Flawless Living
I
have a simple proposition.
We are all perfect.
Our lives unfold as we do and each of us, in that unfolding
over time, becomes more of who we are.
From small children, we are raised to be someone else, to
conform to "standards" that are made up of composites--a
little of this, a best practice of that, and an alchemy of
behavior, which none of us is able to perfect...!
Hence the life of consumption, of fixing us, of comparing
ourselves to others, of giving up the joy of who we are,
perfect warts and all, to achieve some "composite standard"
brought forward by the thinkers and doers of our times.
My proposition is simple, but not easy.
In order to live in this life, there are trade-offs.
We make trade-off decisions everyday, and there really is no choice
about it. So we become accustomed to trading-off our happiness to
achieve greater levels of success.
All the while, we are guided by a set of notions that have emerged
from our best and brightest that we are to live a certain way. And
that living in that way, is to be achieved at all costs, even
losing who we are in the process.
My proposition is a simple one.
Life is best for us when we are who we are, warts, depression,
addiction, narcissism, and all the other things that us humans do in
the process of living out our perfect lives.
Since babies, we are compared to each other.
As children we learn to compare ourselves to one another, we are
dressed up to reflect our parents values, and how society says we
should be...how we should act, life becomes a long to-do list of
shoulds from the very beginning, and it doesn't get any better.
Those that can't, won't or don't fit (conform) are cast-off into
the outlying sea of make it on your own because you don't fit in our
world of standards, of best practices, of consuming to be...!
YES, you heard me correctly.
Consuming to be, do, have and become; a product of and IN the system
of global consumption, which everyone of us is supposed to depend. Keep buying stuff from one another so we have a job, so our
companies prosper, so we can teach and train our kids to learn that
buying, having, owning, using. Most of all, prominently
displaying our
consumption is key to winning the trade-offs.
I welcome you to the consumtariat.
Of which we are all card-carrying members, for sure.
My proposition, as I've said is simple.
We just don't need to consume as a lifestyle, as a way of being,
doing, having, and becoming. Consumption has become our life and we
are unable to break free once we are indoctrinated to the
rat
race that has been carefully setup for us to JUST about win...if
only we would try JUST a little harder, work a little longer, strive
just a bit more, reach for a higher bar. That is our life,
setting and achieving the next goal, reaching the next rung, getting
the next good job...always imagining "someday I'll".
MOST NEVER WAKE UP.
For many generations now, we have moved consumption beyond just
basics, from needs to wants, to have to have, and on we march, to
acquisition --> he or she who dies with the most toys wins, right?
The engine of consumption is alive and well, and we are thinking
right now, about the next big thing, place, vacation, home, college,
job we need; whew!
It's quite a life.
Just look around. What do people think about?
Big Screen TV, plastic surgery, trips to the beach, vacation homes,
ANYTHING, to get us away from having to look in the mirror and see
how imperfect we are as people.
The next SPA trip, the next exercise camp, the next trip to the
tailor, the dry cleaner, the jewelry store, and on it goes. We NEED
these things to be, do, have, and become what we need to be, do, have
and become according to our "needs"... needs that society has
fashioned for us; needs that have been created out of thin air, that
we now believe are good, truth, and beautiful.
How did this happen?
It's simple.
Over time, the smart people decided for us, that we were imperfect
and that we could be taught to believe that we needed what they had
to sell us to fix these imperfections.
I would venture to say that if you actually started behaving in a
natural way, that your family and friends would actually find you
odd. You don't dare behave, nor do you even know how to behave
according to your nature, because they have taught you to believe
that the only way to behave is like THEM.
It's a funny thing.
I've been an entrepreneur and business person my entire life. I am
now 60 years old or will be in a couple of months of this writing. I
would have NEVER in a million years imagined myself writing to you
like this, because I have been one of the most successful BSers,
there is!
AND NOW?
I want you to believe I have changed, and it's ok to drink my new
snake oil, right?
Yes, I'm a recovering consumer, just like I hope you will be soon.
My ideas are really simple.
Don't consume so much.
We know that we buy, and then rationalize.
That has been proven over
time. We don't consume consciously.
We eat when we are not really hungry.
We drive too far, so we can
get away from each other, because we have been taught that we need
our space, our independence, and our own domiciles, to get away
from what, each other, right?
All of this is part of the what we call the American Dream. The rest
of the west, Europe, et al, Canada and all those aspiring
"western" countries, you know, share our dream of "having it all,
right?"
Do you see this chart?
Figure 1. Base scenario from 1972 "Limits to
Growth", printed using today's graphics by Charles Hall and John Day
in "Revisiting Limits to Growth After Peak Oil"
http://www.esf.edu/efb/hall/2009-05Hall0327.pdf
GROWTH, through Consumption is NOT the
Sustainable Much Longer!
At some point, the drive for consumption, the inculcation of the
planet into growth, more, and unconscious consumption will just
give way to decreasing returns.
Ok, let's say that you believe my simple proposition.
What do we do?
If we all stopped consuming, it would be disastrous, and I'm
not advocating that at all!
My proposition is not about halting consumption.
My proposition is that we consume consciously, in view of who we
are and what we need to be more of who we are.
This is a fairly straightforward process I have outlined in a
book called Happiness AND Success:
"Why Trade-offs Aren't Necessary."
Note: the will be launched toward the end of September 2012.
Instead of making you read the book, I'm going to suggest a
simple proposition:
 Join
Master Business Coach and Developmentalist Mike R. Jay
for his 7-month intensive FLOWsi program that will guide you through becoming a
Developmentalist.
Developmentalist: a person who understands that our
behavior is a reflection of our development, and that
over time we have the inborn potential to develop as we
mature, through experience, as well as through the
scaffolding and support of others around us.
While behavior is important, what's beyond the behavior
is critical to often unpack and unwind it for
reflection, understanding and experimentation. Most of
the time, we are unable to do this on our own.
During this 7-month intensive, Mike will show how we can
become a developmentalist using ourselves as the canvas
to paint our own development.
Click here to claim your free introductory call. |
While we can't solve all the problems life has created; through
collaboration and a conscious approach to consumption, we can
buy ourselves valuable time we need to reconfigure our next
momentous leap.
Sincerely,
Mike Jay, 2012
PS: Want to forward to a friend, please join our affiliate
program and become part of our collaboration to shift
consumption consciously and carefully to sustainable futures.
Just click
here to register for your affiliate link and we'll add your
name to our partners' list and send you referral commissions for
sharing our work.
|
SECURE & CONFIDENTIAL