Monday Mindset: The Real Luxuries in Life

These are short , little snippets of thoughts , reflections that I share with you on a weekly basis , that are focused around mindset Things that we can do to live our best lives , to live an intentional life , and I invite you to not just listen to these for yourself and how they apply to you and your life , but consider sharing them with other people too .

Consider sharing them with your students every Monday and having a conversation about it and doing a reflection together , because I think a lot of these thoughts , these topics , these questions are just a part of being human , and sometimes being human can feel lonely and to know that other people are struggling through some of the same challenges that you are and are

benefiting from having these types of conversations is hugely powerful in allowing us to get to be the best version of ourselves , to take who we are and who we be and who we show up in the world as to that next level . So I really hope that you enjoy these Monday Mindsets and , if you do , let us know over on our Instagram at avacademics .

Thanks so much for listening and let's dive into our Monday Mindset . I hate to use this phrase to start this , but I will in any ways because I think it works .

But as I've gotten older , you've really come to think about and reflect on , you know , what are the real luxuries in life , what really matters , what's really important to me , and I invite you to do the same .

You know , I think so often it's so easy for us to get caught up in what I just kind of call like the drift , which is where the masses kind of move you right , where society just kind of moves you toward buying this thing or getting on this train , for whatever reason .

And I just think about how often we are so influenced to believe that there are certain things that are a luxury in life , that maybe aren't necessarily actually a luxury , that are maybe being presented to us in such a way to buy something right , To be a consumer and I just think about social media and all of the content that we see and all of the things

that we see all of the time and really sitting back and thinking about , well , what actually matters ? Do I really need to buy that thing ? Is that really actually a luxury right Like the tangible things that we purchase ? And I've just come to realize even more and more .

You know , I've always known this at my core , but the older I get , the more apparent it really is , so none of that really matters . You know , the real luxuries in life , if you sit back and think about it , are totally unrelated to tangible items . Right , it's time with family . It's like looking out .

I remember I was driving home from the post office yesterday and like the way that the sun was streaming through the trees , I was just like , wow , I am so fortunate , wow , I am so blessed . And I think that's important to identify and figure out what that means for you and what that is for you .

You know there's this great book from a guy named Ramit Sethi and it's kind of , you know , in your face , a little aggressive and intense , but I like that and it's called I will teach you to be rich , and the whole concept of it is not rich financially , it's rich like your rich life . How do you define what that means to you ?

And is that , instead of spending money on X , y and Z , instead you're sending money on something different ? Maybe it's a special trip that you go on with your family every year , or whatever . It is camping or it doesn't matter .

And I just think about that concept of defining like to you , because everybody's different , everybody's perspective is going to be different , everybody's thoughts around this are going to be different , because we are all different people . So to you , what does that actually mean ? What does a rich life mean ?

And I sat down after reading that book and really thought about it , and it's very tangible too , this book . I would highly suggest you go purchase it and read it .

It talks about just saving for retirement and 401Ks and Roth IRAs and things along those lines what things that we can do to set ourselves up in retirement while still also doing the things that we define as our rich life . And for one person in the book that he shares , that's behind a bunch of shoes . Right .

For me that's not the case , but for some people that is , and that's the beauty of what I think about . The real luxuries in life to me are these things . But the real luxuries in life to you might be something totally different . For me it's the freedom to go on a bike ride and not be tied down to a car on the weekends . That is a luxury to me .

So I just think about inviting you to consider how do you define the real luxuries in your life . What does that actually look like ?

Write them down , and I think about putting intention behind doing them more often , so that we have the awareness we are putting the intention behind really enjoying our lives , defined by how we believe the real luxuries in life are , versus what society tells us to do , versus what we see on Instagram or social media or our friends doing .

This is a silly example , but I basically wear the same exact thing every single day . I don't have very many things . I don't have very many items because that stuff is not the thing that is of value to me and my friends do . I live in a place where that is like the next designer thing or the next style or whatever , and I don't really care .

That's not something that's important to me , but it's taken me a while to get there , especially in today's day and age , and so I invite you to do the same and identifying . Maybe that is something that makes you really happy .

Maybe you're super into fashion and style and that's how you define a luxury in your life is that , which is no judgment and totally okay for you ? I think the beauty is in finding and really identifying and sitting with . What is it that really is a real luxury for you and your life , because everybody's gonna be different .

So I hope that that serves you and if it does , let us know over on the Instagram at ebacademics . And here's to a great week of living intentionally .