Friday reads – volume 9

And here are the goodies…

It’s Time to Kick the Bucket List (Wall Street Journal) 

“Bucket lists often become obsessive, expensive, painful. They create the impression that life is not so much something to be lived and enjoyed as a series of onerous obligations to be checked off.”

Bucket list seems to be something of a new norm. And it’s not uncommon especially so among the milleninals. I don’t think they are bad, but sometimes I do agree that we have this obsession about crossing out everything on the list. Something to ponder about – what so if it doesn’t happen?

Career Or Family? You Only Need To Sacrifice For 5 Years At Most (Financial Samurai) 

“When I asked why wouldn’t they just take a break from work, they always said they couldn’t quit the money. It wasn’t just the people from banking who said this. The same refrain was echoed by the people from private equity, venture capital, management consulting, and technology. Despite the good pay, there are plenty of miserable folks.”

Does that describe your situation? When I decided to take a sabbatical off work, many exclaimed that they were “envious” of my situation. I didn’t think it was something difficult. I was already prepared to quit my job if my boss was not agreeable to it. For many of us, we have a choice. It’s a matter of if we are willing to take the plunge.

Why Can’t Money Buy You Happiness? (FI Introvert)

“Financial independence is not happiness. It is, at best, the freedom to choose our suffering – in place of mandatory work. For example, you can self direct your suffering by going to the gym more, climbing a mountain, learning Chinese, reading, taking on a new career, volunteering or starting a non-profit.”

Happiness is elusive. Happiness is fleeting. FI does not equate happiness. FI Introvert explains that there are two types of suffering, self inflicted and self directed. Read more to find out the difference.

Stop Trying to Change Yourself (Mark Manson) 

“Instead, think of your life merely as a long sequence of actions and decisions. If you’re like most people, many of these actions and decisions are sub-optimal. And what most of us mean when we say we’d like to “change” ourselves is simply that we’d like to make slightly more optimal actions and decisions.”

One of my favourite bloggers of all times, in fact if you haven’t read a copy of his “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck”, would highly recommend. Both Dave and I are fans of Mark Manson and his work. Anyway back to the above, another gold by Mark and his logic of why we should stop attempting to change ourselves.

This Is Why I Can’t Have Nice Things: Life Is Easier Without Them (The Simple Dollar) 

“Not having a bunch of nice stuff to worry about is freeing because it allows you to focus on the more important aspects of your life. You don’t have to worry about losing your sunglasses when you paid $10 for them at Shoe Carnival, and you don’t have to worry about kids being messy and ruining clothes when you bought them for $2 from a bin in someone’s garage.”

The cost of maintenance is one thing that most people conveniently forget about. Not on purpose though. If you didn’t spend too much on it, you probably won’t think too much about the cost of maintenance? Some food for thought.

And here’s a quote to round it up.