Effortless Investing

The thing that makes life special, is the exact same thing that can make it terrifying. You can only live it once, and you can’t undo your mistakes.

While this sounds obvious, I don’t think the reality of this sinks in for a lot of people. Probably put best by Confucius “We have two lives, the second begins when we realize we only have one”. This is a quote I think about when I am struggling to stay motivated or reach my goals. I use it as a reminder to myself to live a life with purpose and intention. As well as a reminder to enjoy life and not take it for granted.

While the quote may seem to be self contradicting. I believe Confucius meant that many people coast through in life. Putting off goals, not working to get what they want. Always leaving the work until later. But unfortunately, sometimes later never comes. Your second life starts when you realize to waste the first life is to waste your most valuable resource. Time.

If you postpone living and enjoying your life, you may never get to live it at all.

How Time Influences Perspective

Time seems to warp my perspective on life as I get older. It seems to do this in two ways.

Getting Faster as I Get Older

Its a well known phenomenon that time speeds up as you age. This is often due to the lack of original experiences. When you do something for the first time, your brain sees it as a new experience. To learn from it, it retains the information as a memory. Meaning early in your life, when you are having a lot of new experiences, you retain a lot of information. This can make the passage of time feel slower, although at the time this isn’t appreciated as much.

A summer as a child felt like a lifetime. Spending the days playing in fields and woodlands with my friends. It feels like a different life now. Now I am older, time seems to pass much faster. Day to day I do the same activities, reliving the same experiences, giving my brain little to take on board. This makes time speed by.

The best way to slow it down is to make sure you have new experiences. Try something new. Make sure that you are giving your brain some memorable experiences to cherish.

It has always been my outlook that I will try anything at least once. That way if I don’t enjoy it, at least I tried. If I do enjoy it, great! I have a new hobby to add to the list! It also gives me milestones, giving me perspective when I look back at life. Giving me important milestones to mark my life.

Changing What I Find Important

The other way time manages to warp my perspective, is by changing my view of what I find important. Over my life this has changed drastically, and much faster than I have realized. If you were to ask me as a child what was important to me, it would have likely been playing with friends.

As a young adult this changed drastically, I decided my life goal was to become an Engineer. It had been a subject I enjoyed at school and wanted to pursue as a career. A goal I would later achieve. Ironically, when I was at the end of my University career, studying to become an Engineer. A career in Engineering didn’t matter nearly as much to me as it once had. I wanted to pursue self employment, day trading, investing. Anything I was able to in order to make my own money.

As a result of this I limited how much money I spent. Limited the events I would go to, limited my eating, limited my enjoyment. In my mind I was saving money for investing, day trading. Saving and limiting my enjoyment of life so I could enjoy life later…

While today my goals aren’t entirely different, time has definitely given them some perspective. While I am still big on saving money and investing. I balance it carefully with enjoying my life. I go on holidays, go to events with friends, I make sure I enjoy the day to day. Because the small moments are the ones that make up your life. There is no point in saving for later if you don’t enjoy now.

I’m not saying to spend all your money on lavish clothing, expensive meals and designer clothing. I encourage you to invest a portion of your resources in enjoying life’s experiences. Find out what life has to offer. It makes saving and investing much easier. A long-term perspective is essential, but enjoying the present makes that journey much easier.

Along with enjoying the short haul, I make sure I enjoy time with loved ones. This being either friends or family. Sometimes it can be easy to overlook just how important time with loved ones is. The time we have with loved ones is finite. One day, we’d give anything for just a few more moments with them. It’s important to appreciate their presence in our lives today, so we don’t have regrets tomorrow.

How Significant Life Events Influence Life

Alongside time being a major influence on how I perceive life. Important life events can drastically change your perspective.

Should this be starting a new job, the loss of a loved one or even starting a new hobby. Each can influence how you perceive life.

I will start off with an example from my life. Starting a new job, this time last year I was stuck in a job I hated. Working long hours for little pay. Often being sent away for work for weeks at a time. Meaning I didn’t have time to work on the house I had just bought. I was often complained at by customers or my bosses. I was not being given the time to perform my role to a good standard. When I voiced this concern to those above me, I was ignored.

All of this led to stress in my personal life. I had no time to enjoy hobbies. No time to work on my personal projects. Not enough money to enjoy my free time. This led me to argue with my partner frequently. Redirecting my frustration with my work while she was redirecting her frustration from my absence.

Eventually it became too much for me and I began seeking another job. Seeking a better paying job became my main focus. Using my little free time to apply to other positions, taking holiday to attend interviews. Eventually I found a position in a field I was unfamiliar with. But it provided me a welcome opportunity to get out of my current situation.

After nearly a full year in the role, I am loving it. I have regular working hours with no overtime requirement. I have a half-day Friday, giving me plenty of time to enjoy the weekend. The work is much less stressful and I feel listened to by those around me. While I still have a busy workload, there is more support than pressure. I am able to seek help whenever I need it. From people that understand my struggles.

In my personal life this has lead to me being able to make plans in my free time. Without the worry of unpredictable work trips… I can practice my hobbies regularly and pursue my own passions frequently. I have more disposable income to enjoy my weekends. My relationship has improved as well! We argue much less, we get to spend quality time together. Making memories in the process.

The reason I am telling you this isn’t to gloat that I have found a job I enjoy. It’s to remind you that there is always better out there. No matter how difficult your current circumstances may be, you can always change them. With enough time, effort and just a little luck. Anything is possible.

Ultimately, life is a delicate balance between planning for the future and savoring the present. It’s about recognizing the preciousness of time and making conscious choices to live a life that is both meaningful and enjoyable.

Don’t keep leaving all your dreams and goals until “later” or “tomorrow”. Achieve them today, get started. Any amount of action is better than any amount of planning. Go and make your dreams come true!