SNM122: Stop Letting Your Stuff Own You
I can’t go on the trip with you. I have to watch all my stuff. I can’t leave it behind.
When I heard my friend say that to me after offering to pay for an epic adventure, I knew he had a problem.
Measuring Your Success
Wealthy people act differently in the United Kingdom.
One of the differences that I found fascinating was having lunch with a billionaire who shopped at the same clothing store as me.
Now, there are plenty of showoffs over there too.
But I found it fascinating to experience a culture that isn’t obsessed with throwing their wealth in your face.
In America, if you have money you spend it where people can see it.
That seems to be the main way we express ourselves.
It has become better to seem rich than to actually be rich.
This is how we get stuck living off credit cards and one bad month away from eviction.
Who Has the Biggest Toys?
We recently bought a bigger television for my bedroom.
I’m as guilty of buying nice stuff as the next person.
There are a couple of practical reasons.
The bedroom is really long and with an infant, we keep our mattresses on the floor.
This way he can’t fall out of bed – he’s already down there.
So now when I watch movies with the kids, I’m almost twice as far away.
We waited months until we saw a television on sale AND we sold our old one for nearly half the cost of a new one first.
Only when it was a great deal did we pull the trigger.
It‘s ok to have some nice things.
You don’t have to live in poverty as a way of showing people how humble you are.
That’s just as annoying as the rich show-off.
Can You Walk Away from It?
If your house caught on fire right now, what would you save?
What would you miss the most?
I think about this all the time because we move a lot.
There are only two things I want to drag out of that fire – my laptop and my new surfboard.
The only reason I would want to grab that board is because they are crazy hard to replace.
It took me six months to find that one and over six weeks for it to arrive after I bought it.
But really, if it burned up too that wouldn’t be too bad.
I could also lose the computer if I’m being honest – I have all my important data backed up to the cloud.
It would just be annoying trying to replace it all fast.
I gave you my answer, now it’s time to give me yours.
How important is your stuff?
(And before you jump off the rails, of course I would save my kids first, but they aren’t stuff.)
Show Notes:
Key Points:
- Take control of your stuff
- Take a look at what you actually use
- How much of your stuff has been gathering dust for years?
Resources Mentioned:
Most other links can be found in my TOOLBOX
Send in your questions to podcast [at] servenomaster [dot] com
Sponsor:
[spp-transcript]
I can totally dig what you’re saying here… I got to a point where I had been watching all my friends settle down, get married and buy homes. I am single and pay a very affordable rent. I developed a mindset that I needed to get all the toys now or I would miss my chance and end up with a wife and a mortgage and I would never be able to have anything “cool”. I bought outdoor gear, kayaks, motorcycles, an antique car, skis, tools, a new car, the list goes on and on… 6 years now I’ve been stock piling cool stuff, but now I want to start a new chapter… to travel and even move somewhere new. All this stuff is such a huge anchor. Before I’m able to do anything I am FORCED to deal with this STUFF. Its looking like my next adventure has to start with a massive liquidation of this “cool stuff” i just had to have. Your freedom is way, way more valuable than a 12 foot kayak you used twice, or a cool car that doesn’t run. Just my two cents! In the mean time I’ll be listing stuff on Craigslist, wish me luck!!