“An old friend of mine, a journalist, once said that paradise on earth was to work all day alone in anticipation of an evening in interesting company.”
Ian McEwan – Machines Like Me
I often think about quotes like these. We tend to pursue big dreams, but we forget the best things in life are simpler. Have you ever noticed how the small things are the ones you wouldn’t give up for anything? It could be anything. Going on long walks without your phone, exploring the outside world, or playing with small children. As long as what you do, you do for its own sake and not to get some reward, you’ll be fine. “Before enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water”, as the old Zen proverb says.
We all want wealth, for example, but pursue it for the wrong reasons. Wealth isn’t about buying fancy toys or spending afternoons sipping margaritas on white-sanded beaches. You don’t want wealth to upgrade your lifestyle, you want wealth because it buys you freedom. “People want to control their lives. The ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long as you want, is priceless”, Morgan Housel wrote in The Psychology of Money.
See how others spend their time and where that takes them. In most cases, the people who eat too much, exercise too little, and consume a lot of content feel lost in life. Entrepreneur Derek Sivers, wrote the following in the book Hell Yeah or No: “You get no competitive edge from consuming the same stuff everyone else is consuming. It’s rare now, to focus. And it gives such better rewards.”