Act Poor – Be Rich

Associating objects with status is a sentiment most commonly associated with a society based on consumerism. We buy fancy jewelry, cars, clothes (...) as a way to show our wealth. 

Some brands appear fancy, as a way to appeal to the masses, without actually being that superior in any meaningful ways other than brand image. Many would consider Apple phones, for example, to be “premium/fancy” when in reality, from a technological stand point, it’s just an overpriced piece of technology. 

People buy into the status more so than the phone itself.

I will always remember when I first started working in my career. I was living in a new town, near a low income street, and could barely afford it. I had an old phone and kept meeting people, from those low income houses, that had the latest/greatest versions of these devices. The desire to appear financially successful is very much alive regardless of one’s income.

The issue with this mindset is that, by acting rich, we remain poor. The only way to be rich is to act poor. We need to live below, not beyond, our means – always.

Choosing Our Problems

I once attended a leadership seminar where the speaker said "those of you who are single have single problems and those of you who are in a relationship have relationship problems... part of life is about choosing the sort of problems that you want."

Life is FILLED with problems and we get to choose some to take care of. If we play soccer, we're responsible to resolve soccer related problems. If we choose a specific career path, then we choose to resolve problems related to that career.

A friend of mine said that she wished she was married as it would resolved most of her current problems. While that may be true, marriage will introduce a set of new problems to deal with.

Of course, sometimes life forces problems unto us, such as a disease, that we have to deal with. We must learn to deal with our problems and choose the ones that best fit who we are.

The Many Distractions of Today

Never in our history have we had so much entertainment. This created a generation of individuals that knows more about the likes of “Star Wars” and very little about anything else. Important subjects, such as Politics, Economy, Law... are pushed aside in favour of imaginary worlds. This creates individuals that are ill-equipped to traverse the obstacles of the societies that allowed them these pleasures.

It is said that during the fall of the Roman Empire, as the Barbarian were at the gates of the city, the general populace wanted the Emperor to initiate "games" in the colosseum. All they wanted, as their society collapsed, was to be entertained. 

Some may say that "Ignorance is bliss" but that isn't true. Ignorance opens the door to be taken advantage of. Freedom comes with responsibility and that responsibility is to be educated enough to recognize when Freedoms are being taken away. Similar to the Romans, if all we care about is our distractions, while the barbarians are at our doors, then we may end up loosing our freedoms.

Allow yourself to be entertainment but also remember that you, as a citizen, have a responsibility to uphold the freedom that was given to you.

Everyone is a “Work in Progress”

I recently met someone who put a great deal of effort into her self-improvement. She felt like she was the only person in the world that was as “flawed” as she was hence why she “required to be fixed”.

The reality is that everyone is a “Work in Progress” and few people realize it with even fewer people putting in the effort to improve themselves. It’s extremely rare to find someone with the desire to become the best version of themselves.

If self-improvement doesn’t feel like a positive experience it’s because it’s approached from the perspective of “everything about myself is wrong and I need to fix it”.
For self-improvement to be a positive experience, the author must first understand that the raw material is already great and whatever effort is put in will make it shine brighter. 

The first step is to find peace with who you are currently. You’re not perfect but you have redeeming qualities that makes you great. The flaws you have aren’t as big as you make them out to be.