"Unrelentingly Driven" vs "Lazy but Responsible"

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Is it a good idea to invest the minimal possible effort possible into one's daily life activities? The polar opposite of this would be to put oneself through maximal discipline. The difference is mostly in the attitude a hypothetical person would take in starting their day. Should they be "unrelentingly driven" or should they be "lazy but responsible"?

The "unrelentingly driven" person would wake up in the morning, teeth clenched, unwilling to waste time, ready to suffer in order to get their work done. If a part of them resists the work, they will tyrannically suppress that idea and force themselves to get the work done. On the other hand, the "lazy but responsible" person would wake up in the morning not looking forward to work but planning to finish the "bare minimum" they must in order to stick to their goals.

Now, let's assume that each of two identical people is assigned one of these two attitudes and instructed to live their lives with this attitude for a short period of time. A week, a month, maybe even a year. Furthermore, each person is instructed to get the same work done in a day. They are provided with the same food, same clothes, same friends, same lifestyle, same skillset, same social standing. The only difference between these two hypothetical individuals is the attitude they take to work.

What I'm interested in learning about is the following:

  • Who gets more work done daily? Who wastes more time?
  • Who feels more self-satisfied after a year?
  • Who is more creative?
  • Who is more excited after a year? Who is more despondent?
I'd be inclined to think that the "unrelentingly driven" person would be more prone to burning out, as they say, to becoming resentful and arrogant, and to falling prey to procrastination. The "lazy but responsible" person will likely not burn out, but may not achieve close to their full potential. I fear that the "lazy but responsible" person would underestimate how much the "unrelentingly driven" person can achieve and become more jaded about the possibility that life can bring them. Their social status would drop.

It's not clear to me which attitude to life is better. I'd think that most people would say that it's better to be "unrelentingly driven," because that is the sort of person that is fearful of letting a minute of their life go to waste.

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