I’ve heard that’s another great book. You’ve read it? I like the idea of striving for moderation, even becoming obsessed with it. It does seem to align with the tenets of Stoicism.
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I’ve always thought minimalism was closer to Stoicism than moderation. Just my take on the philosophy.
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This research comes from tobacco funded research specifically meant to provide an alternate narrative for smoking related health issues. I’m not saying it isn’t interesting or has no merit, just that it is actually intended as misinformation and propaganda and as such is suspect and should be considered carefully.
Inward focus does not bring fulfillment. We have diminishing returns in our pursuit of physical excellence. Once a man is healthy, looking outward helps. By that I do not mean the pursuit of material things. You gain greater fulfillment from making a positive difference somewhere. People are deeply satisfied if they manage to raise children that they are proud of, all of the energy and time poured into them is a worthwhile investment. The same can be done in other ways. Finding a way to have a positive impact on people and do something good is more rewarding than an ideal physique. Just saying.
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This is some wisdom right here.
I have watched with great delight over the past several weeks as two small, paired birds picked our back deck to build their nest, right up against the house. They labored for days initially to build the nest, both of them. Then eggs were laid and hatched through more labor. The next phase was several weeks of more labor hunting insects and ferrying them back to the nest. Yesterday, the young took flight. I imagine the two adults are very fulfilled indeed. They have done something very much worthwhile.
Again, as nature demands. Alan Watts also has a good bit to say on the topic. I like the Eastern balance he brings to Western stoicism.
@bkb333 You’ve already embarked on the greatest adventure. Now it’s just time to be the kind of animal you are.
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That even furthers its interest, thanks. Also, it furthers the absurdity of people using that term as a brag, as if there were something positive about it.
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It’s like when people brag about not getting sleep…or being busy…
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I’m drawn to Minimalism too. Loved the documentary. Matt D’Avella’s (the filmmaker’s) YT channel is one of my favorites. Has a strong philosophy on life and productivity as an achiever.
Love this. Appreciating beauty like this is the mark of a mature, wise man, IMO.
As men, we all go through our aggressive ‘warrior’ stage, but the ‘lover’ stage is just as necessary and valuable in the process of self-actualization.
I read about this process in The Masculine Journey.
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Pretty hard to be a minimalist to the extent that some people do it. I think the concept of not chasing possessions makes a lot of sense to me. I am not someone who chases status with material items, but do get caught up in strength and appearance. Lots of financial, and stress benefits with minimalism.
I will say powerlifting has lowered my emphasis on appearance a bit. Used to be really concerned about looking a bit fatter or what not when BBing, then I got into PLing, and got a bit fat chasing performance, now I am in the middle.
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Totally agree on the financial aspect. Wife and I have shared a beat-down old car for three years though we could afford two new cars. When you let go of caring what others think of your possessions, it eliminates so much financial pressure and actually acts as a trampoline toward wealth. This was my key takeaway from The Millionaire Next Door.
I’d love to be OK with getting a bit fat and caring more about performance. I think that’s a great headspace to be in (provided you don’t get fat to an unhealthy extent).
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My wife and I are pretty cheap with cars. I just got her an 09 ford focus that she likes a lot. I drive an 05 focus (both with manuals which makes it a bit more fun IMO). I bought both with cash, and only pay liability insurance. When I bought my house, my realtor was a bit frustrated with me. I figured, the starting spot should be about half what I qualify for. He thought I should be looking for houses that are in the range of 90% of limit up to the limit. I ended up a bit higher than 50%, but the house meets my needs, and I owe under 100K, as a 32 Y/O.
Have you ever read the blog: Mr. Money Mustache? He doesn’t post much anymore, so it has gone from an uber popular financial independence blog to not so popular anymore. The old articles have gold nuggets of wisdom in them IMO, and you can still get all of them for free.
Don’t go full powerlifter. I was about 230 lbs 25% bf at 5’10". I will say now that I am about 205 lbs, that I have a lot of muscle from that process. Another 10 lbs, and I reckon I will have pretty good abs (they are showing now, but pretty faint).
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Don’t even get me going on the financial stuff, haha. Part of the reason I married my wife is because she’s about the only person I’ve ever met crazier about finances than me. We save like 50% and could pay cash for whatever car we want. Instead I upgraded recently from a 2010 civic with 220K miles on it to a 2013 fusion hybrid with 100K on it, haha. The good news is another 5-6 years of that savings rate and incomes (hopefully) and I should be able to live off a few % of returns indefinitely or do some side work just to pay the basics and not pull from it at all for a few more years so it can grow some more.
Probably a bad time to bring it up but we also do the travel hacking thing. We’ve probably gotten 500K points at this point from signing up for specific credit cards, getting the points after spending whatever minimum they require then paying them off and never using them again. And companion passes at southwest so one ticket covers us both.
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So what is the end goal? Do you find it fun, like a game, to do this? Honest questions.
We do this. My wife and I have been literally all over the world on miles. It was pretty easy when I was flipping houses, I could hit the minimum spend for two to three cards on materials for one house.
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The ability to choose to work, be able to do something that pays less, but I enjoy more if I want. Also not worrying about layoffs is a big thing.
I think my life is almost the same as my peers. I just spend a lot less on cars and housing. My house is actually pretty up to date, it’s just only 1350 sqft. I then save the rest.
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Those are admirable aspirations.
My wife and I tried to do similar before children and then things kind of fell apart as expenses quickly overwhelmed income with their added expense and my wife take 15 years off to focus on the children. “Fell apart” probably isn’t the right term as it was all planned.
She is back to working full time now and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We did decide to buy a big house though but we keep most everything else fairly modest.
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@bkb333
Dude you look fucking amazing.
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Appreciate the kind words, brother! Quarantine has been a weird time — I’m fed up with the lack of socialization at this point — but I’m happy with how my cut has gone. It’s meant being probably a little too vigilant about tracking calories, though. Pros and cons, yanno.
How’s your physique progress? Still looking yolked?
Dave Ramsey had a huge impact on my life and is staunchly anti-credit cards, so I’ve long avoided them (don’t ever want to be in CC debt), but thinking you can really game the system if you’re smart about it — as you and @ncsugrad2002 clearly have been. Maybe I should do some research!
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I love Mr. Money Mustache! His interview with Tim Ferriss was tremendous. I need to dive back into Mr. MM’s stuff. Such a brilliant guy. Wish he was still active.
Did you notice any pros from going full powerlifter? Part of me wishes I could — or at least semi-powerlifter — so I’d stop caring so much about physique, which is annoying. Guessing you developed quite a bit of mass, though, despite the fat that accompanied it?