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Bored Panda got in touch with Sam Dogen, the author of 'Buy This, Not That: How to Spend Your Way to Wealth and Freedom' and the founder of the Financial Samurai blog, to hear his thoughts about the most important factors contributing to our quality of life. He also shared his insights about optimism and gratitude in times of economic turbulence.
Above everything else, Sam said that health should be our priority. "Health is absolutely the main thing that will decline and hurt the quality of your life if you don’t focus on it. Therefore, you have to be dedicated to eating properly and exercising regularly, especially over the age of 30," he noted.
"You cannot just wing it like you did as a teenager or a healthy 20-something years old eating pizza all day. Your waistline will expand and you’ll find more and more health issues pop up as you get older."
However, there are certain advantages to getting older. You start getting a different perspective on life. "Your confidence will naturally grow as you get older and gain more wisdom. As a result, you will feel less insecure, less shy, and have more courage to live the life that you want. Remember, your financial independence number is not ready if you don’t have the courage to change a suboptimal situation!"
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According to Sam, the author of 'Buy This, Not That,' experience really is the greatest teacher. "Further, as you build more wealth and grow your income, your fear of running out of money also declines. As a result, you can take more risks and not worry as much about what your friends, colleagues, and bosses think. The best benefit of being financially independent is to be able to speak your mind when you see something wrong. Also, I spend a lot more time being a creator, without fearing ridicule. It is so freeing!"
Though the current economic situation might seem bad, it's important to take a broader view of things. Calm down. Zoom out. Realize that there will always be ups and downs, but the general trend is towards progress, growth, and improvement. These tough times aren't here to stay.
"Things may seem more difficult now as the stock market declines and layoffs increase. However, know that over the long term, economic progress is always up and to the right. Things will inevitably rebound and get better. Your goal is to survive through the downturn so that when the upturn inevitably comes, you will benefit," Sam told Bored Panda.
"This means having 6-12 months' worth of living expenses to hold you over, just in case you lose your job and lose alternative income sources. The average bear market lasts about 12 months. Then, brighter days inevitably appear," the financial expert said.
"In a capitalistic society, people are always looking to find ways to make things better, cheaper, and faster. As a result, there will be continuous innovation in the name of profits. The key is to be thankful for what we already have and to appreciate how far we’ve come over the past 10, 20, 30, and 100 years! Don’t take the good things in our life for granted."
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It’s perfectly fine to recognize the fact that something has lost quality over time. That’s simply acknowledging the truth for what it is. It’s another thing entirely to constantly live within those feelings of anger and disappointment and regret—that, simply put, is incredibly unhealthy.
Seeing problems and rising to the challenge to solve them is one thing. Grumbling about the state of the world and how awful everything is compared to way back whenever is another.
According to Professor Suzanne Degges-White, from Northern Illinois University, nostalgia helps us feel about the present by connecting us to the past. However, she told Bored Panda earlier, living just in the past can be detrimental.
“Nostalgia can help us feel better about ourselves and more in control of current situations if we're able to channel that positivity into concrete actions or a reframed mindset about the present. However, when we begin 'living in the past,' we may be inviting into our lives less than optimal mental wellness and potentially compromised physical wellbeing, too," she told us.
"When we succumb to memories of how things 'used to be' and refuse to address the 'what is,' we may find ourselves overwhelmed by our current conditions and less able to manage current challenges," the professor said.
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"It's often memories of home and the people who surround us that keeps us able to deal with significantly concerning or dangerous conditions. For instance, letters from home can be a lifeline for those who are engaged in warfare far away from what they consider 'home,'" she said.
"It's when we become stuck in our memories of people who have died, places or times in our lives when things were 'easier' or 'better' that invites in the negative effects of nostalgia. When we are unable to make decisions about a current challenge or get stuck in memories of better times from the past, we can sink into a state in which we kind of 'tune out' of the present and ignore very real threats or opportunities in the now."
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What this means is that our quality of life can suffer if we’re constantly thinking just about the past, ignoring the present, and hoping that things were ‘better’ just like in the Good Old Days. One solution to this mindset would be to balance out our nostalgia with a sense of gratitude for the things that surround us now, in the present.
“Gratitude can start with the basics—enough food to eat each day, a job that pays you enough to keep a roof over your head, people in your life who care about you and to whom you matter. Recognizing that not everyone in life has been as fortunate as you have and acknowledging your accomplishments is the best way to begin. Making a 'gratitude list' really does help us see our lives in a whole new way if we are committed to acknowledging the way our lives have been touched by success."
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