I tend to read a lot of blogs by a lot of different people on one or two subjects. Inevitably, I’ll read something that strikes me in some way…. This person did such-and-such a thing that created x result, and I’ll be spurred on to try to do the same thing in my life.
What’s good for the goose…
The saying goes, “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” For those who’ve never come across it, it’s basically saying that what’s good for one is good for the group at large. I suppose this is true in many ways, but then it isn’t true in many ways as well.
Not everyone willingly lives without eating out. Not everyone is willing to forgo cars as a form of transportation. Not everyone has the financial backing to spend $3,000 and six months of waiting on a set of brand new beautiful Volk wheels. Not everyone can spend $600 on a pair of high heels. And drive in them.
Some people can, and many people do. (Driving in high heels is something I WISH I could do, I just need practice I guess??) But not everyone should be doing this. The difference is in what we’re willing to do.
Personality depending
Yup, your own personality influences the choices you make and what exactly you’re willing to do. Maybe the money and the time waiting is a small price to pay for you to have a set of Volks that many will envy. Or maybe going out to eat is the only time you get to relax, so you cherish it and place it at a premium.
The thing is, everyone has different tolerances for different things. I imagine that non-car people would choke at the thought of dropping three thousand dollars on just wheels. Even some car people choke at that thought. And then there are people with multiple sets of Volks and such.
No guilt.
When I see some of these things, I feel guilty. I feel like maybe I’m wasting my money because I don’t have a set of super expensive rare wheels. Maybe I should be like this person or that one, who save way more than I do. (And make a lot more than me to begin with.) Or maybe I should be able to part with that much money for some wheels. Probably a combination of all of those.
I know we spend a ton of money on eating out. But it’s more important to me to spend time with my husband than cooking and saving money that way. Instead, we go out and have wonderful conversations, get great food and it all costs a bit of money for a lovely time. We could probably pay for a lot of mods with the money we’ve spent, but it’s worth it to me.
Perfection is the enemy of progress.
If you try to do everything perfect, you’ll take forever to get the simplest task done. Likewise, it’s okay to let the activities of others influence you. For it’s bad rap, jealousy is a very key human emotion. If I was never jealous, I’d never be spurred on sometimes. If I didn’t see the beautiful 240SX’s that others have built, I would probably not have the same desire that I do to build my own pretty girl.
Just take the bits and pieces that work for you and incorporate them into your life. Nobody will argue that cars cost a lot of money, and exponentially more when you make it a hobby. But don’t bother obsessing over following what someone else does to a “t.” It’s not going to stick and you’ll probably just end up miserable. However, you can take away the parts that work easily for you and apply them to your life.
My own example.
I bring this up because I do it all of the time. Maybe somebody else does too, I don’t know. I read about how someone got this or that part, because they saved $X nixing Y habit. Maybe I was wasting too much money on things that weren’t important, when I wasn’t spending enough on what was important — my car.
Oh, and I was. On clothes. I was such a girl! Shopping all of the time, gushing over this or that cute whatever it was. So I stopped… Cold turkey. I cut down to a tiny bit of spending money every two weeks, and that’s that. Money gone? I’m done. That way, I can devote a majority of money to my cars, but still have some new things. It also helps keep out things I don’t want, since I can only get one or two things every other week.
It may have taken me a few months, but I was recently able to spend $500 on upgraded brake stuff for my Miata. Slotted rotors, Hawk HPS pads and some Goodridge stainless steel lines all tallied up to like $497, including the shipping but not including installation costs. (People seem to be too busy to help teach me this stuff sometimes. Sigh.) If I hadn’t given up things that weren’t all that important, I wouldn’t have had better brakes for our first track event ever. My cars always win the “which is more important” debates… Almost without fail.
Conclusion
What works for one person won’t necessarily work for another. People have different wants, different tastes and different budgets. And just because one person gives up something, or earns money from another job or anything like that doesn’t mean you’re a worse person for not doing the same. Some value time, some value money, but it’s hard to value both equally and live it out.
Find what works for you, what jives with the life you want to lead, your wants/taste/budget and stick to it. Obsessing over other people’s good habits won’t do you any good… But feel free to adopt (and modify) their techniques for your own life. Remember — what works for them may not necessarily be plausible for you… And vice versa.
No related posts.
No Comments so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.