An interesting discussion arose in a session with clients today, where we were talking about how the perception of the "rich person" has changed over the years, as well as the reality. They were talking about an old businessman who died in the seventies, who was overweight and a heavy drinker - which was typical for the time. However nowadays, the same type of person is someone who looks after their body and mind, as well as working long hours. It is quite a shift.
However, this led us into a discussion about the difference in culture today and how we tend to do things that are easy and convenient, even though we know we don't feel good about it. We looked at it through the lens of what we do and eat after work, where those with money are able to both eat conveniently and healthily, as they can afford to buy as they please. But someone who can't afford daily healthy takeaway, will look to eat out of convenience as well as cost saving and in general, convenient unhealthy food is cheaper than convenient healthy food. Whereas if you actually shop for food at a supermarket, healthy food is cheaper, but it isn't as convenient.
My clients brought up how in Finland over the last few months there has been a push to highlight processed foods as an unhealthy option, which prompted me to bring up how there is a difference between how I shop, and how my wife shops at the supermarket. When it is just me doing the shopping, there is far less packaging than when my wife does the shopping. I don't look for convenience as much as she, and I think that this is at least partially driven by her not wanting to cook to much when she comes home after work. Of course, I cook also, but when she shops, she has her cooking in mind, not mine.
We discussed this a little from the perspective of the proverbial "richer and poorer" person and the differences between their work. As far as studies go, the more people get paid, the longer hours they work with the one percent around three times more likely to work more than fifty hours a week. However, they are also the ones who tend to look after their mind and body better also, right?
But, I think there is a key difference, at least at the general level, because it could be that the top one percent have jobs they value more and are inspired by, meaning they also want to do more of it. Not only this, when they come home from a hard day at work, they are energised by the type of work they do, meaning that they also have the "psychic" energy to go to the gym or eat a healthy meal. The energy means their willpower can be more intact at the end of the day also.
With the average person though, they are coming home after doing a wearing job that doesn't necessarily provide a great deal of motivation or inspiration, it is just task after task getting done, because that is what the job description dictates. After a day of this, a person's willpower is likely lower and their frame of mind isn't focused on being better tomorrow, it is on avoiding thought and recovering from the day. Faster, more processed food, less exercise, and more time spent on mindless activity in front of a screen.
As I have mentioned a couple hundred times in the past, I think that by seeking convenience, we are massively impacting our potential to not only be the best version of ourselves, but also feel the best about our experience. We eat highly processed foods because it is easier, but it makes us feel (and look) worse. We sit in front of a screen as an escape, even though we feel worse for it over time, and it affects our body, mind and ability to think with clarity and patience. We relax into entertainment, even though ultimately, it pus stresses on our lives and bodies by degrading us and our relationships, which increases stress.
We don't do what we know we should.
It is quite crazy, isn't it?
We talk about being rational and doing what is in our own self-interest, but our self-interest isn't about increasing our wellbeing, it is about maximising convenience and minimizing work. And doing this lowers our life satisfaction, not increases it. It is not that every waking moment has to be intently focused on growth, but I at least believe that the majority of us have reduced our growth mindset to the point that it is almost non-existent, favouring ease instead.
Eventually, too much ease, leads to disease.
Illness is not very convenient.
Taraz
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Few days ago I had similar conversation with my brother, remembering the old days, when we used to cover 14 km walk to rich our village. But now the young kids not even ready to walk 14 steps. They simply rely on motorbike even to got at village shop. It is completelly true, the more convenience we seek, the more we are risking ourself ...
It is pretty crazy these days. I see kids on scooters who look like they haven't walked in six months.
This cracked me up so much XD I can see how that would be happening in the wider world. At least in my area I do see people of all ages walking around a little bit, it could be due to the convenience of my location though (there are some small "village" type shops in the area and also a lot of public transport options so they're probably going to get a snack or hang around at one of the nearby parks or going to the bus or train). Doesn't mean they are all particularly fit or healthy but at least they're moving I guess so less unfit and unhealthy than they could be?
Only vaguely related it's been a good while since I touched 14-15km, should probably go on another hike at some stage.
Things must be different over there because this isn't the case in the US. I used to break down our grocery bill into the different categories and it never failed the fruits and vegetables section of our bill was often a full 50%. Now, part of that is probably because we eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, but when a single red or orange pepper is $2.50 and I can buy a family size bag of chips for $1 to $2, it's a pretty glaring disparity.
Oh, it is definitely different here. The US is a food anomaly in the world I think - likely due to the "benefits" of profit at any cost. Fresh food is relatively cheap in Europe, compared to all the packaged crap. But, if you look at pure energy, it is far cheaper to buy the bag of chips, but it doesn't have much of anything else in there but energy.
Yes, it definitely sounds opposite there.
The only way out, as I see it, is to consider the long-term effects of choosing convenience over growth. How bad our lives will be as we age. How we will fail to realize our full potential. Then make a determination to pursue growth at whatever cost. Just like a person who hates their job continues to work it, because they are scared of what troubles they will experience if they lose it and not get another. And so they keep at the job even if they are mentally and physically exhausted. That's how we should consider the disadvantages of choosing convenience to the point it scares us. It might just be enough to motivate us to do what is right.
The trouble is that we have been conditioned to favour the moment over all the moments to come. Our oldest wiring is easy to be taken advantage of, because originally the things it desired were hard to get. Now, the same things, like sugar or entertainment, are easy to get, but the body still wants more. We evolve very slowly.
Well, short term sacrifices for long term benefits should be the atitude to be promoted, in my opinion. But in terms of semantic, you know what I say, rich is the one who have plenty of time, while wealthy, most of the people chase the idea of wealth, not of a rich life. And there are those trapped in a menial life, with little chance to rise out of it. Maybe crypto will bring a solution, but right now we are seeing just the rich getting richer, with the occasional lucky one.
I get the sentiment of the rich with more time, but I suspect that a lot of people have a lot of time now, but it is what they do with their time that is making their lives so miserable. It isn't the amount of work, because two people can both have the same forty hour a week job, with one full of life, and the other close to death. It is what they do in the other 128 hours of the week that matter.
Yes. And they are getting richer on the back of consumers that they are selling all their crap to!
That is true, there is a lot of crap to sell in the crypto market.
If I ask the question why a person is never rich, it is not because he is lazy or unintelligent. He is not really rich because what he thinks he is rich does not really exist around him. When most people say we want to be rich, they do not mean just money. They mean reaching a place where everything is complete, including happiness, freedom, and security. Therefore, no matter how much money we accumulate, we will never feel rich. Because we are looking for something that money cannot buy.
Monetary wealth is only one aspect of life of course, but there are people who are poor and unhappy too, right? Money might not be everything, but not having any isn't good either.
Recently I saw the annonce of some musical show. One of the participants admitted that music and words in his song were created by AI... This makes me sad.
Entertainers who are giving up their competitive advantage and lowering the skill so that anyone can do it. Who is going to watch that crap when 90% of people are creating it?
yes yes and YES, I want to be like this guy..
(but with a LONG life, too bad he a dead so young..)
Bruce Lee didn't do anything because it was the easiest thing to do.
"Be like water" is about constant change and adapting to the environment, whatever is required.
:) yes.. like water. I wish he were still around.. I wonder what he wud be like older..
Convenience. Maybe if we translate convenience into time, it makes more sense. Convenience not as in being easy, but as in saving us more time. We all have only a certain amount of time allotted to us on earth. No one knows what that allowance might be. So, while buying convenience food might possibly lead to less health--that's not guaranteed. So many elements go into health. Genetics. Environment. At work, for example, maybe exposure to toxic materials. At home maybe exposure to pollutants in water. Just driving around, all the pollutants a car produces. We can't control a lot of things in our lives. But, saving time, saving precious hours each day is a definite. Grab that time back from the void :) Maybe that convenience food will add to disease in the long run. Maybe not. One thing is certain: if I save an hour of cooking time each night, I have something I can spend right now, today. That's a certainty.
I disagree. Everyone is saving "time" but they are costing life. They eat crap food to save twenty minutes cooking, and then spend the next two hours scrolling instagram. Time well spent?
So what do you do with all your extra time on your hands?
I use every minute. My day is so full that when bedtime comes, I'm not ready. I need more time. There is so much to do...and I don't even have a job! Life is full. I'm never bored, never idle. How do I explain my time? I read. I write. I take care of the cat. Take care of the dog. Take care of my husband (who has been under the weather--not from food. From old age) Walk one hour every night with my daughter and the dog. Never watch TV anymore. No Facebook, META, Twitter, etc. Hive. Lots and lots of Hive. That's my hobby. Do watch streaming shows that I find interesting. Spend at least one hour every day, with my husband when we do nothing else but a common activity.
Life is rich. There will never be enough time. Food can be quick and not necessarily bad for you. Just had a sliced orange. Eggs are great. Sliced Parmesan with bread. I don't even brew my coffee...cold instant with 1% milk.
I'm just not obsessed with food or my health. Middle path. Be sensible and then forget about it. I made it to 78...
We are currently looking for easy ways to eat, one of which is processed foods. But these are not completely safe. However, what I think is that cooking ourselves is the safest, although sometimes we do not have time. But in this, we should definitely take out the cooking time and cook and eat processed foods or cheap foods from outside. A few days ago, I saw in a media report in our country that the pasteurized milk of a famous company in our country contains adulterated ingredients. Moreover, questions have been raised about the quality of food in various shopping malls or restaurants, and many have even been fined. However, I prefer food cooked by our family to food from outside. We should all do this and be aware of our health.
They are looking to cut costs too, which means that they are often using the cheapest ingredients, with the most processing. Sad, eh? Considering paying premium prices for a "better" meal.
Where I live, people living in the rural areas had physically fit bodies 40 years ago. This was because they were engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, devoting all their energy to these pursuits. Now, their bellies have grown so large that they can barely walk. The time they spend on agriculture and animal husbandry is now minimal. Villagers, who were purely producers, have now become consumers. They consume packaged and processed foods in the most uninformed way possible. They come to the city center every day and return to their villages without doing anything. They have become so accustomed to convenience and comfort that they even buy eggs from the city center. They consume eggs from chickens raised in those unsanitary conditions. The situation has become quite dire.
The health conditions in the agricultural places are eroding the more that they are welcoming in that processed, easy, convenient, lifestyle. It is crazy, isn't it? Don't people see themselves in the mirror, and feel their bodies when they wake up?
How simple it is to develop habits that hurt our health just to save time. Being mindful about our food choices can change not only our physical, but also well-being.
The things that are the worst for us, are the simplest to build the habits for it seems.
It's quite relative to one's growth to be frank. However there has been a marked growing awareness to be healthy amongst the younger populace...
I am not so sure about this. Look at the obesity rates. The younger generations seem to think that "feeling good now" is equivalent to health.
You mean KFC with cheese meatballs 😍😁
It's not just about Convenience but also about continuity...
When you are wealthy you can afford a personal chef who will cook whatever you want healthy or otherwise. Your job also has flexibility to eat when you desire, you can also hire a personal nutritionist and so on...
Inglés
Amigo lo que exponens es muy cierto, los que llegan del trabajo desmotivados tienden a emfermar mas, no les alcanza para comer mas sano y no tienen fuerzas para ir aun gimnasio ni recursos para pagarlos, es el caso general en mi país.
Friend, what you say is very true. People who come home from work unmotivated tend to get sick more often, they can't afford to eat healthier, and they don't have the strength or resources to pay for a gym. This is the general case in my country.
Thank you!