Tag: happiness

Becoming Professor Chaos- Why I Lie to Myself Every Day

I lie to myself a lot. I’m an honest person, more or less, but I frequently lie to myself because it helps me cope. Don’t worry, I will explain.

Some people are great at the type of self-talk where they bully themselves into submission. “You WILL eat these vegetables!!” they’ll say as they force another Brussels sprout into their mouths. Others go the opposite extreme where they make an excuse for themselves at every turn. “It’s okay, you don’t need to exercise today. You’ve had a hard week, you deserve some ice cream instead.” A lot of us don’t fall into either of these categories. We require a little more nuance to our self-talk.  Might I suggest my personal preference? I prefer to lie. Continue reading “Becoming Professor Chaos- Why I Lie to Myself Every Day”

How to be Happy with the Body You Have

How do you feel about your body? I’m talking about the whole package- the look, the shape, the general complexion, its abilities, and its shortcomings.

On a scale of body confidence are you more like this…

or like this…?

Continue reading “How to be Happy with the Body You Have”

The Good Day/Bad Day Teeter-Totter

I’ve been kicking around this idea for some time- the way we react to one event tends to set the course for how we’ll color events that happen the rest of the day. Once we get going in a certain direction, it becomes harder to switch course and easier to keep going down our same path. I call it the Good day/bad day teeter-totter. For example: I’m currently experiencing a very pleasant Sunday morning with my wife and daughter.  We’re having coffee, reading internet things, and practicing screeching. Fun times for all. I’m in a good mood.

The screeching, however, is getting louder and louder. She doesn’t need anything, she’s just practicing her vocal range. When the screeching reached a fever pitch I attempted to snap her out of her spiral of screeches by saying, “Hey.” but, what actually came out was “HEY!!” Continue reading “The Good Day/Bad Day Teeter-Totter”

Why Your Phone is Making You Kind of Sad

I have bad news. Your phone is making you sad. On the surface phones are great. They allow us to escape any moment at the drop of a hat, but they come at a steep price. That price is sadness.

Whenever we feel even the slightest twinge of boredom we can instantly run inside the tiny black mirror of our own personal computer. Thirty second Elevator ride? Phone. Waiting in line for five minutes? Phone. Watching a show with lots of small details and subtle hints that you’ll for sure miss if you don’t pay close attention? Phone.

Initially smart phones were a way to increase our happiness. We’d pull them out as a way to escape the boring parts of regular life. Now, over a decade after the release of the iPhone, we’re helplessly addicted. We get sucked in to the constant scroll and end up skipping not only the mundane moments, but the important ones too. We’re all guilty of this to some degree. Our phones don’t just come out out when we’re waiting in line by ourselves, they come out when we’re waiting in lines with friends. We pull our phones out when we’re having dinner with family, when we’re at concerts, and when we’re on scenic hikes. We pull our phones out and look down, while life right in front of us passes by. Don’t worry, we can do something to curb all this phone sadness. Continue reading “Why Your Phone is Making You Kind of Sad”

Gratitude and a Lukewarm Shower

I recently found myself taking an unintentional lukewarm shower. My wife had just given our daughter a bath, and then took a shower herself. There was only enough hot water left to make my shower lukewarm. Continue reading “Gratitude and a Lukewarm Shower”

You Might Not Exist- Simulation Theory

“One topic I feel the financial independence community hasn’t really tackled is the idea that we all might not exist.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have you heard of simulation theory?  Great.  That’s really great.  This is important information in your pursuit of FI specifically, and a better life generally.  The basic idea is we could very well be living in a simulation and we’d have no way of knowing.  We aren’t real humans, just a simulation of humans.  “Real” humans might not even exist, or they might be watching us as their entertainment.

You might be thinking that this is an asinine topic. I don’t blame you.

Anyway. Continue reading “You Might Not Exist- Simulation Theory”

Redefining Success and Chasing FI- The Boat vs. The Shore

Success is a Gold Boat

A lot of us go through our lives feeling unhappy.  Much of our unhappiness stems from not feeling successful enough.  We don’t make enough money and we don’t have nice enough things.  People never want our autograph unless we’re buying something from them.  In short, we’re worried we don’t measure up, and it leaves us feeling unfulfilled.  A lot goes into feeling unsuccessful.

Part of our unhappiness comes from comparing ourselves to others, and part comes from chasing the wrong things.  What actually makes us happy, and what we chase, are too often very different.

In order to fix this we need to do something.  Two somethings, actually.  One, we need to stop comparing ourselves to others.  Two, we need to start chasing the right things. Continue reading “Redefining Success and Chasing FI- The Boat vs. The Shore”

The Best Bite of Ice Cream

Which is the Best Bite of Ice Cream?

Depending on the flavor you get, the bites can vary slightly, but they’ll all share characteristics.  You might have one bite that is a better ratio of cookie dough to chocolate, and you might have a bite that’s all ice cream with no extra flavor at all.

Is the best bite a random bite somewhere in the middle of all that sugary chaos?  Is it the very first bite of a brand new, untouched carton?

The law of diminishing returns would say it’s the first bite because each subsequent bite brings less and less satisfaction.  This might be true if you were to eat the entire carton at once.  More evidence in favor of the first bite is the euphoric feeling you get knowing you have the entire carton left.  You’re not even close to running out.

The first bite is good, but it’s not the best.   Continue reading “The Best Bite of Ice Cream”

Combating Option Overload and Getting Back to Living

I’m often jealous of previous generations.  Not just because they got to eat bread without feeling guilty, but for the lack of options they enjoyed.  Don’t get me wrong, having no options isn’t fun, but having so many options your circuits get overloaded isn’t much fun either.

No matter what we’re doing, we have so many options that we can’t possibly try them all.  How do we know we’re choosing the right entertainment?  Blizzard flavor? Nigerian prince to send our money to? How do we know we’re not missing out?!

The fear of missing out makes having too many options stressful, rather than freeing, because we’re continually worried we’ll choose wrong.  From little decisions like What if I pick the wrong Netflix movie, to huge decisions like What if I pick the wrong Netflix series, we’re overloaded and stressed out with too many options at every turn in our lives. Continue reading “Combating Option Overload and Getting Back to Living”