We’ve had a lot of “money talk” lately. I feel it’s time to dig into a little “personal wealth” as well, if you catch my drift!?
Part of the journey to FIRE is also a spiritual journey, in where you (most of us) try to find your inner balance along the way. What makes you happy and fulfilled? – Find out, and use FIRE as leverage to get more of it/spend more time doing what you love!
Society today dictates that we be skinny and fit, wear designer clothes and drive fancy cars, while we vacation on sunny islands and drink tropical drinks all day (while staying fit!). The youngsters today get more stressed and more depressed than ever, trying to keep up with the perfect instagram lifestyle(s). I’m here to tell you, to FUCK all that!
Total Balance (as in the inner balance) doesn’t come from any external source. If you are unhappy or unfulfilled, then nothing you can buy in this world is going to change that. If you’re feeling insecure, while looking at the perfect instagram pictures of the rich and famous, then stop looking at it! Only YOU can make YOU happy. It’s that simple.
This is also the reason, why I rarely step onto a scale. That number on the scale doesn’t say anything about me. The only thing that matters to me, is that I can fit in my clothes! (and I’m cheap, erhm – frugal, so I rarely buy new clothes!). I’ve worn the same belt for more than 15 years (I just realized this today). Every day (it was a birthday gift from my uncle – quality stuff, apparently)!
My belt has 5 holes and I’m currently in hole #4, which means I’m doing OK! I’ve only been in hole #5 once, and that was about 5 years ago (before I had kids!) where I was in the shape of my life 😉
These days I’m struggling a bit to keep my muffin top at bay (I’m being brutally honest here!). I wear pants in size 32/32 (waist/length), and I’ve done so for about 25 years (I’m quite proud of that!). When my belt hits hole #3 and my pants start to get too tight, I stop filling my face with crap and start exercising a little more. It’s really that simple 😎
I’d like to be in hole #4, so I try to stay fit – but I rarely succeed, if I’m honest. It kind of comes and goes in cycles. Sometimes I manage to stay in hole #4 for longer periods of time, but my main vice is anything with SUGAR in it, so staying fit and lean for me does require quite the amount of exercise (remember I don’t drink alcohol – so at least I don’t have to worry about those calories)! Which I’ve been having trouble doing enough of, for the past 3-4 years (surprise, kids are bad for your health! 😛 ).
I’ve read a bunch of those “10 advice to save money” posts (all FIRE blogs with respect for them selves eventually have such a post – mine is still to come!), and most of them touch upon the issue of staying fit to keep healthy, and remain in the same line of clothing. I usually wear jeans or canvas pants, and I have like 4-5 pairs that I switch between, but they tend to disintegrate after 4-5 years of use. “Luckily” we also have such a little thing as fashion, to keep our clothing in constant rotation anyway…
One thing that I’ve yet to find an answer to (I kind of consider this as the holy grail of FIRE), is what people do about underwear, socks and shoes?!
You can’t really buy any of them 2nd hand (2nd hand underwear? Kinda gross!), and yet those 3 are the most important pieces of your clothing (everyone needs them). I hate throwing away socks, underwear and shoes, but they simply won’t last me more than a few years of use (I only have 2 pairs of “daily shoes” in my rotation, and they typically only last 1 year/pair). “Luckily”, fashion is there to help us again. Who wants to wear black socks and pinstriped underwear anyway?! That’s SO last year…
I’ve found that with socks, shoes and underwear, you might as well go cheap (get decent shoes though!), as they wont last you very long anyway!
What do you guys do?!
Enough of this gooey sh…ow of emotions. More on Property #1 later this week! 😛
See ya!
A positive message Nick!
You touch upon the stress, being insecure and depressed due to all the ‘messages’ that you need to look ‘picture perfect’. Especially young people are very susceptible to that.
Couldn’t agree more: ‘FUCK all that’!!
Apart from that, I never seem to have a weight problem, no matter how little I exercise. That is not necessarily a good thing as not having a weight problem is not the same as ‘being in shape’. But in August I will participate in a mini-triathlon… There was a little bit of group pressure from my colleagues involved, but anyway I have started to exercise, swim and jog, to get ready 😉
That sounds absolutely horrible! Good luck 😛
Hola. Nice to see you going about staying fit. Its one of my topics as well. I have 2 fitness goals for 2019 and trying to stay with my morning exercise – cold shower – meditation. Its quite hard actualy as there are days when you are tottaly not in the mood. But whay you say about happines is actualy 50% of meditation trick. Its all in your head. How you relate to others, situations, emotions toughts ect.
Good luck staying in that #4 😉
Touché! I care about fitness, as I want to enjoy life without being a couch potato. That’s why I exercise regularly (weight lifting, Brazilian jiu jitsu, sometimes running) and try to eat somewhat healthy. Although I don’t let my happiness be dictated by Instagram, I do care about my body because I want to be fit and strong. Since three weeks, I even write a weekly article on health and fitness (including mental fitness which is perhaps the most important!)
Regarding cloths, I’m there with you. Wearing a lot of the same stuff over and over until they disintegrate is what I do. I do like wearing nice cloths, they just don’t have to be expensive or from big brand-names. As long as it’s quality and reasonably priced, I’ll wear it.
With socks though, I only wear HappySocks these days. It makes me stand out a little bit from all the other charcoal grey or navy blue suits in the office life, as I’m now “that guy with the crazy socks”. So I guess paying a bit more for these colourful socks is worth it to me.
I also like being fit, but to me the only way it can last, is if I do fun sports (i enjoy soccer and racket Ball), but these days I havent got alot of time to enjoy the fun sports. I go to the gym to Keep that belly in shape, and to Keep my core strong. I find core exercises to be extremely dull, but they are the most effective in the long run 😉
I recently bought some stocks that are partially made from bamboo fibres (keeps your feet cool and prevents odor – allegedly). I really like them, but they are not cheap, unfortunately! 😛