Being laid back: pros and cons?
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~jet
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I genuinely don't see any cons, but this may have something to do with my definition. To me, laid back is being easy going, calm, able to roll with the punches. None of these really suggest to be the inability to accomplish something, just a more deliberate and wizened way.
Gaze
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True, but don't you think someone can be too laid back in the sense that they make take things too lightly or take things for granted?
~jet
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I suppose, but in my mind that would be defined as something else entirely. Lazy or self-centered or something like that. Kinda feels like there should be a core concept developed on a spectrum where laid-back is somewhere near the positive side of the middle ground?
Gaze
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I was thinking about that. Hmm . . .
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I am not a laid back person. I am quite the opposite; I am very high strung. Not by choice really, it's just my natural mode. Nevertheless I like who I am in this respect as usually "get things done". A major con I see to being laid back is overlooking important things, and or missing deadlines. A con to being the way I am, you don't know how to relax.
~jet
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Hmm; see I do consider myself laid back (or at least calm) and yet I find this helps me methodically achieve things; I get less done when things are face paced and, as I see it, haphazard.
Gaze
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Agree.
bagelriffic
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no such thing d: laid back is not lazy to me, its a state of inner comfort and relaxationg around what others might call stressful situations. this doesn't mean i don't do anything, not taking myself or others so seriously allows me to do what i think needs to be done, whatever that may be. to have this i think its as simple as pushing against your own self limitations, so if you look at it this way, it has to be earned.
Are we related!? I couldn't have written it better myself, I am EXACTLY the same way.
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I think the cons of being laid-back are only cons in the sense of it not being a personality trait for everyone (both for the person who is laid-back as well as for the people who interact with said laid-backer). I actually wish I was less laid-back, though fortunately I'm not terribly so.
Maybe if I suffered from being overly high-strung I'd change my mind, but it can be a little bland when I feel I can take most things in stride.
Anyway, I find that personality traits tend to come in batches, and many people who I'd classify as laid-back have other unfavorable traits.
Maybe if I suffered from being overly high-strung I'd change my mind, but it can be a little bland when I feel I can take most things in stride.
Anyway, I find that personality traits tend to come in batches, and many people who I'd classify as laid-back have other unfavorable traits.
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Considering how little I get done in my offtime (Chaz might contest this) I can't see how being laid back would make this situation any worse. I might actually end up being happier even though I'm getting the same amount of stuff done. I might be able to get MORE done even because I'm not burning 90% of my energy in a day stressing out or looking into the future and trying to think of a million contingency plans.
God I wish I was laid back...
God I wish I was laid back...
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pros: elevated threshold for nervous system stress response leads to lower blood pressure, with cocommittant reduction of damage to the kidneys, heart, and retinas, and reduction of risk for heart attack and stroke / elevated threshold for nervous system stress allows for non-limbic response and efficacy of action during crisis
cons: other people may not understand what it is to be laid back and so judge others who are by attributing negatives when said negatives are behaviors that are not part of what it is to be laid back.
cheers,
Ian
cons: other people may not understand what it is to be laid back and so judge others who are by attributing negatives when said negatives are behaviors that are not part of what it is to be laid back.
cheers,
Ian
MindYourHead
Courage doesn't always roar.
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It's only a con if the other person is a strung out type A, and thinks you should be one too.
My laid back attitude came up during a performance review at work once.
The owner of the company I work for, who doesn't work side by side me but only knows me in a peripheral way, said he didn't see any "Sense of urgency" with me.
I said I always get my work done and ahead of schedule, and customers are happy.
One does not have to be stressed out and run around in order to accomplish things.
In fact, my coworker is just such a person and seems to accomplish nothing despite the appearance of always feverishly working.
Our sales figures bear that out and support my argument.
Being a laid back person does not automatically mean nothing gets done, and deadlines are missed.
My laid back attitude came up during a performance review at work once.
The owner of the company I work for, who doesn't work side by side me but only knows me in a peripheral way, said he didn't see any "Sense of urgency" with me.
I said I always get my work done and ahead of schedule, and customers are happy.
One does not have to be stressed out and run around in order to accomplish things.
In fact, my coworker is just such a person and seems to accomplish nothing despite the appearance of always feverishly working.
Our sales figures bear that out and support my argument.
Being a laid back person does not automatically mean nothing gets done, and deadlines are missed.
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I am very laid back, I can turn it on to get things done when I need to, or if I find the challenge entertaining, but in general the only time it becomes a con is when I deal with other people and I see them lying to me or laying a scheme and I decide to let it go because:
A. Im smarter then they are and when the time comes I will turn their scheme against them. (I am pretty confident)
B. Its not worth ruining the friendship/relationship to throw it in their face and embarrassing them.
C: I give them more rope with which to hang themselves.
Sometimes I just wish I didn't care enough to blast them, right in their face and tell them that I know what they're doing and that it wont work and that mistaking my kindness for weakness is a surefire way for me to crush their hopes and aspirations if they really piss me off because I can become extremely petty and vindictive if I feel they are belittling my intellect.
A. Im smarter then they are and when the time comes I will turn their scheme against them. (I am pretty confident)
B. Its not worth ruining the friendship/relationship to throw it in their face and embarrassing them.
C: I give them more rope with which to hang themselves.
Sometimes I just wish I didn't care enough to blast them, right in their face and tell them that I know what they're doing and that it wont work and that mistaking my kindness for weakness is a surefire way for me to crush their hopes and aspirations if they really piss me off because I can become extremely petty and vindictive if I feel they are belittling my intellect.
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Haha, I would have probably got fired at that point for saying the same thing, but then elaborating further on how to properly manage his own business and that he should give himself a review. Because running around in a sense of urgency is the sort of ridiculous thing to say to people who build widgets where speed of motion actually = more production. AKA I would be calling him a low rent factory owner from the 1800s.