I've got a few wishes for my life that will require some saving and planning. To make these wishes come true, I'm going to have to give up some things, and today I'm wondering what I'll give up and how I'll decide.
So as I pondered an activity that costs a few dollars today, I decided that I could give that up. These questions led to that conclusion:
- Will the activity improve my quality of life?
- Will the activity improve my connections?
- Will the activity be time well spent?
In the end, the activity will neither enrich my life or the lives of others--in fact, it will make only a minimal difference in our collective experience or quality of life. So, I can give that up.
Another way to think about giving up is to instead think about completing the task in a different way. For example, rather than running out to the bakery to purchase a treat for loved ones, you can make that treat instead, or rather than meeting up at a fancy restaurant, you can plan a picnic. There are countless ways to replace expensive, time-consuming events and activities with less costly, more efficient tasks and times in order to save time and/or money for what matters most to you.
And, you can also think about how you might replace a costly activity or task by doing it yourself. Today, there's so many DIY videos and articles online that you can practically learn how to do anything on your own. Of course it takes time to learn, but often you can save a lot of time and money by simply doing things on your own.
So, as I look out at the year ahead, I'm going to be thinking about what I can give up to gain--what can I live without to make a few dreams and wishes come true. That's a good perspective for now.