Embracing contentment
Embracing contentment is an important part of the path to financial independence. Contentment means “a state of happiness and satisfaction”.
Attaining contentment
How do I achieve this. I try and accept the good in life and seeking to maintain it. Finding happiness in the mundane can lead to happiness in life. It leads to a “less is more” mentality and serves me well in my path to financial independence. In fact, contentment can lead me to earlier financial independence and retirement.
Hunger
Some would argue this is not true. That hunger is the key to financial independence. Hunger for success! For notoriety! A drive to achieve and be the best! Earn more! Spend more! Save more! Do everything more! Always thirst! Never be content with the status quo! Contentment leads to stagnation! It leads to an impoverished mindset! Failure!
Yes, everything is excitable above because this is an excited mindset. It is not a wrong mindset, just different. I am happy for those with the drive to achieve. The drive to be the best. They arguably make the world a better place, while pissing off a few individuals.
Back to contentment and the mundane
For me, however, the individual is the whole. By being content I am less likely to screw someone over, while also not screwing myself.
Back to the mundane. Be content with the mundane.
- Enjoying time with the family. Just sitting around, laughing, talking, playing board games. Whatever is your thing. Just do it. Quality time does not require more than a meal and some conversation.
- Time outside. Whether it is hiking, gardening, or otherwise. Just take some time and be outside.
- Finding happiness in your work. You can like your job even if you are thinking of early retirement. For me, it is the interactions with my patients. Particularly when you help them when other doctors had not.
The list can go on and on, but really after these broad topics, the mundane is just that, mundane. It can be reading, exercising, vacationing, etc. Whatever you enjoy, finding contentment with what you have will lead to a happier you.
By being content you need less
By needing less, you will need to save less and your nest egg will grow to support you much quicker. Thus financial independence (and an early retirement if you so desire) will come sooner.
Also published on Medium.
Were more the constantly driven types. I have to say, it’s good in some respects but bad in others. Sometimes when things are slow you just can’t sit and enjoy the moment you have to find things and the worry is higher. That being said I’m not sure it’s a choice as much as how a person is wired.
Fair enough regarding a choice versus a persons wiring. Still I have always been an achiever and recently have tried to make changes in my life to be content instead of just achieving for achievements sake.
With that being said, I started this blog as my other responsibilities decreased. So maybe I am still seeking achievement and am driven.
I found that doing regular meditation keeps me content. My mind doesn’t wander to thoughts of chocolate bars, shoes, or other shiny things if I’m already at peace with my life and what I have.
Ah yes, controlling the monkey brain is key to meditation. It is hard to prevent that wandering. Meditation is definitely one tool to use in being content and I try to practice mindfulness daily. Similar to meditation, it requires less dedicated time.
Personally I’ve never been content with life. It’s not that I want the Porsche, $10 million mansion, etc. I just want to be successful for success’ sake. That’s why I rarely if ever look back on my life. I always believe that better days are ahead.
Hopefully the better days are ahead for all of us. Still, contentment is something humans find hard to do. Maybe that is why the elderly are considered wise. Without much future left, they can reflect on the past.
We are the Masters of the mundane! And we’re very content. Long ago I gave up seeking the highest highs. Funny thing, but a byproduct of doing that is you no longer experience the lowest lows. Nice post, DDD!
Mastering the mundane is a heck of a game. You are correct, without the highs the lows tend to also disappear!