Escaping the Fear (Ch. 3)

In life, there are many times where we have to make a choice. To move forward with change or sit comfortably (or oftentimes, uncomfortably) in the lifestyles we've chosen. Many people are opposed to change and would rather stay with the status-quo. Regardless of how brave somebody is, most would choose unhappiness over uncertainty. Fear of the unknown is a powerful deterrent and it's something Ferris wants us to think long and hard about.

Most of us won't call it fear. I certainly don't most of the time. If you guys are anything like me, I try to rationalize it as optimism, hoping that things will get better on their own or some sort of event will improve our quality of living. My life right now isn't bad in the slightest, but I do at times take issue with how stagnant everything feels. I wake up, go to class, and go to work and I see this with many other people as well. I spend time with friends and have fun when I can, but there are times where I feel like I'm not living to my full potential. I want to explore the world, learn new skills and hobbies, and live life to the fullest while in the prime of my life.

Our society is built to chain us down with things like school, full-time jobs, and debt. (I'm not talking down education. It's very important, but especially in the U.S., it's preparation for full-time work, not always our ambitions.) We work best for that system if we adhere to it and work as little cogs in its clockwork mechanism, mindlessly toiling for a golden age that will probably never come for most of us. Retirement as society defines it now is a fallacy and nothing more than a pipe dream to help us move forward with our lives. The retirement we dream of now is very likely never going to exist and I see this everywhere.

Fear disguised as optimism is what keeps us in this mindset and keeps us working. As Ferris puts it, "Pure hell forces action, but anything less can be endured with enough rationalization." In most cases, damage control over a life change is not as bad as it appears to be. Oftentimes, it just takes some simple steps to salvage what is left if something goes wrong. He describes it on a 1 to 10 scale with 1 being absolutely nothing to 10 being permanently life-changing. With the right planning, a worst-case scenario really would only be about a 3 or 4 and that's a temporary negative effect on your life. But if we look at a best-case scenario, it can easily have a permanent 9 or 10 positive life-changing effect. You're risking a low probability negative effect for a probable positive one. There's very low risk for high positive gain when you look at it like this.

So in summary, don't hold yourself back if you feel that you want to change your life for the better. It's easy to rationalize not taking action, but if you feel like society is weighing you down with baggage and keeping you from working towards happiness, cut that baggage away. It won't hurt as bad as it seems like it will and you feel much lighter and happier after the fact when you're following your dreams.

Comparisons (Ch. 1)

When looking at a person's life and what they're working towards, Ferriss explains that a person can be put into one of two categories, Deferrers and the New Rich. Deferrers are those that save their money for a "glorious" retirement once they've done their time and can finally relax in the later years of life. These people attempt to save up to eventually life a happy life free from the chains that have bound them to their work lives. Then, you have the New Rich. The New Rich stand out from the others based on their goals, hobbies, and life philosophies. These people often go into "mini-retirements" or frequent breaks in order to keep their life moving simply. This doesn't have to be an expensive endeavor necessarily like a trip to Europe, but humans need time to recharge and relax. This is something that is less common in the Deferrers, the ones that work an 80-hour job or work 9-5. Many of these people are defined by their occupation. It should be the other way around, you should define your job and your life. As a brief aside to my readers, I neither criticize nor look down on this type of life, I merely don't want that for myself as it seems unfulfilling.

This chapter is handy since it states a few things that are so often forgotten or unrealized. The first is if you can free yourself of the constraints of time and being completely tied down to a location, your money is worth a whole lot more than you realize. You don't have to be a millionaire to live like one. The millionaire just has the ability to do this while being tied to a location. There are many however, that are unhappy with this lifestyle. The amount of money is definitely not a good figure of personal wealth or happiness. It's practical value is a much better measure meaning what you want to do, when, where, and with whom. Having the freedom to have options, to choose what you want is what gives you power.