The obsolescence test is really useful, especially infrastructure versus decoration.
What makes this hard for people isn't the framework. It's truthfully asking: "whose approval are you purchasing?" and thinking long and hard enough to answer honestly.
Most people already know what truly matters. They just need permission to act like it.
When you say, “The hard part isn’t knowing; it’s being honest with ourselves and acting accordingly,” those words really stuck with me.
This may sound strange, but for me to spend a lot of money, it takes a lot of effort to be honest with myself—and even more effort to act accordingly. Those are two big hurdles. That said, in some cases I can get there and spend the money. In other cases, it becomes a vicious circle of overanalysis.
In the situations where I have spent a lot of money, I rarely regret it. So the process works. I just need to trust the process more consistently.
In some ways I’m happy it takes me so long to decide on spending. It makes me feel like I’ve done the hard work necessary to earn the reward. That mindset lowers the chances of regret.
Final thought: I wonder if people struggle more with the honest part or the action part.
Really insightful, self-aware stuff here that approaches me as healthy and balanced (for what that’s worth).
And as for your final comment, I surmise that different people have different challenges—and that we may even have different challenges at different points in our lives.
Regardless, I’m thankful for you sharing a piece of yours with me!
Beautiful Tim, as usual! QQ, do you think there could be utility in just having the money (ie, not spending it). I wonder if there's a secret judgement in the notion "you should spend your money, after all that's what it's there for... " etc... It could be that people live happily very modestly and knowing the money in the bank gives them a lot of comfort.
Agree with you 💯! I think it’s important to avoid judgement when one may derive a meaningful benefit knowing that they *didn’t* spend money. I just want to be inquisitive about the purpose, whether spent or saved. (And I do think the financial establishment has done enough to encourage saving and accumulating that we may need to occasionally free people to spend.)
The obsolescence test is really useful, especially infrastructure versus decoration.
What makes this hard for people isn't the framework. It's truthfully asking: "whose approval are you purchasing?" and thinking long and hard enough to answer honestly.
Most people already know what truly matters. They just need permission to act like it.
Very well said. I also think the first step to an honest answer is acknowledging the question, right?
When you say, “The hard part isn’t knowing; it’s being honest with ourselves and acting accordingly,” those words really stuck with me.
This may sound strange, but for me to spend a lot of money, it takes a lot of effort to be honest with myself—and even more effort to act accordingly. Those are two big hurdles. That said, in some cases I can get there and spend the money. In other cases, it becomes a vicious circle of overanalysis.
In the situations where I have spent a lot of money, I rarely regret it. So the process works. I just need to trust the process more consistently.
In some ways I’m happy it takes me so long to decide on spending. It makes me feel like I’ve done the hard work necessary to earn the reward. That mindset lowers the chances of regret.
Final thought: I wonder if people struggle more with the honest part or the action part.
Really insightful, self-aware stuff here that approaches me as healthy and balanced (for what that’s worth).
And as for your final comment, I surmise that different people have different challenges—and that we may even have different challenges at different points in our lives.
Regardless, I’m thankful for you sharing a piece of yours with me!
Beautiful Tim, as usual! QQ, do you think there could be utility in just having the money (ie, not spending it). I wonder if there's a secret judgement in the notion "you should spend your money, after all that's what it's there for... " etc... It could be that people live happily very modestly and knowing the money in the bank gives them a lot of comfort.
Agree with you 💯! I think it’s important to avoid judgement when one may derive a meaningful benefit knowing that they *didn’t* spend money. I just want to be inquisitive about the purpose, whether spent or saved. (And I do think the financial establishment has done enough to encourage saving and accumulating that we may need to occasionally free people to spend.)
"inquisitive about the purpose", very good! Thank you Tim!
I really (really) appreciate this feedback, and your willingness to share how it’s changing your thinking.