Image by: Unsplash
By James Reubin
When you try to live simple, you’ll be amazed at how uncomplicated and happy your life becomes. On the contrary, when you choose to indulge yourself with unnecessary pleasures, you risk wasting the best years of your life.
My cousins, Ray and Steve, are both very accomplished professionals. Within 5 years, they were repeatedly promoted and became the heads of major departments in their respective companies. Both of them made a lot of money.
However, when it comes to managing their earnings, they’ve never shared the same principles.
Steve loves to indulge his pleasures. He likes to eat at fancy restaurants and shop for expensive things; the last thing he wants is to be seen wearing or using stuff that is not branded. In addition, he also doesn’t mind taking personal loans to go on luxury vacations, which he never fails to show off on his social media accounts.
Ray, on the other hand, is the total opposite of Steve. He is very much disciplined when it comes to spending his hard-earned money. Some of his colleagues even find him cheap because he always brings home-cooked meals to work and rarely eats out with them. He also loves to travel, but unlike Steve, he waits for special promotions to make sure he gets the cheapest travel deals.
At the peak of their careers, Steve has remained loyal to his company while Ray decided to quit his job to team up with his best friend and start their own e-cigarette business.
In less than 3 years, Ray turned their small business into an empire. Unfortunately for Steve, their business didn’t do very well for the last two years so they ended up closing down.
With the kind of lifestyle Steve had, obviously he didn’t have much savings in his bank account. However, looking for a new job wasn’t a problem for him because of his outstanding work background. But the thing was, he didn’t want to take a job that offered a lower salary than what he used to get. So, he waited and waited for months for a job offer that never came.
When his separation pay was almost finished, Steve ended up accepting a proposal that offered way less than the previous companies that had contacted him.
Today, he finds himself sitting in a small office with a defective air conditioning system. He feels miserable looking at his new work environment while he tries to digest the sandwich he prepared at home for lunch.
To live in simplicity means to live life on your own terms and not on the norm of happiness that society dictates.
It’s all about self-reliance or the ability to think for yourself without being influenced by outside factors such as other people’s opinions and social media. If everyone is getting crazy because of the new iPhone 6s Plus, it doesn’t mean you have to buy one too just to be “in.”
Get rid of the distractions and focus on the essentials.
We should learn to minimize and let go of the things that don’t have any relevance in our lives. Too many unnecessary things just drain our bank accounts and energy. They keep us from spending time on the things that really matter.
In “How to Get Financial Freedom When You Can’t Increase Your Salary,” writer Hoang Bui explains that financial freedom happens when our income exceeds our expenses.
The formula is simple: know your income and spend less than you earn. It doesn’t make sense portraying an extravagant lifestyle especially when you’re struggling with money and can’t even get out of debt.
Declutter the thoughts that are making you unhappy, uncomfortable and demotivated.
To learn to love yourself more and draw good vibes in your life, check this out – “3 Key Ingredients to Attracting Your Soulmate.”
Guys, learning to accept change is integral to your happiness and to your overall success.
Battling the inevitable is a pointless combat and a total waste of time and energy. For a change, try to welcome the “new” and the “unfamiliar” and try adjusting your attitude instead of trying to change the whole situation.
Learn how these Facebook communities survived despite the developments in the digital world. They didn’t let their passion die instead, they adapted to changes and had men and menswear at the forefront of the female-dominated fashion.
Find an inspiration and take note of the things that empowers you.
An inspiration doesn’t always have to be a hero or someone who makes headlines. It can also be found in nature and can be as simple as an ordinary thing and idea.
You can also find a lot of wisdom in a shot span of words like these 15 popular quotes that have inspired a lot of people to change their lives.
Shed the unnecessary and the things that are not serving you. Focus on the things that you can control instead of wasting your time worrying about the things that you have no control of.
There is so much happiness in simple living. And if you start now, you’ll eventually learn to value and appreciate the things that really matters like the beauty of sunset, the feel of the wind on your face, the sound of laughter and time spent with friends.