Hey, world,
Last night, to wind down, I watched a documentary about two guys who have this philosophy called Minimalists. They believe that you can be happier owning less things.
This idea reminds me of the Jain religion in India. A fundamental tenant of that faith is that the less you own the better. The idea is that with ownership comes attachment and problems. I think minimizing the physical things you own is a great idea. But the difference between the philosophies is Jainism refers to owning personal items, and it appears that the minimalist idea is to work less and own very little. Hmmm. I like the Jain take on this. In fact, Jains are the most wealthy in their region. They have money and invest it. Their wealth grows because they still earn but they reduce their spending. They have wealth, but not the burdens of physical attachment.
In 2006, I read an article in a church magazine called the Cost of Riches by Lynn G. Robbins. The article stuck with me. It was about the idea that sometimes our possession rule us instead of the other way around. That people can live at the level of living at the beginning of the century and only work a few hours a week.
And more recently, I read a book (rather listened to the audiobook) by Tim Ferris called The Four Hour Work Week. His idea was much better.
It is as follows:
- Figure out what you want to do with life (what makes you excited)
- Improve your productivity by doing more with less time
- Use your extra time to build a scalable online business
- Make money
- Then just do what you want
Anyone can comment