Financially Middle-class need of decluttered lifestyle

Lifestyle is a way of living. When we ask: What is your lifestyle? What we are asking is really about how do you live your life on a day to day, week to week or month to month basis in general.

Well, it is a simple question to ask and complicated question to answer and yes difficult to understand.

If you start answering the question then what should go in your mind. Again some self-questioning and self-observations. Right. So you can unfold things in your own life.

What is one of the major theme of your life which you base or reference when taking any small, medium or big decisions about anything of your life?

Anything means anything like your product buyings decisions, decisions on food, decisions of relationships, decisions of places you go, decisions on what do you watch in youtube, decisions on with whom to engage and hangout, and with whom to not.

Here are simple questions which normally helps you to know what is really going on in your life.

And they will help you to find out what is your base thinking of reference thinking point or from where that is coming.

Oh yes, it is a part of self-discovery. And it is essential. No doubt at all. We need to know where we are heading and why.

I rarely use the word “should,” but sometimes I do so. And I think we should be very clear on this question: What is or are the major theme(s) of my life?

So here are simple sample questions…

What is my way of living life?

When do I wake up?

What product do I use to fulfill my needs?

What clothes do I choose to buy?

What clothes do I choose to wear in different places?

With whom do I engage?

Which sports do I watch?

Which applications do I use most in mobile phones?

Who is the celebrity I follow?

How often I watch TV?

Do I go to any physical activity like gym, yoga, dance?

Do I play music?

Which books do I read if I do?

What do I often surf the internet if I do?

What are the products I am often surrounded with?

You need to find out what activities and products are taking much of your time, space, energy and money.

Here you don’t need to make any typical chart or excel sheet or tables. That is something I don’t recommend here. These are simple and quick to answer questions with just the blink of your eyes.

Just, try to recognize:

What uses your time, space, energy and money?

Let it be an active reading. Active reading means: do as I have suggested as you read.

These are simple and super quick to answer questions. And we all know that once you complete reading this article you will never do the exercises and you will never open this article. That is how many of us wired.

That is also the reason I am not adding homework or post-reading activities because I know with my experiences with myself and with other people that post-reading activity never work. Never work because it never happens.

Every one of us is busy with many things which we consider important, but actually, they are not essential at all. And in fact, one of the major clutters or say weight is hanging on us.

Just because we like a slow, sweet poison does not mean we have to drink it every day but ironically we do it.

This article is specially written to help financially middle-class people so they can understand things that matter less in their life. But somehow they, the less important things, hang in your life either as habits, as relationships, as products around you or in any form.

So let’s have a little 7-second pause on the listed questions.

You can use your inner visual or auditory part of mind which you think is more active in your inner mind.

After 7 Second Pause. Let’s move on.

Now you can see something visible on how your days go in general.

If I ask you one famous questions: What do you really want?

I know and you too that most of us do not really know what do they really want. It is true. We have to accept the truth.

Acceptance opens the door towards solutions to the unrecognized problems that are hanging on in our life. Read the words carefully I used the term “unrecognized problems.”

It is true that we do not even recognize what do we really want. And we go on living life like a typically programmed robot or someone who just born to follow others.

We don’t seem to have our inner centeredness.

In this article, I don’t want you to answer the previous famous questions: “what do you really want?” Let’s keep it in our store. We will surely dig and churn into it in one my upcoming active articles.

Here, all I want is you to realize few things about middle-class people about their basic needs.

There are good things, and there are things which are problematic. I mean really a block which completely blocks them and do not allow them to escape the middle-class level to enter into the territories of financially rich people.

I want you to take this seriously. Because it is a serious matter that matters most in your life. It is about blocks which once open, will make your journey so smooth and easy progressing that you won’t even believe that personal freedom and richness is so simple to achieve.

What are the good things about the financially middle class?

Most of them have a shelter to live in their town.

Most of them can afford their daily basic needs of food.

Most of them can own a low-cost vehicle or public transport for their town travel.

Most of them can give primary education to their child in a government school or low-cost private schools.

It is a huge thing to realize that the basic needs of a middle class are covered.

The problem starts to happen when they try to go beyond their basic needs. They encounter a great struggle which is not good to experience. Hard work or to be more specific it is harsh work they try on them self to earn more money.

They think that the problem is money, but at a very basic level, it is not. They do not focus on the right problem.

What are the major soft problems of middle-class people in their progress?

As a middle class they want to own iPhone and latest high-end android cell phone, but they can not afford.

They want to own a residence to live in a rich area of town, but they can not afford.

They want to own a high-end vehicle, but they can not afford.

They want to own and wear costly branded apparels and accessories from online shops and malls. And they do a lot of shoppings. Overall they can be managed one by one. But they do not realize the way their money disappearing.

Most of them do not focus on the things that can take them to the next financial level or to fulfill their purpose. But instead, they act like a zombie. And they stuck.

Observe carefully; it is about the mindset of owning items.And also it is about following someone else lifestyle. Following is not a good word, but instead, I would say it is about copying someone else lifestyle. Someone else who does not have to do anything in your life.

Most of the middle-class family already have a wonderful affordable cultural lifestyle which neither poor and not rich class have. But they are losing their mind just to copy someone else lifestyle. And as a result, they all are getting blocked. They do not realize the power of your own cultural lifestyle.

So one of the major fundamental problems is the mindset of owning and accumulating items beyond their current financial capability as part of getting influenced from other people lifestyle. Note carefully I used two important terms here

“Current financial capability.”

“Influenced from other people lifestyle.”

Look carefully.

What is the catch here?

You influenced from members of other class, and you try to copy them. You think they own so you think you too must own. Your WANT is not your AUTHENTIC-WANT but actually a COPY-WANT. You become a copycat.

Oh yes. You read correctly. You become copycat in most of the cases. And you lost your authenticity. This is a major concern which does not allow you to grow smooth. And you went on to do a lot of hard work. Not hard work but actually a harsh work. And you never realize the happiness in your own life. There is absolutely no happiness and peace in copying others. It only brings tragedy and chaos.

Let’s just see the problem of owning items which somehow came to your possession when you get influenced from the class above you.

You own a lot of branded apparels. Each branded garments is 80% more costly than what you can buy from less know labels. A good percentage of money went on to this.

You own high-end cell phone. Money that gone was a one-time investment for the next two years say. Not a big problem. But the issues that come with it is of a much big concern. You end up investing a hell lots of time, and energy into it and this leakage of money are unrecoverable. And most of us download online shopping apps which opens the door to leak even more money. More online shopping more owning of items and more leakage of time and energy.

Eating out in costly restaurant and coffee shops: This is a slow and big eater of money and time for many of the young generations. Sometimes if fine.

These are just three of them to point out just to introduce some substantial point.

First, you get influenced from either other people lifestyle or from new arrivals in the market.

Then you buy them, and you spend a chunk of your money.

Then you own a new item, or in reverse, a new item finds a home for himself.

Then this new guest uses your time, space and energy.

Remember every single item that you buy drinks your time, occupy your space and suck some of your energy.

It is not only about you buy and own them. It is about: they, items, find a new home to drink someone else time, occupy someone else space and suck someone else energy.

And items are different than humans they do not grow and become better instead they degrade faster and lose their value faster. This is true for most of the items except few rare exceptions.

Reminder here. I want to remind you that I am talking about items which you own as part of getting influenced from people of a different class, or from the beauty of the new arrivals or from some big sales days going on in various festivals and holidays.

To be very specific.

Dear financially middle reader. Festivals are not for owning a clutter or copying someone else lifestyle or behavior. Or adopting an unnecessary item a home.

It is about cherishing the festivals with friends and family to create memories. It is about looting happiness out of relationships and out of our beautiful cultures.

Dear reader, this article is a part of the series I am writing on the decluttered lifestyle. I hope you must have cherished the beauty and importance of it. This article is not complete yet.

We have not yet discussed the major areas which can be the better focal point for you to spend your time, space, money, and energy which take you to the next level of your journey with smooth progression. Along with gaining a new financial level, you will experience happiness and peace as well. And yes with no harsh work at all. You might have to do hard work on the way, but it will not be harsh in anyway. And you will not be a copycat.

Copycat lifestyle is a disgusting part of your life. This is a truth that needs to be naked in front of every needful people.

In the upcoming and another article I will write on essential aspects of decluttered lifestyle and personal freedom. And we have also not yet discussed the need of decluttered lifestyle for a middle class to be precise. It is a series.

Wish you all the best.

To be continued…

A. K. Mars

Philosopher, Coach, and Author of the “The Hackers Code: The great prison escape project and ways to fly high in life.”