Albert-Writes

In this short blog post, I will go through some related ideas – which tie into an ‘over all reflection on the good life’. These ideas comprises life categorised into specific parts and it’s questions and decisions – such as where to work, what to spend ones money on, how much risk to take on, whether to keep ones options open or to settle, and so on. In a way, they are all somewhat related to economics – and some sort of utility, or value maximisation. After this, I will go through some tested practical techniques one can employ to possibly improve ones life, regardless for what economics of life one attests to.

When discussing the economics of life, a good place to start is the origin of money – work. What does it mean to have a good place to work? What qualities in a work place are deemed commendable? Well, a good job supposedly exhibits the following qualities:

• Work that’s engaging hour-to-hour
• Work that helps others
• Work you’re good at
• Work done alongside supportive colleagues
• A lack of major negatives, such as unfair pay, a long commute, or major conflict with your personal life

Whence one has worked, and earned ones wages, what is one then to do with ones wages? JA Westenberg explores this in his video essay You can actually buy happiness. You’re just buying the wrong crap. echoing the sentiments of happiness researcher and economist Micael Dahlen, that smaller experience based purchases generally bring about more happiness for the buck. The video explores the science of how money relates to happiness, challenging the common belief that wealth cannot increase life satisfaction. While higher income does correlate with better emotional well-being up to a certain point, the main reason increased wealth often fails to make people happier is that they spend it incorrectly—typically on material goods that they quickly adapt to. To maximize happiness, behavioral research shows that people should instead use their money in three key ways: buying experiences rather than physical items, spending money on others through prosocial giving, and purchasing time by outsourcing tedious tasks to reduce stress.

Ultimately, consumer culture actively steers us toward buying material objects, so using money to genuinely boost happiness requires intentionally seeking out experiences, generosity, and saved time – counter to the influence of advertising. The evolution of modern consumerism is increasingly defined by a shift from accumulating material goods to seeking out memorable experiences though, and the branding of things reflects that. Sales are increasingly tied to selling people an idea that ‘comes with a product’ (such as selling a brand that stands for “success and beauty”, with the product tacked on) rather than the reverse. In the contemporary experience economy, value is extracted not from physical possessions, which are subject to hedonic adaptation, but from the personal identity and lasting memories created through active engagement.

Philosophically, this transition mirrors the ancient divide between Platonic ideals and Aristotelian empiricism. Where a Platonic framework favors pre-designed blueprints and adherence to prescribed instructions, an Aristotelian approach posits that genuine wisdom and fulfillment emerge directly from lived, sensory experience and practical engagement with the world. In the case of modern consumerism, the drive for perfection is more tied to following a Platonic blue-print of sorts – where the allure of the ideal (such as finally possessing all brand-worthy qualities) are premiered above the non-structured non-check-list approach to life (where life is a experience first, and a result second) closer aligned to the Aristotelean approach.

This tension between structured rules and lived experience plays out directly in how we navigate risk and personal well-being. In financial theory, holding options—keeping choices open and flexible—is seen as a rational way to hedge against uncertainty. However, as explored in JA Westenberg’s analysis on decision-making (Why keeping your options open is making you miserable), preserving total optionality in personal life often leads to chronic anxiety rather than security. Psychological well-being frequently requires closing doors; permanent, irreversible choices activate our psychological coping mechanisms, allowing us to fully commit to and synthesize satisfaction from the path we have chosen. What I believe this insight tells us, is that we must maintain a healthy balance between our abstract unreachable ideals of what people we want to be, and the complete submission toward reality. I.e. goals are good in moderation, and plans likewise – should be kept flexible.

When cultural movements attempt to challenge these dominant paradigms, they often follow a predictable historical cycle. Subcultures and counter-cultures routinely emerge as rebellions against prevailing social norms—whether opposing rigid institutional rules or rejecting superficial consumer trends. Yet, throughout history, mainstream culture possesses a remarkable ability to absorb and commercialize these rebellious spaces. What begins as an authentic counter-cultural push for lived experience or alternative ways of being is inevitably packaged, standardized, and integrated back into the broader economic landscape. Take punk-culture for example, with all those DIY-leather jackets and tacked on self made artwork; and how large fashion companies succeeded in appropriating the signal of the punk-style into the clothing of every-day people – possibly weakening the visual cues punk-people used to identify each other in public. With culture, in a broader sense, we often see a pendulum sort of movement. If the present is all about checking of a list of ‘must have’-experiences, the avant-garde might be all about caring only for things so uniquely individual they are so genuine that they become beyond comparison and pressure inducing competition. My take on such a situation would be that the middle road seems best – balancing out an over-social set of valuations, with an overtly solitary one.

Now that we have gone through the overall “economics” of life, we can also take some time to go over some useful practical “life hacks” for how to easier achieve them. These practical tools have ben verified as containing some evidence in regards to their effects – and come from a list compiled by the company Clearer Thinking (whom have a very rich website, with interesting self-tests, and ideas). After going through my initial valuation of the techniques, removing obvious ones such as exercise and sleep hygiene, removing ones associated to maintaining an overall gratuitous and positive outlook towards life and the value in general care for others – such as social support and active listening, removing techniques that personally do not do much for me, and lastly – filtering out techniques that feel to restrictive to the necessary flexibility of life; I am left with the following categories of techniques which of I most resonat with.

• Managing anxiety :
  • Keeping a clear head –
    • Anxiety can lead to a lot of built up stress if it goes on for long enough. Necessitating anything from, in decreasing levels of acuteness, 20 minutes, to 2 hours, to 4 weeks, to 3 months, or 1 year even of recovery. Recovery is significantly hindered if the source of stress (e.g., constant life pressure) remains active. Removing or limiting the stressor is the most effective way to accelerate healing. Try postponing worries to a scheduled 10–20 minute window and redirect attention when they arise outside it. Focus your attention on an anchor (eg the breath) with an attitude of acceptance and curiosity. Gently return attention whenever the mind wanders. Catch a distorted or exaggerated thought, weigh the actual evidence for and against it, and reframe it in more accurate, balanced terms. Step back and relate to thoughts as passing mental events rather than literal truths or commands (eg through techniques like labeling the thought or imagining it as a leaf on a stream).
  • Going outside your comfort zone –
    • Experience and comfort can fool us into keeping to harmful paths; paths which we might be released from if we gain insight in our wrongly charted course. One way to gain this insight is by building a fear hierarchy of sorts, and repeatedly face feared situations without escaping or using safety behaviours, advancing as each becomes manageable. One may also attempt to train this muscle of discomfort, by triggering ones obsession or fears, while deliberately not doing the compulsion. If one has trouble defining ones fears, contact with other people is a great way of revealing them; for we easiest see our own dispositions when facing the dispositions of others.

• Planning ahead :
  • Structured self-reflection –
    • Work out what you most deeply value in life, then use those values to decide which goals are worth setting and pursuing. Draft a short statement of principles, roles, and long-term aims and revisit it regularly. Rate major life domains, choose the lowest rated high-value domain, and set one action. Write vividly about a realistic future in which important goals have gone well.
  • Keeping flexible plans –
    • Write a specific ‘If situation X happens, then I will do behaviour Y’ plan.

• Activating yourself :
  • Long mornings –
    • Waking up with the sun, around the same time every day, and going for a morning walk in nature.
  • Tiny habit stacking –
    • Shrink the behaviour until it feels easy, perform it after a cue, and briefly celebrate completion. Attach a new behaviour immediately after an existing reliable routine.
  • Behavioural activation –
    • Gradually schedule more and more activities that are likely to improve your mood.

Ultimately, constructing a “good life” relies on treating existence as a flexible, lived experience rather than a checklist of pre-designed ideals to collect or optimize. By aligning our work with intrinsic value, prioritizing memorable experiences and shared time over simple material consumption, and embracing the psychological relief of committing to explicit choices, we ground our daily reality in purpose rather than perpetual anxiety. While broader cultural forces continuously attempt to package and market these ideals back to us, practical strategies—such as actively managing stress, intentionally stepping outside our comfort zones, and cultivating small, values-based habits—provide the practical tools needed to balance abstract goals with direct, meaningful living.

That was all for now! Thanks for reading.