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THE ART OF LAZINESS

I think it's funny how before the announcement on the 19th of July 2019 (that I graduated with a 4.93 CGPA and was the BGS in my department and college) quite a number of people (whose only idea of who I am is based off what they

see on my WhatsApp status updates) thought or would have loved to think that I was lazy, unserious, unambitious, etc, etc, etc. While I totally understand why they thought that, it still cracks me up nonetheless.

But now, due to new information that came to light on said date,

they have either totally abandoned those thoughts, started doubting those ideas or think I'm one of those pretentious people in class who play all day with their friends and read all night when everyone has gone to sleep then end up getting 100% on tests while their peers don’t.

Truth is, I am lazy and unserious (but most definitely not unambitious) but just not in the way you would think. So maybe their initial thoughts were half right.

About laziness: I like to think of my laziness as being selectively participative which I take to mean unless something is absolutely necessarily important, I'm NOT going to do it, in line with my age long mantra of "why do more when you can do less" .

This means you will most likely not see me studying and I won't put in as much time as most people would towards getting a particular result. Case in point: I WILL NOT read all semester to pass a course, I WILL NOT start reading for exams few weeks to exam either, I will probably

start reading for an exam less than 24 hours before the exam and will end up putting in about 6 hours actually reading while the rest would be spent watching movies, posting on my WhatsApp status, eating, thinking about what to eat in the farthest/nearest future or just sleeping.

So, if you come to ask me a week before an exam, heck! sometimes even the night before an exam, if I can explain x y z, chances are I would say "I can't because I've not read" and I would not be lying because I would not have read at that time or I just started reading and I

haven't gotten to that part of the note. This actually happened A LOT in school. Some course mates would come to ask me to explain some part of a course and usually I hit them with the "I've not read" response. I'm sure most of them thought I was lying and being stingy with

knowledge but the truth is all of those times I really had not read.

Maybe I could have still explained without reading it but at that moment, seeing as I've not entered the mental space to begin preparations for the exam, I didn't want to force myself into that headspace. Plus,

I really didn't want to mislead anybody, because most times, I understand things different from the way the lecturer taught it and if I'm going to explain, it's best I explain using the lecturer's notes than leading you down the risky path I always take of “freestyling” .

But the clause with me being selectively participative is, the goal remains clear, I'm just only going to do what is NEEDED to get what is wanted or desired. If I only need to get 45/43/41 or even 49 on 70 to get the grade I want in a course (which is always an A ), best

believe I won't kill myself for that course. Sure I'd prepare to get the best but in the exam hall, I know what I need so I'm not going to stress myself if I am sure of getting at least that. After all, 70 and 99 is still A and no one is giving you a prize for the 1st in a course

On the other hand if I need a 57 (which is really the highest I've ever needed) to get what an A, best believe that if there's a line to die on, my carcass will be there. This doesn't mean I'd read for that exam for 1 week though, it just means I'll put in a little more effort

The truth is, being selectively participative is more of the art of knowing what you must do to get what you want. This means you have to really understand yourself, understand your ability in each chosen endeavor and determine what you NEED to do to get what you want and resolve

do nothing more (unless it gives a useful edge) or less than that to get your desired outcome.

So yea, saying I'm lazy is actually me being selectively participative because saying "selectively participative" is actually quite a mouthful and just a lot to say or type

every time so what I NEED to say to pass my message is "I'm lazy".

However anyone chooses to interpret and emulate their perception of my laziness is at their own risk but I hope the last few words have helped you better understand the art to MY laziness?

#ednaspeaks