Why do so many people feel like crap?
Thinking out loud and an apology.
Thanks to everyone who subscribed last week. If you’re here for the interview I promoted on Twitter, sadly, it got pulled. Sorry.
Recently I shared my mission in retirement is to help people feel great, and how it helps me jump out of bed in the morning.
But it’s a pretty big and broad mission, and I don’t fully understand why so many people feel like crap.
The below is me thinking out loud about why that is, and I’m keen to hear your thoughts.
Why do so many people feel drained and burdened by modern life?
Is it because people are so focused on work that they're neglecting their health?
And if that’s true, why?
Is it because they think the things they’ll buy with the money they earn will make them happy?
Or is it more about self-esteem and identity? And the need to feel proud?
It’s probably a mix of both, but either way, I think a big reason people feel crap is they’re channelling all their energy into work, and leaving none to recharge.
And by recharge, I mean looking after your health and having fun with friends or family.
And because they’ve prioritised things like that, when work starts causing stress, they buy more stuff and work longer hours to deal with the stress, which makes things worse and eventually becomes a habit.
A habit that makes them more dependent on money and work to deal with stress, which causes stress because they keep spending lots of money, and the long hours strain relationships.
Perhaps these habits for dealing with stress explain consumerism and workaholism.
Two cancers of Western culture.
Anyways, this could all be a massive brain fart and I could be wrong about everything.
Either way, I’d love to hear what you think and help me understand why so many people don’t feel great.
The more material things we have, the more things we have to maintain, look after, and ultimately stress over.
Consumerism is basically all about "keepting up with the Joneses" in which case you'll never be happy as there will always be someone with more wealth or a facnier car or nicer house than you. Some of it is conspicuous consumption i.e. a signal to others that "you've made it" or whatever. Some of it is misguided belief that possessions will inherently bring happiness. Sure it's great to have nice stuff but the actual utility of a 70" TV or a luxury car is bugger all compared to average things.
On the job front some people do find meaning in their career but I think most people just end up in careers by accident or ones that help pay the bills. Personally I don't really love what I do but it's not too bad and I get well remunerated. It's not my identity though and it's way the down the list of things I'd tell someone about me if they wanted to get to know me. by contrast my mum was a doctor and when she retired she suddenly felt she had no identity. For so long she'd had been the doctor and was taking care of others and she really loved the vocation (even with the stress). Without that she struggled for a bit figuring out who she was in retirement and what to focus on.
Ultimately though most people find happiness via their relationships. Family and friends. Helping one another through life and creating memories. I doubt many people think about their nice car on their deathbed. Guaranteed it's those closest to them they are thinking about.
Happiness is a fascinating topic and if you want to go back in history it was the essential question the Greek philosophers were trying to answer. How to live a happy life. That was it. That was what they believed was the ultimate question to answer.