Don't Sell Yourself Too Cheaply

The Daily Stoic for December 10th, “Don’t Sell Yourself Too Cheaply”.

“I say, let no one rob me of a single day who isn’t going to make a full return on the loss.”

—SENECA, ON TRANQUILITY OF MIND, 1.11b

It’s true that people spend more money with their credit cards than if they have to pull out actual cash from their pockets. The reason? When handing out cash -bills and coins- you are fully aware of the sheer amount of money you are spending. It forces your mind to do a more thoughtful decision on whether that money is worth what you are buying.

Don’t Sell Yourself Too Cheaply

Applying that metaphor to our life, and more concretely our time, it’s easy to fall into the credit card trap. We let others decide where we spend it, and we are not aware of how much of it we are handing over.

It’s the jobs we think we need to have a steady, secure and happy life, and ultimately make us miserable. It’s the notifications popping out of our smartphones, fighting for your attention. Or the obligations or duties we impose on ourselves because of what our families, friends, neighbors or others will think about us.

I think what today’s stoic meditation is asking us is switching to cash-only for our life and our time. To be more conscious of where and how we spend our time, and who has the last word here.

During the last year, I certainly have become a lot more aware of some of those things, and stoicism is in part responsible for that. 🙂

Conclusion

Today’s Daily Stoic, “Don’t Sell Yourself Too Cheaply”, discusses how we should be more aware of how we spend our life and our time, just as we become more aware by paying by cash than by credit card.