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.
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Game Changing Rules (Ch. 2)
Now, I will go over several of the rules that Ferriss wants you to keep in mind to help you keep your mind clear. I'll try and add my own insights here and there so I'm not just regurgitating the book here, but there's some good things in this chapter.
Retirement Is For Worst-Case Scenario
Retirement planning should be seen as a worst-case scenario and this idea is fundamentally flawed for a number of reasons. It assumes that you dislike right now, when you're in the prime of your life and that some day you will live the "good life". The branches off into the other reason which is that most people won't be able to retire on a completely sustainable standard of living. Over a 30 year period, even a million dollars would be a meager existence. You essentially revert back into a middle-class living like you were while you were saving up for the "good times". Also, if you're spending a ton of time saving money up for your retirement, you're going to be super bored with all of your free time after retirement. Many people go and find another job just because they have nothing to do in their later years.
Give Yourself Time To Rest
It's also in your best interest to give yourself times to rest. This is where the "mini-retirements" come in and more on this later.
The Difference Between Being Lazy and Working Less
Have you ever noticed that our culture seems to reward us based on how busy we are versus the progress we make? We're encouraged to work these 9-5 shifts, despite the fact that many of these jobs are highly inefficient uses of our time. More meaningful results should be considered far more valuable than amount of time that's spent. There's a huge difference between being productive and busy.
"The Timing Just Isn't Right..."
Something else that hinders us timing. Let's face it, the timing is never going to be perfect and I'm guilty of using this as an excuse more times than I can remember. This doesn't mean to go crazy and not evaluate the state of your life at a given time, but don't let that be what stops you from doing what you've always wanted to.
Ask For Forgiveness, Not Permission
This is an interesting point that I've yet to try because there isn't a place to use this, but it's an interesting insight. If you want to do something and it won't hurt those around you or cause significant damage, do it and then ask for forgiveness if you screw up. Don't go crazy, but people are much more likely to accept something in hindsight than they are before it's happened. If it's a success, then awesome. If it isn't then lesson learned.
Work On Your Strengths
Let's face it, we all have flaws, but trying to fix those flaws is easier said than done. It's much more in our interest to work to our strengths than to fix every little flaw we come across. This is one of the more obvious of the rules, but still sound advise.
Too Much Of A Good Thing
Anything in excess becomes its opposite. This is true of money, possessions, and even time. Your should spend your time doing what you want to do, not what you feel obligated to.
Money Isn't The Answer
We've all heard this one before. It's a typical cliche, but that doesn't mean it's not true. You should live for your ambitions, not for money or a "comfortable existence" much later in life.
Relative Vs. Absolute Income
Everybody it seems classifies their job by how much they make per year, but that is such a large time-span to judge things by. A lot can happen in a year and some years can be far more financially troubling than others. Absolute income is defined this way and makes it seem like two people making $100,000 per year have similar jobs. But what if you see that one person works 80 hours per week and another works 10 hours week. Suddenly, the amount per hour is drastically different. The first person makes roughly $25 per hour while the second person makes $100 per hour. Of course, we all want to work less, but the point Ferriss is trying to make is that we should value our income based on the amount of money and time it takes to get it.
Distress Vs. Eustress
Okay guys, this is the last one. This blog entry has gotten a lot longer than I meant it to, but oh well. The point shouldn't be to eliminate stress from your life. Distress is bad and refers to harmful stimuli in our lives. A less-used term is eustress which means healthy stress that refers to healthiness or a sense of fulfillment. It's used as a synonym for "euphoria" often and the more we apply to our daily lives, the sooner we can actualize our dreams.
Retirement Is For Worst-Case Scenario
Retirement planning should be seen as a worst-case scenario and this idea is fundamentally flawed for a number of reasons. It assumes that you dislike right now, when you're in the prime of your life and that some day you will live the "good life". The branches off into the other reason which is that most people won't be able to retire on a completely sustainable standard of living. Over a 30 year period, even a million dollars would be a meager existence. You essentially revert back into a middle-class living like you were while you were saving up for the "good times". Also, if you're spending a ton of time saving money up for your retirement, you're going to be super bored with all of your free time after retirement. Many people go and find another job just because they have nothing to do in their later years.
Give Yourself Time To Rest
It's also in your best interest to give yourself times to rest. This is where the "mini-retirements" come in and more on this later.
The Difference Between Being Lazy and Working Less
Have you ever noticed that our culture seems to reward us based on how busy we are versus the progress we make? We're encouraged to work these 9-5 shifts, despite the fact that many of these jobs are highly inefficient uses of our time. More meaningful results should be considered far more valuable than amount of time that's spent. There's a huge difference between being productive and busy.
"The Timing Just Isn't Right..."
Something else that hinders us timing. Let's face it, the timing is never going to be perfect and I'm guilty of using this as an excuse more times than I can remember. This doesn't mean to go crazy and not evaluate the state of your life at a given time, but don't let that be what stops you from doing what you've always wanted to.
Ask For Forgiveness, Not Permission
This is an interesting point that I've yet to try because there isn't a place to use this, but it's an interesting insight. If you want to do something and it won't hurt those around you or cause significant damage, do it and then ask for forgiveness if you screw up. Don't go crazy, but people are much more likely to accept something in hindsight than they are before it's happened. If it's a success, then awesome. If it isn't then lesson learned.
Work On Your Strengths
Let's face it, we all have flaws, but trying to fix those flaws is easier said than done. It's much more in our interest to work to our strengths than to fix every little flaw we come across. This is one of the more obvious of the rules, but still sound advise.
Too Much Of A Good Thing
Anything in excess becomes its opposite. This is true of money, possessions, and even time. Your should spend your time doing what you want to do, not what you feel obligated to.
Money Isn't The Answer
We've all heard this one before. It's a typical cliche, but that doesn't mean it's not true. You should live for your ambitions, not for money or a "comfortable existence" much later in life.
Relative Vs. Absolute Income
Everybody it seems classifies their job by how much they make per year, but that is such a large time-span to judge things by. A lot can happen in a year and some years can be far more financially troubling than others. Absolute income is defined this way and makes it seem like two people making $100,000 per year have similar jobs. But what if you see that one person works 80 hours per week and another works 10 hours week. Suddenly, the amount per hour is drastically different. The first person makes roughly $25 per hour while the second person makes $100 per hour. Of course, we all want to work less, but the point Ferriss is trying to make is that we should value our income based on the amount of money and time it takes to get it.
Distress Vs. Eustress
Okay guys, this is the last one. This blog entry has gotten a lot longer than I meant it to, but oh well. The point shouldn't be to eliminate stress from your life. Distress is bad and refers to harmful stimuli in our lives. A less-used term is eustress which means healthy stress that refers to healthiness or a sense of fulfillment. It's used as a synonym for "euphoria" often and the more we apply to our daily lives, the sooner we can actualize our 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.
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.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
The 4-Hour Work Week
So, I've been wanting to start posting about this book and how it influences my life for some time now and now that it's Spring Break, I can finally start to organize things. I'll probably go chapter-by-chapter trying to integrate this stuff into my life and see how it affects me. I haven't worked out the finer details just yet. Here's a preview of the book. I've already read parts of this book and it has a lot of good things one can glean from its pages, despite the sort of ultimate problem solving approach overview below.
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Whether you're an overworked employee or an entrepreneur trapped in your own business, The 4-Hour Work Week is the compass for a new and revolutionary world.
Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan—there is no need to wait and every reason not to. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, high-end world travel, monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, this book is the blueprint.
You can have it all—really.
Join Tim Ferriss, popular guest lecturer in entrepreneurship at Princeton University, as he teaches you:
- How to outsource your life and do whatever you want for a year, only to return to a bank account 50% larger than before you left
- How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs
- How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of little-known European economists
- How to train your boss to value performance over presence, or kill your job (or company) if it's beyond repair
- How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent “mini-retirements”
- What automated cash-flow "muses" are and how to create one in 2-4 weeks
- How to cultivate selective ignorance—and create time—with a low-information diet
- Management secrets of Remote Control CEOs
- The crucial difference between absolute and relative income
- How to get free housing worldwide and airfare at 50-80% off
- How to fill the void and creating meaning after removing work and the office
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Life
What does it mean to be amongst the living? Some might say that to live is to maintain a life and survive each day. Others might define it a little differently. Anybody can stay alive, but to be among those that truly live seems to be rare in this day and age. People get so bogged down with their lives, their emotional baggage, their obligations, that they can find themselves among the living dead. Each day is just one step towards a goal, be that a successful career, a family, or some end goal that they have set up for themselves. There's nothing wrong with these dreams, but the problem is the perception of the journey. To many people, they see the journey as merely the pathway to a happy lifestyle some time down the road. The journey is seen as a vehicle, and as such, many people don't appreciate the journey and what it has to offer. The journey could be so much more than what people see it as. Instead, people idly sit by and let their lives run on autopilot and cannot appreciate the beauty that is everyday life. I've been guilty of this countless times and I've found myself slipping back into that same state of sedation. My life oftentimes seems to follow a pattern of automation at times. Wake up, go to school, do homework, go to work, then sleep. There's no bettering of oneself and no appreciation of the here and now in a schedule like that. I have to snap myself out of the situation oftentimes and that's why I've created this blog. This blog is meant to keep me on track, to help me truly experience life to the fullest. I don't want to miss out on a single moment that life has to offer.
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