Point to Ponder:
What do you invest in more? Things or experiences?
I don't know about you, but starting Daylight Savings is brutal. I find it to be confusing and losing an hour of sleep is the pits! Despite these unpleasant aspects, I love that Daylight Savings comes with the spring season, more sunlight and longer days, which equates to more time for outdoor activity and experiences in general.
With the start of Daylight Savings, Spring Break, longer days and summer right around the corner, I encourage you to bypass the urge to splurge on things and start investing in magical and meaningful moments and experiences for yourself and with your family, friends and iGnite! From our upcoming Member Lunch on March 23 (rsvp to hello@igniteyourlifenow.com), our Spring Outdoor Adventure Series (details coming soon), our June 8-10 Lake LBJ Getaway, our July 23-27 Whistler Escape (only three more spots left) to our daily experience-based fitness classes, within iGnite, opportunity for experiences are abundant! In addition, experiences don't have or need to be extravagant. The best and most memorable ones are simple and with the people we love.
One of my favorite blogs is "Becoming Minimalist" and in a recent post they list six reasons why experiences are always better investments than things. As compared to spending our time and money on things, there's no doubt that experiences contribute to improved health, happiness and well-being, as well as to our families too. Consider these reasons and here's to enjoying longer days and investing in more memory-making experiences.
Experiences result in greater happiness. According to research, experiences result in longer-lasting happiness than material possessions. This is the case for several reasons (including some listed below). But in the article provided, the driving argument is that humans quickly adapt to their external surroundings. As a result, the happiness provided by new material possessions is short-lived. Over time, people’s satisfaction with the things they buy decreases, whereas their satisfaction with experiences over time increases.
Experiences provide better memories. One reason I enjoy baseball so much, is undoubtedly, because of the many memories I have watching it with my father. Growing up in South Dakota, an annual trip with the family to watch the Minnesota Twins play was a highlight of summer. Decades later, I look back on those moments with great joy and fondness. I remember them far better than almost any of the physical gifts I received as a child.
Experiences result in less clutter. Most physical possessions eventually become a burden on our lives. They take up physical space in our homes and mental space in our minds. They require care, attention, maintenance, organization. Experiences, on the other hand, are accompanied with little to no physical baggage.
Experiences provide greater opportunity to connect with other people. This is the nature of experiencing things with others. Because we enjoy time together around a common purpose and activity for an extended period of time, we are afforded numerous opportunities to talk and connect with one another.
Experiences result in greater mindfulness. In 2010, Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert published an important study in Science magazine. Their research concluded that “a wandering mind is an unhappy mind.” And the greater a person’s ability to “stay present” in a given moment, the greater happiness they experience during and after. Experiences provide greater opportunity in this regard.
Experiences result in less comparison with others. According to research done by Ryan T. Howell and Graham Hill, another significant reason experiences result in more happiness than material possessions is because experiences result in less comparison with others. Or, as they put it, “It’s easier to feature-compare material goods (how many carats is your ring? how fast is your laptop’s CPU?) than experiences. And since it’s easier to compare, people do so.” This doesn’t mean, of course, that comparisons don’t still occur at events. But overall, both during and after, we are less inclined to compare with others the experiences we enjoy than the material possessions we own.
Action Item:
Bypass the urge to splurge on things and start investing in memory-making experiences.
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