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More and more people seem at the breaking point. That seems particularly prevalent among Boomers: Demands at work are ever ratcheted up and, outside of work, Boomers suffer the sandwiched stress of aging parents, their own aging, and, often, adult children that have failed to launch a decent career.
A fat book or three would be required to address all that, so here I offer only a moment of respite, a hopefully pleasant little thought experiment that might point to a better, easier tomorrow or not-too-distant future.
A thought experiment
Imagine that you received an inviolable order from on high that you are free from all responsibility. You can do whatever you want for the rest of your life and you’ll have sufficient income for a middle-class lifestyle, health care, etc., and your family will similarly be provided for. In addition, you have no responsibility to spend time with anyone who you don’t really want to. You are responsible only for making your life as fulfilling as possible, defined as you wish. Answer these four questions as if you were in that situation.
For each question, to encourage your thought process, I offer some examples. If you think that seeing those examples will give you tunnel vision, as soon as you see each question mark, turn away and decide on your answer. I encourage you to actually write your answers—That will make it easier to come up with any real-world takeaways from this thought experiment.
1. Pretend you have all the skills and ability to succeed at any sort of work. What would you do? ______________________
Examples:
- Be a government, corporate, or nonprofit leader
- Be a motivational speaker
- Try to find a cure for cancer
- Host a TV interview show (like Charlie Rose on PBS or Bill O’Reilly on Fox)
- Build boats
- Lead mountain trips
- Play a sport professionally
- College lecturer
- Perform a one-person show
- Have your art in a prestigious gallery or museum
- Be someone who knows “everyone” and helps people make connections.
- Be a venture capitalist who picks out what to invest in
- Be a foundation program officer who decides what programs to fund.
- Manage a mutual fund who decides what stocks to invest in.
2. What sorts of things would you do for pure pleasure? ______________________
Examples:
- Play sports
- Watch sports
- Have more sex
- Draw or paint
- Stare into space
- Sew or knit
- Play video games
- Cook
- Play a musical instrument or sing solo or with a group
- Write a book, blog, short story, poems, etc.
- Read (specify:)
3. Whom would you spend more and less time with? ______________________
Examples:
- Particular friends or relatives
- New friends that are, for example, warmer, lower-maintenance, brilliant, funny, idealistic, serious, whatever.
4. What would you spend money on? Remember, all your middle-class needs have been taken care of. So these would be expenditures beyond that: ______________________
Examples:
- A gorgeous house
- A luxury car
- Travel (specify where)
- A great wardrobe, including jewelry
- Frequent meals at great restaurants
- Donating to charity (specify:)
The takeaway
Do your answers offer any implications for what you might actually do now? Or plan to do at some date not too far from now?
Marty Nemko's bio is in Wikipedia.
