Archives For living with less

126 DSR – Sameness Disguised as Variety

August 23, 2013 — Leave a comment

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The Sea Of Sameness

Strip malls
Restaurants
Retail stores
Travel across America what do you see?

Cut and paste capitalism. Purely profit driven. Maximum profit, minimum creativity. “Starbucksification” as Tom Hodgkinson puts it in How to be Free

Thinking you have selection makes you feel powerful and free.

Is thinking you need wide selection in order to feel powerful and free a sign you don’t feel powerful and free in the first place?

“Fashion is an attempt to decorate our own inauthentic lives.” – Michael Tsarion.

You want to be different in appearance, stand out from the crowd. Why the need to be noticed? To what end? I want you to see me, accept me. I want to be noticed but left alone. I’m over here, but don’t ask me to be responsible for anything.
Do we just want to be acknowledged? Justify my existence?

Acknowledge yourself.

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“Starbucksification” as Tom Hodgkinson puts it in How to be Free

Starbucks was losing money. They shut down stores for a few days for training. Problem? Quality suffering, customers unhappy, profits falling. Why was quality suffering?

People wanted it faster, Starbucks was trying to deliver. Quality suffered. Anytime you speed things up you get hurried and give less of yourself to the task at hand. You dilute purity/potency in an effort to sell more stuff. If you want it faster, you get hooked on faster. It takes more to stimulate you. You feel empty. Search outside for remedy.

Sameness Disguised as Variety.
Different as people AND equal at the same time.
We Are All One (Sameness) Showing Up As More Than One (Variety).

Resource:
How to Be Free – by Tom Hodgkinson

Chapters:
Cast off your watch
Stop Competing
Escape Debt

Give us a call on our voicemail feedback hotline at 615-200-7189 or drop Greg an email at:
greg [at] debtshepherd [dot] com

There is no need to copyright truth

In Psychology , , , ,
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122 DSR – Three Days

July 31, 2013 — Leave a comment

survival book

PODCAST AUDIO – click here

Questions:
How long can you go without eating?
Without going to the grocery store?
Without using water from your faucet?
Without turning on your TV?

Terms:
Prepper Movement
Going Off Grid
Solar
Permaculture

Resources:
The Survival Podcast:
“Helping You Live A Better Life, If Times Get Tough or Even if They Don’t”

Give us a call on our voicemail feedback hotline at 615-200-7189 or drop Greg an email at:
greg [at] debtshepherd [dot] com

There is no need to copyright truth

In Self Reliance, Survival , ,
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121 DSR – Why Wait for Your Money?

July 23, 2013 — Leave a comment

time-watch-waiting

PODCAST AUDIO – click to listen

Why do we have to always wait to get paid?
Your employer is getting the benefit of your labor the second you perform the work. Why wait two weeks to get paid?

Why is the model: Work now, get the reward later?
Sacrifice for 30 yrs. then get the reward (401k, paid off home).

Who invented the 40 hr. work week anyway?
Who invented the 30 yr. mortgage anyway?
Who invented the 401k anyway?

Possibilities:
What if you got paid the second you did the work? Immediate exchange of energy.

What if you only had to work 20 hrs. a week? And got the same benefit of lifestyle.

What if you only had to pay 10 yrs. (or less) to own your home?
How about 5 yrs. or less?

What if a 401k wasn’t necessary? No need to earn “interest” to grow your savings.

Why are we so obsessed with ownership?
What about own nothing, control everything?
Or own nothing, have access to everything?

Ultimate Question:
What if you didn’t have to work for money? What if you didn’t have to work to get the things you need (food, clothing, shelter)? Why do we have to “work” for these things?

Resources:
40 hr work week
How Ford Motor Companyt went from a 6 to 5 day work week.
Less hours but more production demanded.
Profit driven?

Give us a call on our voicemail feedback hotline at 615-200-7189 or drop Greg an email at:
greg [at] debtshepherd [dot] com

There is no need to copyright truth

In Money, Retirement , ,
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064 DSR – Black Friday & The Big Fat Tick

November 20, 2012 — Leave a comment

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black_friday

Black Friday is once again fast approaching. Take a closer look at what you’re doing and why when you shop. Retail therapy? Consumer addiction? Patriotism? Boredom?

It’s none of those. Black Friday is Americans acting like sheep and allowing themselves to be trained by advertising & media. You’ve been led to believe that consuming is how you define yourself.

Your self image is what determines everything in your life. I am…… You fill in the blank. Whatever you fill that blank with is how you live your life. Are you a $150 pair of shoes? Are you a pair of designer jeans? Of course not.

If you define yourself by what you have, you’ll never know happiness. Materially speaking, you were born with nothing and you’ll die with nothing.

I’ve never seen an armored truck at a funeral, have you?

If you feel your spending has gotten out of control, there’s help:
Shopaholics Anonymous

Give us a call on our voicemail feedback hotline at 615-200-7189 or drop Greg an email at:
greg [at] debtshepherd [dot] com

In Shopping Addiction, The Economy , , ,
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051 DSR – Time Over Money: People Over Stuff

September 21, 2012 — Leave a comment

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time money

Start thinking about how much time you spend at work. Have you ever missed an important life event because of work? Has a funeral you couldn’t attend or a milestone in a child’s life come and gone because you were stuck at work? How did it make you feel?

What if you slowly started to choose to work less and have more time for yourself and family? It can be done. One way to start is by getting rid of debt first so you’ll have the option of working less hours. Hmmm……

Quotes:
“People feel dissatisfied, depressed, and unhappy because they try to buy their identify thru consumerism.” – Tammy Strobel author of Smalltopia: A Practical Guide to Working for Yourself

“When you choose time over money and people over stuff, happiness awaits.” Courtney Carver author of Simple Ways to Be More with Less

Give us a call on our voicemail feedback hotline at 615-200-7189 or drop Greg an email.

In Psychology , ,
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Living With Less – Book Trailer

August 23, 2012 — Leave a comment

This idea called minimalism is calling me to a higher level of awareness. It’s challenging me to re-think what it means to be prosperous. Watch the video, take the challenge, live with less in just one area of your life.

Are you dreaming of working for yourself? If so, how much money does it take to live? What if you lived with less stuff to maintain? I’m being challenged in my own life to live with less, subtract first. Then I can truly begin to add to my life in a totally different way.

Give us a call on our voicemail feedback hotline at 615-200-7189 or drop Greg an email.

In Money , , , ,
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