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Episode 3063:
Lisa Avellan, contributing to BecomingMinimalist.com, challenges the conventional ways of measuring life's success, often influenced by relentless advertising. She suggests five alternative metrics: gratitude, generosity, contentment, availability, and purpose. These measures encourage a simpler, more intentional life, free from the influence of consumer culture. Embracing these values leads to a life defined by personal satisfaction and meaningful contributions, rather than material possessions and societal expectations.
Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.becomingminimalist.com/better-ways-to-measure-your-life/
Quotes to ponder:
"Contentment is not the satisfaction of want; it’s the pursuit of having enough."
"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."
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[00:00:00] This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 3063 5 Better Ways to Measure Your Life by Lisa Avellan with BecomingMinimalist.com And I'm Justin Malik I'm gonna jump right into today's post as we optimize your life 5 Better Ways to Measure Your Life by Lisa Avellan with BecomingMinimalist.com
[00:00:25] This world is obsessed with measuring up Research shows were exposed to thousands of advertising messages every day and hidden inside each of those ads is a mistruth. You don't measure up until you buy our product. Ad agencies are good, real good.
[00:00:45] They know how to sneak into our psyches and change the story we tell ourselves. Before long our brains begin to believe their lie that our lives can be measured by what we buy, where, drive and live in. And while their bottom line bursts at the seams,
[00:01:03] the consumer is broke financially and otherwise. Measuring up is breaking us up. A New York Times article from 2008 written during the Great Recession shows how powerful a slogan like Live Richly can be. It even contributed to the housing bubble that negatively impacted so many lives.
[00:01:26] Sandeal Melanathan, an economist at Harvard who has studied persuasion and financial advertising said quote, It's very difficult for one advertiser to come to you and change your perspective but as it becomes socially acceptable for everyone to accumulate debt, everyone does end quote.
[00:01:46] Everyone does it so that makes it okay. As a culture we begin to measure our lives by the things we can buy because others are buying it too. The simple life is not immune to these advertisements
[00:02:00] and we aren't immune to the struggle of measuring our life by standards that contradict the way of simplicity. The nature of today's world being in constant reach of advertising through screens and print demands our intentionality of focus on the true measures of life.
[00:02:17] Designing a simple life invites us to measure our lives differently. We realize as we pare down that we don't have to keep up we don't have to buy, borrow, upgrade or upsize to secure our place in the world.
[00:02:33] I need reminders often that my worth isn't found by the world's measuring stick. I get to define my own success and live a meaningful and abundant life. You do too. Try these new measurements for size and simplify. Five better ways to measure your life. Number one, gratitude.
[00:02:56] With a measure of gratitude you gain the world. When you're grateful for what you already have you don't need more. Gratitude is always enough. This perspective is a shield to the thousands of messages of not enough we hear every day. Gratitude turns what we have into enough.
[00:03:17] We don't need to have those shoes, that device or that new car. Number two, generosity. Alchemforbes once said quote, to measure the man, measure his heart end quote. A great gift of simple living is the freedom to give.
[00:03:35] The infinite freedoms available when we design a life of less allows for infinite ways to be generous. Whether it's with our time, money, talents, hospitality, donations or airline miles. When the measuring stick of things ends generosity keeps growing. Number three, contentment. Advertisers bank on the public's perpetual discontent.
[00:04:02] In fact they create much of our discontent through their stealth wordplay and product development. It's evident in the lines outside Apple stores days before the next iPhone is released which has just enough new capabilities to make the previous model obsolete in the eyes of the consumer.
[00:04:20] Contentment is not the satisfaction of want, it's the pursuit of having enough and it invites an unmistakable freedom into our lives. Number four, availability. Bob Goff is known for his fun and whimsical personality.
[00:04:38] He famously put his personal cell phone number in the back of a New York Times bestselling book and he expects and answers calls. He makes himself available. He also says he plans his calendar nine months and one day in advance, no further,
[00:04:56] in case he is to become a grandfather. His purpose is to be available. Busyness is no way to measure a life. Busy is a thief. It's a phantom measure of worth and success and I'll never get as much done as availability will. Remain available.
[00:05:14] Learn to say no and measure your life by the things you get to say yes to. And number five, purpose. Ralph Waldo Emerson is quoted as once saying, The purpose of life is not to be happy. It's to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate,
[00:05:33] to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. If we pay too close attention to how the world measures life, we'll never understand the difference that our life or one life can make. Simplicity of home, time and character
[00:05:51] magnifies the very things we were designed for. It points us to the significance of who we are. We are purposed for much more than our net worth and closet size. Simplify and live well. The Great Recession of 2008 changed us.
[00:06:09] More and more people are looking for a new way, a simple way to live. As advertisers revamp their messages toward this post-recession culture, we can redefine the measure by which we live. It helps us to remember that best things in life can't be pitched in 30 second ads.
[00:06:32] You just listened to the post titled, Five Better Ways to Measure Your Life by Lisa Aveyan with becomingminimalist.com and I'll be right back with my commentary. Take it, Alisa, a guest writer on Joshua Becker's site.
[00:06:47] Ads are something we're all going to see and nothing will change that. We do have ads on this podcast because that's the only way we can afford to host thousands and thousands of episodes online and pay the hosts of our podcasts for their time
[00:07:02] and get help with editing, among other things. In my perspective, it's not the ads that are evil because it's in our power to choose what we do with that information and how much we let others dictate our lives, which is what I think Lisa was getting at.
[00:07:20] And Lisa has some great ideas for things to actually measure or think about, our gratitude, generosity, contentment, availability, and purpose. Even if we just consider one of these and think about it or maybe write a short journal entry about it,
[00:07:38] it can completely change how our day is framed and it could possibly affect what we choose to spend our money on. So definitely something to consider today, but I'll leave it there for now. Hope you're having a great start to your weekend if you're listening in real time,
[00:07:53] of course. Thank you for being here and an extra thank you. If you've ever shared this show with someone, it really means a lot. Have a great rest of your day and I'll see you over the weekend where your optimal life awaits.