Latest / The Checkpoint Podcast: Questions / Episode 5 | Does Buying More Actually Make You Happier?
Transcript
- The DECAF Network: Hey, it's Dex, creator of Reboot Player One and host at the Checkpoint. And today's question is What have I outgrown without realizing it? What have I outgrown without realizing it? That's a ⁓ that's an interesting question. Because without realizing it, that you'd have to realize it first to know what it is that you've outgrown. Hmm. Anyway. Semantics. Anyway, ⁓ this is the answer to that. So what have I outgrown without realizing it? ⁓ I don't know if this is the right answer to this question, but I have I have outgrown, I wouldn't say it's outgrown, but I have learnt to appreciate the things that I have. And I've learned that my level of happiness with the materialistic possessions that I have is more than adequate for my needs. And I constantly ask myself. Probably more like less so now, but I I would ask myself what I have now I'm really enjoying. If I could buy something that costs ten times as much, will it make me ten times as happy? And the answer, at least recently, is is no, is no. how can I put this in a in a different way? Cars. I love cars. I'll talk about cars till the cars come home. And that's probably one of the reasons why I I started to think like this. I've had all manner of cars and I've spent way too much money on cars. I've bought a whole bunch of cheap cars and I've bought some really expensive cars and sort of everything in between. I had sold a car which I thought I would never sell, which I thought was going to be like I'm going to have this car forever. Like this is the best. It was an Audi. It was nice. It was fast. I liked it. And it sure gave me a sense of ⁓ pride, I guess. You know, if you're a car guy, you'll understand. If you're not, then it's hard to explain. But I liked it. It had ⁓ a bit of street cred. ⁓ it was also a bit of a sleeper. So people that knew knew. People that didn't just thought it was another car. ⁓ and so it gave me a sense of pride driving it around. It was really fast and you know, I it There's a sense of there's a there's a weird sense of ego that you have when you have a quite a fast car ⁓ and you're driving around. A bit different these days because you know you have a lot of electric cars out there that are just hideously fast. But you know, when I had it, that that's what I thought. Anyway, I've had fun with fun with the car. I spent lots of money on it, I drove it around a lot and yeah, it it gave me a lot of enjoyment. And ⁓ I ended up selling that car because I went down this spiritual coaching path. I needed to take a course, I needed to get some money, and ⁓ and so I thought, well, I'll sell the car, part of the money I'll put towards this course that I want to go to. And it was ⁓ yeah, it was the best decision I made. Took the course, loved it, and I'm now at this point now. Now I needed to buy a car and because the Look, the cost wasn't cheap, but it wasn't expensive. And with the money that I got from selling the car, I'd put some towards the house and some home projects and towards the course. And so what was left wasn't anywhere near the amount that I'd sold the original car for. And my son was wanting to learn manual. And ⁓ we didn't have a suitable manual car. So I thought to myself, well, I'll buy a manual car for him, you know, so he can learn. I can use this as my car until he gets his license and then he can have this car and I'll get something else. And I bought a car that I used to have. ⁓ it was a really good version. The car was dirt cheap. It was like a fifth of the price of the Audi. And it was a cool car. And I've enjoyed doing it up. I've enjoyed modifying it. I've enjoyed driving it around. And I just really, really liked the car. And it's gonna be a hard part when my son gets his licence and it's no longer my car. It's gonna be tough because I'm really enjoying it. I don't get the same sense of ⁓ I wouldn't say pride, really. 'Cause I d people know like again, people that know know the car and they respect it. I love driving it. It gives me a thrill. It's nowhere near as fast as the other car. But it's it's it's fast in a different way. I get I get kind of the same level of enjoyment. And I've I've actually stopped and asked myself and I've said, you know what, this car is making me really happy. I'm enjoying owning this car. I'm enjoying learning about it. I'm enjoying working on it. Like this is really, really fun. And it's it's to the point now where I don't even know if I had this much fun with the Audi. Like, yeah, I had fun with the Audi and I worked on it, but it was it's an Audi, right? Like there's extra layers involved. This is a this is a Subaru, you know. I can th there's videos on how to do everything I can pulled the whole thing apart and put it back together based off YouTube videos. And I was really enjoying it. And I I'm doing work with my dad and my son and like it's this whole family thing is just really good. ⁓ so I I think to myself now, not just the car, but just everything in general. ⁓ things like clothes and shoes. I I'm I'm I'm a sneaker guy. I'm a watch guy. And many, many years ago I wouldn't even dream of of buying used clothes. Like why would I want to buy somebody else's shoes or somebody else's watch? ⁓ now, like I I rarely buy things new. I don't, you know, it's it's not like I can't afford them. Like I like these things, but I'm okay with paying less than half price. I don't need to be the first owner of these things. and I know that if I bought these things new and then these things ⁓ used I'll still get the same sense of pride. Like, you know, I'm not gonna buy something that is used and it's almost beaten to death. Like that's not gonna be worth buying. So I've kind of changed this whole mindset, at least for me anyway, of of of the things that I own, at least from a materialistic sense. And I've become a lot more grateful for the things that I have. And Apart from you know, apart from having this car and wanting to to to buy stuff for it, I've actually stopped looking at buying at other things because the stuff that I have now is is is satisfying the need. I don't need another pair of shoes like yet. I don't need another watch. I haven't bought a watch for ages. I haven't bought I no, sorry, I lie, I bought shoes, but they were cheap, right? It's second hand, that's fine. ⁓ and they still give me the same amount of joy. You know, I don't have to spend all this money. And and even to this point, you know, I'm not looking To to buy the the latest and greatest thing. ⁓ and so, you know, from the original question, what have I outgrown without realizing it? Is kind of outgrown my attachment to the shiny bright object thing. I don't need the latest and greatest. ⁓ I don't need to do that. In fact, I'm you know, I've said this before. I I don't think I was one of these people, but ⁓ It's cro it's it's quite easy to buy something ⁓ in a because one, you want it and two, you want other people to know that you have it. It's like the whole iPhone thing, you know. I'm quite certain I was like that at one point. I I'm definitely not that now. Yeah. I I I don't need to, you know, buy the later shoes and then try them on and then walk past people I know and go to the shops. It's You know, w when when I buy something now, it makes me feel good. It's for nobody else. ⁓ and and I'm now starting to go beyond that to go, well, I'm like I I buy stuff for me, I dress for me, obviously not like a slob. ⁓ and and the things that I have now, I'm entirely happy with. You know, ⁓ li watching TV and listening to ads saying, You need the latest this because this doesn't work anymore. ⁓ I have a ⁓ I have an IT client that ⁓ refuses to ⁓ buy anything which is which is ironic because they're one of the most, you know, successful architect officers in the world at what they do. And ⁓ they'll just upgrade and upgrade and upgrade. ⁓ I can never understand that why. But now that I do, I kinda do. It's purpose, it it does the job. And ⁓ it it's something that I've now come to accept. And my my friends around me, we all kind of feel the same. You know, we don't need to buy the latest and greatest thing. Occasionally we'll get sucked in with something small. ⁓ I can't say that, you know, this is this blanket rule where I don't want to just buy the latest and greatest thing. ⁓ but we've all we're all a little bit more conscious of the things that we buy. And again, it's not because the money thing. It's not because things are tight. Like we can't afford these things. But we just don't want to buy them for, you know, for the reasons that they're telling us, because it's X amount of times faster or impress your friends or impress your workmates. It's like, no. So that's what I I'm outgrowing. I'm outgrowing ⁓ or at least I'm changing my opinion on a lot of materialistic things. And and that's not just for me internally. That's for that's me looking out as well at other people. You know, I I think a lot of this sort of stuff stems from how you feel internally about these things. And then you then automatically project that same kind of thing outwards to people that you meet ⁓ and places that you go, you know, all this sort of stuff. ⁓ so in a way, me changing this stuff internally means that I'm probably a bit more Mm, I'm less judgmental of like people because of what they wear or what they drive, ⁓ or or or things like that. So that's the answer to to the question. and again, they've worded it weird because they've said without realizing it, I've I've realized that I've been going down this path for a while. You know, I was I wanted ⁓ The latest pair of shoes and they were hideously priced and yeah, I'd grimace and I would buy them. And then over time it's you know, those shoes, ⁓ in addition to the other pairs of shoes that I've bought at around the same price, they just end up collecting dust. And what I find is the old beaters that I've got, I wear them the most and the most comfortable and I it's not like I don't care for them, but you know, if I step in mud, fine. If they crease, fine. If someone steps on my feet, fine. And then I'll still wear those. So ⁓ I'm kind of outgrowing material objects. I don't think I I fully will. I'll still like cool things. You know, I'm not gonna dress like a slob, I'm not going to wear clothes that I don't like. But brand names, labels, it being brand new, buying ⁓ you know, ⁓ buying limited edition things and nah. It's n it's not me anymore. Yeah. Okay, so if you have had or if you've asked yourself questions like that and you'd like to discuss them more with some cool people, ⁓ we do this every Wednesday. We have two sessions on Wednesday. And if you'd like to know more, you can visit tc.rubyplayer1.com. I am Dex and I will see you on the next video. Bye.