To a busy executive his time equals money. On the contrary, to an angler his time is the some total of his catch. To an executive everything has to be quantified. But how do you quantify a good day and a bad day to an angler? What is the worth of his time really? There is no perpetuity in angling. Some days you catch a lot of fish, some days there is none. Still, is the catch worth the time he spends on for that particular day?
I was the busy executive once and I too was an angler. I hated both positions. I hate being an optimist. So rather than being either one, I am now likened to a farmer. The way I spend my time now is pretty much like attending to a plot of land.
In this case the land is my 12 meters square CCC and my orchard is what I cultivate from my mind. Truly as it is there is no real benefit in farming other than you reap what you sow. In that sense a farmer adhere more closely to the Law of Cause and Effect.
My CCC where I spend most of my time.
As a farmer, every idea that I sow will germinate into more ideas. Hence I am never out of ideas for me to write about. Each idea opens a door and that door opens other doors. As long as I keep on planting I will always reap the fruits of my labor. In this case, the labor is a Labor of Love.
It doesn't cost much. Equipped with a desktop PC playing songs from 247 Continuous, Sweden, some Nicorette chewing gums and a bottle of mineral water, I will spend hours clawing the keyboard for inspirations.
Long gone the days where I have to chase million dollar deals, oblivious of the time of the day. I also had long forsaken the "big deal fever" of hoping to get a good catch before the end of the calendar month because I have more days than the dough before the month ends.
Life of a writer is very fulfilling. It is a life of solitude. There is a big difference between solitude and loneliness. Solitude is a choice while loneliness is a situation forced upon you. As a solitude creature I chose simplification. Everyday during the weekdays I eat pretty much the same stuff. Within 5 minutes walking distance from my home office (literally an office from the house) I can enjoy a Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) meal for RM8. Basically for 2 bucks I can eat as much as I like, enough to last me for 24 hours on One Meal a Day (OMAD) protocol.
LCHF Diet - 2 eggs, beef, tempe and spinach
No longer do I have to fight the traffic to rush to a workplace with the rest of the masses. Instead I wake up at 6:00 am every morning on the dot, make the bed, brew some coffee and by 6:30 am I am already in front of the PC ready for my morning insights. By 7:00 am I am already in my car heading to Lembah Kiara going for my morning walk. That is also the time I spend to pick up the brain of another regular walker. Radzi is an old friend from the IBM days. Both of us had decided to drop out from the rat race before we run out of time to enjoy life's simple pleasures like sweating and breathing fresh air.
Lembah Kiara, TTDI, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
8:30 am I'll be heading home, wash my clothes and by 9:00 am I am already in my CCC. Usually I listen to Absolute Radio Classic Rock, UK before switching to TraXX, Malaysia at 12.00 pm for my usual daily dose of Momentum. That last until 2:00 pm. In between I will Tweet Kong Eu the announcer while listening to him rambling about personal productivity and spinning some cool songs. Those two people constitute my social life for the day.
By 2:00 pm when the show is over I will do house chores while on Trekz Titanium bone conducting headphone. This time it is 247 Continuous as I do the sweeping, mopping and dusting. In the afternoon, I will either continue writing, reading or taking a short nap.
Trekz Titanium, a new innovation in audio technology.
By 7:30 pm I am ready to continue my work until 11:00 pm. That's when I go to sleep ready for another masterpiece the next day.
This simple life of mine is enough for me to live a debt free life while having to pay for everything in cash including the house and the car.
So the question I like to ask you all fellow rats in the rat race is, "How much is the true worth of your time?" Is it worth the trouble chasing after the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; on the expense of trading your prime time over some papers with a a dead royalty on it?
For whatever it's worth bear in mind that time is linear (unless you are talking about Quantum Leap). Which means when it's gone it's gone forever. How much is enough before you decide on a different trajectory?
For some of us, the hedonic treadmill never ends. Isn't it time we reassess the whole situation and come out with a different strategy? After all for some of us, what we earn in a month others are earning in a day. Surely there must be a better way to reach to our final destination.
Think, simplify ~ DO!
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