Life is tough... right??
That's what I was told when I was growing up.
Time and time again, my parents told me that in order to be successful I had to work hard, slave away, and make major sacrifices (like health and happiness).
"If you want success you have to work hard."
"Don't pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one."
"Pain is your friend; it is your ally."
These are all quotes I pulled from the internet. Seems like this whole hard work thing has been pretty well engrained.
The Truth Will Set You Free
Pulling straight from the wisdom that is Wikipedia Sahlins concludes that the hunter-gatherer only works three to five hours per adult worker each day in food production. source
Three to five hours a day!?! Why the F*** am I working 60-70 hour weeks? Those bastards... oh wait, I don't live that life anymore.
The time to thrive is now.
We are living in insanely technologically advanced society (relative to our species history) where the amount of work that we NEED to do in order to survive has fallen drastically.
For this reason we now have the opportunity to truly live as the kings and queens of yesteryear lived...
BUT…. many of us are not taking advantage of this privilege.
Whether by our own coercion or the trickery of others, so many of us are working more than our forefathers did.
IT IS NOT NECESSARY!
I will tell you once and I will tell you again.
In Thoreau's "Walden", the author claims to need to only work SIX weeks out of the year in order to support himself.
SIX!!!! That's just over 10% of his year!
Even if his numbers weren’t 100% accurate, the fact of the matter is that we are working much more than WE NEED to in order to support ourselves… hmm, I wonder where that extra productivity is going (that’s a story for another post)
Just Say No
How many weeks of the year do you have off? I bet it is less than the time he spent working.
There has been a cultural revolution leading people to believe that they need more, they need to consume more, they need to possess more and in turn, to support these ravenous habits, they need to work and produce more.
IT IS NOT TRUE!
Build Your Dream Life
If you are familiar with Tim Ferriss you are probably aware of his philosophy of creating a lifestyle income. How much do you need to be making a month in order to support the lifestyle that you want to live.
When you switch your mindset from asset accumulation to "bare living" (not to say that you can't live lavishly), you see how much LESS you really need to accomplish the things that you want.
I am not advocating shrinking, accomplishing less or being cheap.
What I am saying is that if you really want to be happy in this life, and trust me, happiness is VERY attainable, you need to seriously ask yourself, "What do I really want out of life?"
When you have an answer to this question, and are confident about its validity, (not that it won't change over time) then you can really start creating the life of your dreams.
Figured out you only need 60% of your current salary to accommodate your wants/needs?
Negotiate with your boss to let you only work 3 days of the week. Even better, convince him that having the flexibility to work from home will decrease your stress levels and increase your productivity. Take that trip to Asia that you have been dreaming about for years.
The Future Is Now
We are living in the future that we dreamed about as children. The potential we have now is nearly limitless. All it takes is a wild imagination, a bit of courage and persistence to create the lives of our dreams.
When we remain inactive or stagnant through fear we are letting our lives slip away from us.
I CHALLENGE YOU to take ONE STEP in a positive direction today. Make one action that leads you closer to your dream life.
It will take only a moment of your time, AND it may lead to an irreversible shift that brings you nothing but joy and happiness.
Get Happy!
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