Recently, I have been fascinated with a rational life. I gradually understand the whole picture. Let’s talk about it.
How to improve our lives
Sometimes, we want to improve our lives without patience. We can no longer endure. We don’t want an exhausting life.
However, we often cannot make such a life happen. We fear for the future. If we spend a lot of money on things we like, we might run out of money to live on in the future. That makes us hesitate to invest our resources and consume what we love.
I will introduce a solution in this article. I named the 6 steps of rational improvements in life. This big picture might help you improve your life steadily.
Two approaches to our ideal lives
There are two approaches to our ideal lives, as follows:
- Buy the ideal environment at once: It is an empathic approach. We diligently save money, imagine specifically our ideals, and achieve them in one go.
- Expand the ideal environment gradually: It is a logical approach. We start in a small place, gather feedback, adjust repeatedly, and expand the way of life.
If you want to change steadily and avoid stagnation, choose the latter. That relaxes you and will make you more rational.
The 6 steps of rational improvements
We can make it happen in the following steps:
- (Step 1) Secure a small space. This is the starting area toward the ideal.
- (Step 2) Add the elements that make you think you can die there. Examples are things you love, things you want to consume, and things that help you relax.
- (Step 3) Actively consume these elements. When you are in that space, you can fully enjoy them. Don’t hesitate to use them up.
- (Step 4) Modify the elements and your lifestyle in the space according to feedback. Small satisfaction will change your wants. That gives you discoveries about yourself and new opportunities.
- (Step 5) Expand the space gradually. You can also move to another place if the expansion reaches its limit.
- (Step 6) You will notice that your satisfaction with life is increasing, and you are becoming calmer and more rational.
Let’s look at each step below.
Step 1: Securing a small space
The first step is securing a small space to spend your time happily and calmly.
Anywhere is fine as long as it is a place where you can be free when you touch it. It can be in a corner of the room, on the desk, on a shelf, or in a single drawer.
This area will change the world you live in. You will gradually expand it and eventually live in it permanently.
Step 2: Adding the elements
The second step is adding the elements that make you think you can die there.
There would be two kinds of favorite things, as follows:
- Things that excite you: You feel like you can die of excitement over them. They tend to be something meaningful you still don’t have.
- Things that make you relax or feel rewarded: You feel like you can die calmly if you consume them all. It includes rewards saved in the pantry or closet and meant to be savored someday.
You focus on the latter—things you already have but have not consumed yet. In other words, we don’t focus on what we don’t have.
You don’t need to be perfect from the beginning. You will add and remove them lightly.
Step 3: Actively consuming these items
The third step is actively consuming these items. This step is based on the laws of pudding (explanations are in this category).
Rationally speaking, there is no point in leaving these ‘delicious’ things for later. These items are already rewards that you can savor immediately. You obtained them through your hard work every day until now. You don’t have to make it another reward for patience. You can taste it immediately.
That satisfaction changes your desires and leads you to the next stage.
Step 4: Modifying the elements
The fourth step is modifying the elements of the space and your lifestyle according to feedback.
Small satisfaction will change your wants. You might get bored or want something better.
If you get bored, it is an unnecessary, superficial desire. You can let go of it and focus on more fundamental satisfaction in your life. That allows you to eliminate several needless efforts and increase your available resources.
On the other hand, if you wish for better things, it will give you the energy to obtain them. The satisfaction motivates you to learn about things you don’t know yet. In other words, you will be curious.
Either way, you graduate from your current level and move on to the next stage.
Step 5: Expanding the space gradually
The fifth step is expanding the space gradually. In other words, you increase the fun time and space by consuming what you like.
As you move on to new stages, you will discover more about yourself. It means you encounter new opportunities. It is time to increase your capacity.
These opportunities will require more time and space. They are concerns that give you hope. It is similar to deciding which to buy with your allowance when you want many things. You become rational and choose the most efficient option.
If painting interests you, you might buy several additional brushes that are most effective for you by using limited resources. If fishing fascinates you, you might consider new fishing gear and locations.
Simultaneously, you will find new resources and efficient ways to live well. New brushes and fishing gear bring you new encounters.
That makes you expand ‘the space’ gradually.
Step 6: Realizing your improvements
The final step is realizing that your satisfaction with life is increasing, and you are becoming calmer and more rational.
You are in the cycle of consumption and growth of things you are interested in.
That is the logical approach, in which we start in a small place, gather feedback, adjust repeatedly, and expand the way of life.
Conclusion
That is the 6 steps of rational improvements in life.
We start in a small place, gather feedback, adjust repeatedly, and expand the way of life.
It might help you improve your life steadily.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you in the next one.
