your objective may be faulty or you may even be heading in the wrong direction. Your lack of luck will let you know that you need to correct your strategy.” (Gratzon 2003, p. 141)

The secret of success is in cultivating good luck. The secret to good luck is making commitments. The secret to making commitments is in adoring what you are doing.” (Gratzon 2003, p. 147)

What about the myth of success and the terror of failure?

Failure is not bad. Quite the contrary, it is good. Failure is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. Failure can be an enormous asset for many reasons. However, I want to sing the praises of failure from the angle of the lazy school of thought. From this perspective, I like failure because it’s often easier to find success in failure than to do the chore again in hopes that you find success the next time. That’s right — find success in failure. Why not? It saves time, effort, energy, wear and tear. And if you know where and how to look, one good failure can be worth a million previously strived-for successes.” (Gratzon 2003, p. 162)

The usual story of Abraham Lincoln, the author reports, is just a stupid common sense, because his “success” after a lot of failure was, finally, the success of being assassinated, perhaps in the contexts of one of the usual U.S. coups d’état.

The starting point is a realistic self-consciousness.

Obviously your own self is the basis for every one of your experiences. If you do not completely know who you are, if you are ignorant of your own self, then any other knowledge you gain is built on that weak foundation of ignorance. Knowledge based on ignorance cannot be profound or powerful. Knowledge of your own self —knowledge of the full unbounded totality of your own self — is fundamental to any other knowledge. Unfortunately, every school overlooks this vital knowledge.” (Gratzon 2003, p. 185)

“Various cultural traditions have recognized the illuminating value of the experience of pure consciousness and have devised techniques that aim to deliver it. (...)

“I, however, am very fond of easy. The easier the better. (...)

“The Transcendental Meditation technique is both easy and effortless. (...)

(Gratzon 2003, p. 187)

“Experiencing consciousness, in its pure state, is the ultimate experience of doing nothing. All kinds of doing — including thinking — cease. You are left awake in your own essential nature. Just consciousness wide awake to itself. Just quiet and ease. Just being. Just bliss. This experience of pure consciousness, of doing nothing, is the basis of accomplishing everything.” (Gratzon 2003, p. 188)

The story of the lazy way to success is a story of continual refinement, of transcending the surface to experience the subtle. Toiling on the surface requires energy, strain, and work. Tapping into the subtle produces powerful solutions.” (Gratzon 2003, p. 191)

Is that the solution for the “universe” “problems”?

Today our world is overwhelmed with innumerable problems — war, disease, crime, pollution, violence, hate, hunger, ignorance, greed, corruption, substance abuse, etc., etc., etc. There are so many problems that no one knows which one to tackle first because each one seems insolvable. Complicating matters is each problem is inextricably tangled up with all the others.

“The Lazy Way to the rescue again. The Lazy Way gently points out that we need to solve only one problem and all the others will magically disappear. That’s because all problems have their roots in one problem. If we fix this one problem, all the other problems vanish immediately. This one problem is that each individual is functioning with a limited use of his or her brain. A more fertile breeding ground for problems than this doesn’t exist.

“Fixing this problem is simple. We’ve learned that “doing nothing” activates the unused reserves of an individual’s brain but it is a big world with billions of brains. Where do we start?

“We start with ourselves. There is nothing more important that we can do for ourselves and our world than to strengthen our own consciousness (by regularly being still and doing nothing, of course). Even though a light bulb takes up very little space in relation to a large room, when it is lit, it eliminates the darkness. As we grow in consciousness, others will naturally be inspired to follow suit. The more people strengthening their brains and growing in consciousness, the faster societal problems born of limited individuals disappear.

“Systematically strengthening the consciousness of the individual will solve the world’s problems. In fact, there is no other way.”

(Gratzon 2003, p. 192)

...Don’t be too sure of anything...

However, less but better, alias using the brain and applying it to problem solving, may be a key or the key or one of the keys for achievements and success.

Gratzon, F., The Lazy Way to Success. How to do Nothing and Accomplish Everything, Soma Press, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, 2003.