This is free advice from an expensive psychologist. If you’re an anxious person, do everything for fun. Go to a job interview for fun. Submit documents for fun. Start a blog for fun. Anxiety feeds on importance. Don’t make everything a matter of life and death.
You should have things you don't do, places you don't go to, substances you don't take, words you don't say
By all means, have Principles and Standards.
The important thing to note here is that it is more about friction and function than expenditure. There is a level of comfort you need to be much more functional, and sometimes (not always) that comfort usually requires spending more or moving to a more expensive place that removes friction.
Yesterday, as I was driving between Ghana and Togo, I realized how important NOT being afraid of the police or criminals appearing suddenly was to my ability to think and be functional. I could also plan my time better with stable infrastructure.
Sometimes you don't need to spend more; you simply have to remove yourself from the source of friction that's preventing the function. That move could even be lateral.
I have told many friends to move away from London to other parts of England after seeing them struggle and achieve limited results. When they did, not only did they save money, but their productivity quadrupled.
In Accra, I moved around a bit. From East Legon, to Ridge, now in the mountains where I found peace and quiet. This place is cheaper than the other places I had lived, but makes me more functional.
I figured the UK and most countries out early enough. When I was in Lagos, I was away from Lagos most weekends and it kept me sane out of the rat race. I saw Late Otunba Balogun doing it every weekend and finally understood why he did and why he lived the way he did for people famously known to be frugal. He was a very functional person.
Many people think hustling and living under hard conditions are virtues in themselves, but they are not. Effort without exponential reward is stupidity. If you pay more and can get more, it is a better way to be on the path to getting even more.
🚨 Official: Zadok Yohanna joins Brighton from AIK Stockholm on a contract until June 2031, winning the race against 4 clubs. 🇳🇬
£21.5m fee invested on talented winger by #BHAFC. 🔵⚪️
Can’t forget the day I arrived Moldova with my Nigerian passport and the migration officials were convinced i had lost my way.
Tbh in retrospect, i don’t blame them.