30 Ways to Build a Carefree Life

Photo: brian boulos

Life will always have its own little problems, and that will always be true. But it’s easy to observe that most worries we face are self-inflicted and thus reversible (or better yet, preventable).

Striving for perfection isn’t particularly purposeful, because it simply doesn’t exist, but there are plenty of actions you can take to minimise the complexity and worries you experience in day to day life.

1. Own less. Less to own, less to worry about. Simple.
2. Learn. Every problem you’ll ever faced has been solved already. Whether you have questions about building wealth, becoming healthy or traveling the world, you can find answers in these magical things known as books. Can’t afford a book? Go to a library.
3. Go for a Walk. And walk slowly.
4. Think. It amazes me how bored people are of their own thoughts and must constantly chatter about nothingness. Just sit and think. Let your mind settle. You don’t need to become a Zen monk, but just sitting and thinking will make everything else seem less urgent.
5. Find stability. Food, shelter, water and clothing. Strive for these before you strive for the rest. If you’ve already got them: good job.
6. Define “enough”. Wanting more than you currently have is fine, but just make sure “more” is a defined quantity and don’t let it become an ever increasing amount. Aim for sufficiency.
7. Stop drinking alcohol, doing drugs and gambling. If you do any of those things and complain about the complexity of your life or financial trouble then you’re not trying hard enough. Suck it up and have some discipline. Or just stop whinging.
8. Turn off the TV. And don’t turn it on unless you want to watch a specific show. Never channel surf. Better yet, if you can afford it, just download the shows via iTunes. That way you aren’t bombarded with ads and can watch shows when you feel like it.
9. Say no to news. There are plenty of problems in the world, but simply reading about them sure isn’t going to help. Put your money and attention towards something meaningful.
10. Eliminate commitments. If a commitment doesn’t fulfil you there’s no need to subject yourself to its recurring pain. Only commit to joy-bringers.
11. Go to bed early. And see the sun rise.
12. Go to bed late. And enjoy the tranquility after midnight.
13. Have a project. Always be working on something that is greater than yourself and will still be around beyond your years. Idleness kills. “Find a happy person, and you will find a project.” – Sonja Lyubomirsky
14. Write. It’s the simplest way to settle your mind and share your thoughts.
15. Fill your time. Don’t give yourself the time to worry. Find hobbies you enjoy and excel at them.
16. Get out of debt. And if you’re out of it already, stay out of it. To help with this read The Richest Man in Babylon, I Will Teach You To Be Rich and Your Money or Your Life.
17. Play guitar (or any instrument really). Bashing out the riff to The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” with unnecessary amounts of distortion feels awesome, and takes very little practice. Lose yourself in a rockstar-like moment.
18. Eliminate interruptions. Mobile phones, Gmail notifier and instant messaging applications. All of these things breed interruptions. None of them are inherently bad, and in some cases may make you more productive. Just make sure you get a few consecutive hours every now and then without anything preventing you from focusing.
19. Be selfish. Focus on yourself. Helping others is a noble pursuit, but you’ll be little help to anyone if you can’t help yourself.
20. Stop being envious. I see so many people claiming how “unfair” it is that some people can live the life they want to. But what they fail to realise is that someone at some point in that ancestral line took a chance, grasped an opportunity, became successful and passed on that success. You may be a bit further behind others but, luckily, it’s not a race.
21. Do one thing at a time. When you eat, eat. When you drink, drink. When you read, read. Don’t multi task. Just do one thing and focus all your attention on that one thing. You’ll receive both greater satisfaction and a calmer mind.
22. Live deliberately. Make your own decisions. It’s easy to just react as others do, and follow the herd. In some cases, that may be the best option. Some conventions will fit your lifestyle well. Just make sure you’ve consciously chosen to follow that convention.
23. Don’t create battles. If someone says something that you disagree with, let it slide. It can be instinctual to respond with your apparent enlightenment on the topic but you’re more likely to create an enemy rather than someone who agrees with your view.
24. Realise that everything you do is wrong. There is no inherent “right” way to tackle life. Just be open minded and then do things your own way.
25. Be mindful of defensiveness. If you feel defensive when hearing the differing opinion of another person, don’t react, just be mindful of your reaction. This is a good time to ask yourself why your mind became so defensive. Maybe there’s some truth in what the other person is saying?
26. Make connections. One of the great benefits of blogging and being such a tech geek is I make connections with people from all around the world on a regular basis. These relationships may appear more superfluous than those from the “real” world, but their lack of complexity makes them quite satisfying.
27. Smile. The simple act of smiling makes you happy. It works. If you don’t feel like smiling just force it. Eventually it’ll become a natural reaction, even when you’re feeling blue.
28. Be grubby. I wouldn’t recommend stopping showering or anything (a nice hot shower is so refreshing after all), but it feels great to sometimes just not try to look “presentable”. Often I’ll just throw on some board shorts and one of my old orange t-shirts I have that’s ripped, and go for a 40-50 minute walk, barefoot all the while. It’s liberating to simply not care. And speaking of that…
29. Realise that everyone is self conscious. People care a lot less about how you look and behave than you think they do. They’re too worried thinking about how you think they look and behave.
30. Spend money on quality. Buy goods that will work well from day one. Life’s too short to be playing around with a router that stops working if you use the included installation disc on your computer (true story).

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