Weekend.
I'm ready.
There is nothing major planned, but these ends of the year can get busy in Sales organizations, as companies look to close out the year to impact future budgets, and some are clearing out their yearly budgets, so they can get note next year. Spend it, or get it cut.
It doesn't always mean it is well spent.
Spend it or lose it is a terrible incentive mechanism, as it will encourage poor decision-making. It isn't just companies that are affected, we do it too, though most of us don't have extra to spend. But when we do, when we are feeling flush, do we make good buying decisions?
What do you think?
At least for me in most of my past, I don't think I have used my resources well, favoring feeling good in the moment, rather than building some stability for the future. Since we are security-seeking animals, when things are uncertain, unstable, unpredictable, we tend to feel unsettled. We can never be completely sure, but we can improve the odds.
It has been a relatively short period on human evolution since we have been able to plan it into the future. It wasn't that long ago that the needs of the day, or the needs if tomorrow, were the only real pressing concerns. We had to make sure we were warm enough, had enough to eat, and weren't eaten. But we didn't have to think about how we would survive after retirement, because there was no such thing. Every day, we had to bring some value to the table, or not have a seat.
Life was practical.
Even when we looked up at the stars and imagined what was there, we would think about how it applies to our lives directly. It was all about helping us, or protecting us. Put thoughts centered around daily survival.
But now, we do think about the future, and we must. Because we are no longer able to provide for ourselves and our own, alone. It is not a family unit, or a tribe that helps and protects, it is a massive supply chain of strangers, and the only relationship that joins what we need from them, is our ability to trade for it.
During our careers we trade skill for goods and services. But careers aren't for life, which means that we have to be able to trade enough of our skill in our careers, to have reserves to cover our needs when no one needs us. Which is strange, because not too long ago, we were able to keep providing value through the knowledge we acquired through practical life, but now, what we know is unlikely to be relevant enough to bring value, as the processes to fill needs keep changing on ever-shortening cycles. What we know and what we can do, is obsolete faster.
We only have money to trade.
The less community we have, the more true this becomes, as we have to buy care, buy the help and protection we seek. Buy security. We can't leave survival up to chance and expect it all to work in our favor, we have to think ahead, without our security plan being the community we have worked for, because we haven't worked for it, we have worked for ourselves. Without that practical connection to building for the community, the duty of care they have to look after us, is also disconnected.
Safety in numbers.
There are many ways we can look at the meaning of this phrase, but if we are thinking about our personal future, there is also security and stability in numbers, where the community is the group that protects us. However, nothing happens without cost, so in order to number among a protected group, an individual has to provide value to fulfill group needs. This is practical for our survival now, since survival isn't just from day to day and isn't only provided through having enough to eat tomorrow too. Since we have to assume we will survive into a future were we are unable to provide for ourselves, our practical activity now, pads the future.
"Practical" is the application of theory, which is a present moment action. It is the work that actually gets done, and activity always comes at a cost. Spending energy now to provide energy in the future, is a practical strategy for our future selves. To spend energy now with no regard for the future, means that our future selves will have an energy deficit, and if we do not have enough to make it through to the end of our lives, we will experience energy failure when we run dry. And, increasingly, no one will be there to do the work for us.
A lot of people talk about living in the moment, but I think that living that moment has to also consider all the future moments we are likely to live. While some people think that living the moment means enjoying the moment, the reality is that practical action now for the future, is also living the moment. And, what it means is that the future could be filled with more valuable moments to live.
When people talk about "being present" they are talking in theory. But, they if we could see what kin of circumstances they are visualizing to represent the moments they are present in, they aren't likely visualizing themselves frail, starving, and lonely - even if what they are practically doing now is leading to that moment later. Living the moment isn't about joy, it is about being present, and it doesn't mean that what is done in that moment, is only valuable for that moment. We are able to live the moment as we hammer a nail, that becomes a part of a house that will serve and protect our family from the elements for generations.
Every day we have energy to spend, and where we spend it is going to affect our present moment, and our future moments. If we really want to live quality moments and be present, we have to also consider the conditions that support that. We can be completely present in the moment, whilst thinking about and making actions now that build a valuable future, or we can be completely present in the moment and do nothing for our future, yet the future is still built. What we have to think about in the moment, is what kind of future do we want to experience, and if our present moment attention, is working toward that end.
I don't know about you, but I am hoping that in my future, I am not starving and lonely. But if I am not building the relationships and adding value into the pool now to provide different future, that is what I am likely to experience later. Thinking about the future doesn't mean ignoring the present, because our thoughts are always in the moment. However, at some point, we also have to turn thought into practical activity and create something, and activity is always in the moment also.
When in life are we not actually present?
It is impossible. However, what we can do is not pay attention to our present, thinking that what we need in the moment, is pleasure, joy, happiness. To only act for those things, is to ignore a large part of our experience, which is to not be fully present, but rather, half asleep.
Attention is a valuable resource.
Use it, or lose it.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
I've had years where I spend all of my budget and then I have had years where I spend less than what is allocated to me. It just varies. There are sometimes that I try to use it up, but I don't feel it is a waste. I know many people aren't like that. Say I have a couple thousand dollars left at the end of the year, I will buy a couple projectors, because I know eventually someones is going to die and I might need to replace it. It's just as much about having it on hand and not having to wait for it to ship as it is about spending the money. On another note, my brother in law recently bought a house in a neighborhood where many of his friends live. There are like five or six families in there. It makes it very easy for everyone to help everyone. It doesn't always give you the most privacy though!
Yep. This is planning ahead for the inevitable need. Not all do this, especially in times when money is easy to get. We are not in those times now though.
I wonder if our quest for privacy, is one of the reasons that there is so much disconnection. This is a more complex issue than government privacy, but a component of it. In some sense, I feel that we have been conditioned to want privacy as a control mechanism, by those who know that our privacy is impossible. What we should be demanding, is transparency of government and corporations.
I don't know, I think part of my desire for privacy has to do with how fake most people are these days. I think a lot of that has to do with social media. My wife and I got new neighbors a while ago and then recently some newer people moved in behind us. We have never really interacted with either of them, but we aren't unfriendly with them. The two couples seem to do a lot together because they post it on social media, but I get the feeling it is more "look who we are hanging out with", or "look what we are doing", more than it is what I would have with my actual friends if we lived closer.
I think this is the kind of behavior that erodes society. It isn't about building community, it is about performing, like a pantomime production of life. This is quite different to what might happen where your brother is for example, where people interact with each other, because it is helpful, not because it is a photo opportunity.
This guy is probably a fine guy, but I get the feeling he tries to surround himself with people he knows can offer him something at some point in the future. So like I might mention that I need something done around the house and he wills say, oh, I have a blah blah blah guy. It just makes you wonder how artificial his relationships are.
I know someone who'd say similar, until they actually had to produce the person they knew. Always a no-show.
That sucks. Oh, by the way, sorry for pinging you so many times in my post today. I know some people don't appreciate that.
I think we are always paying too much attention to the present but I do think it's something that comes naturally to us. After all, it's something happening right away but I do think that we need to be prepared for the future.
As for safety in numbers, I definitely think that we are just so use to it. At this point, we kind of rely on machines or specialized people to make goods for us. If I had to live outside alone on an island, I don't know if I would be able to get by much at all. Then again, that is why we tend to be focused on money. It's the common thing that we can trade to get the goods we want or need in our lives.
Yep. And we do it naturally, making an investor mindset, unnatural, right? It has to be learned and practiced, there is no innate sense for it.
I'm the same. Thankfully, I wouldn't last long without medication anyway :D
Exactly. And then we overvalue it, collecting it for collection sake, rather than where we actually need to apply it.
There are times when my budget go as planned and there are times when it does not. Life can be funny at times and when something that is unexpected happens, you have to spend your savings. I am one person who used to waste her resources but not anymore
I’m not making money so I have to be mindful of how I spend my resources.
Situations change on location, but I think we all need to find acceptable ways to make money, so we aren't reliant on others.
I think like in all things, balance is important. Planning for the future is necessary, but living in the moment and enjoying the present is also vital. It is in the extremes where it is really bad. I've heard of people where all they do is work and increase their savings, but a sudden heart attack ended their lives prematurely. They weren't able to reap the fruits of their labor. A lot of the young people before liked to enjoy life too much, and are not able to save for their future. That is why they are having difficulty managing their funds now. Balance is key.
But, what if the fruit was in the work they were doing, where the money was a byproduct of what they were doing, rather than the goal?
I agree though, there is a balance point somewhere, but we can't look to others to find it.
Don't worry dude, my fat upvote will always be under your posts :)
:D
Will I collect them around the belly?
Meanwhile, in the real world.
It's all the real world - including where you live, which is not in a warzone. The fantasy is thinking that posting this image makes you part of a warzone.
Don't feel disappointed. Just believe own yourself and we get something well