The Power of Words
Starting Each Day With A Little Thinking...Blog Challenge Day 26
We’re closing in on the end of the blog challenge. Today Natalie asks us about scaling down:
Could you live a minimalist lifestyle? Why or why not? OR What does minimalism mean to you in the context of your ideal lifestyle?
This is a great question that provided me some interesting insights as I pulled my response together. Let’s start with answering the question: Could I? Yes. Would I? Not at this point in time. Two key things come to mind when I start to think out my answer to this question. The first is “need versus want” and the second is “situation or context”.
First, let’s take on the “need versus want” issue. Minimalism in my mind is about identifying what you really wand in life and recognizing that in all likelihood you don’t need very many things to get there. Over the years I’ve gotten — thanks to my wife’s help — very good at identifying my needs versus my wants. Fortunately — or unfortunately some might say! — I still indulge myself with many of my wants as I can. The real question that I grapple more and more with is “do I really want this?” or “why do I want this?”. As time moves forward I certainly see more of a trend towards minimalism. However, at this point in time, I’m not willing to put aside many of my possessions. Does that make me shallow? Maybe.
Next, let’s turn to “situation or context”. While I’m not a big Bible thumper, the old verse (Matthew 19:24) about “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God”. At this point in time, I’m still too seduced by all my possessions to set them aside. In fact, if you were to create a graph with time on the x-axis and “level of seduction with things” on the y-axis, I think you would see a nice bell shaped curve for most of us:
- When we are young, we are idealistic and not so interested in all of the things; and, instead focused more on ideals.
- As we age, we climb up the curve and become more seduced by the material things in life. We need to keep up with the Joneses.
- At some point in time we have the revelation that our time here is fleeting. Suddenly our infatuation with things starts to diminish.
For me, I crossed the peak of the curve a while back and am quickly heading down the right side of the curve. However, I’m not quite there yet.
If you want some more information on the challenge, check out the post on day twenty-six at:
http://suitcaseentrepreneur.com/blogchallenge/blog-challenge-day26
Counter
Counter intuitive. Counter clockwise. Counter to popular opinion.
When I think of counter, the word “against” comes to mind. And when I think of “against” I think of conflict. Which is probably why it’s so hard for most of us to go counter to anything. The path of least resistance by its very nature is often the easiest. And while taking that path is often the most efficient for the short term, in the long term it’s the willingness to go counter to the norm that results in the big changes.
We all know this and yet we remain stuck far too long in the norm versus stepping out.
With that in mind:
What would it really hurt if you went counter to the crowd and pursued what you knew was the best long term alternative?
As always, thanks for the time.
Blog Challenge Day 25
Today Natalie asks us to reflect on the self development we require:
- What skills do you need to build or refine to be a happy Suitcase Entrepreneur?
This one came pretty easy as self awareness is something that I feel I have a pretty good handle on:
- At the top of the list is networking. While “content is king”, it’s not going to help you unless you have a network to leverage / to help you get the word out to others.
- Second on the list, is a bit strange one: willingness to spend money. I’ve always been extremely frugal. And while I’m the first to point out that we all trade time for money, all too often I do not value my own time appropriately.
- Third would be focus. When I lock on to something it gets done and done well. The key is to make sure I know what I’m going to lock on to and do so.
- Finally, I need to improve on my willingness to practice. Most things come relatively easy for me; and, as a result, I can perform at a more than satisfactory level with minimal focus. While that’s good, it’s also bad as it prevents me from taking my game to the next level
If you want some more information on the challenge, check out the post on day twenty-five at:
http://suitcaseentrepreneur.com/blogchallenge/blog-challenge-day25
Rest
Today’s topic choice seemed particularly appropriate given that I’m taking a couple of days off to stretch a 3 day weekend to 5.
It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and focus on the next task at hand. However, unless your to do list contains a specific item labeled “rest” (or something similar) it’s incomplete! While I’m all for hard work, there’s a need for balance in life and down time or rest is critical.
With that in mind:
When have you scheduled your next rest time?
As always, thanks for the time.
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