Winning By Not Playing

2024-10-26

Some games are won by not playing. Mostly, these are games on satisfying ego.

The whole world of consumerism is based on satisfying ego. It revolves around buying things/experiences to match with others as corporates push advertisement, then buying the next set of things as newer products come. Stop consuming and you win the game.

Take travelling - the mind sees an ad (or an instagram post), wants to go to the place to experience it. And the body follows. But after the experience is consumed, the mind again becomes restless wanting to travel. This leads to an endless chain of travelling here and there.

Same goes with food experiences. There are so many food items to consume - biriyani, pizza, pasta, burger and varieties of jam, sauce, etc. And it is impossible to have them all. An better approach is to stick with a few (idli, dosa and rice if you are in South India) and be satisfied with them.

Chasing on fashion - too many different kind of clothes, footwear are in the market. You can have them all but it may ruin you financially. Better to choose simple standard clothes. It's bad for the shop-keeper but it is good for you.

There are no issues with experiencing the experience. But the search for better experiences will be a never ending search. Inherently the games cannot be won. The only way to win is not to play the game.

As the legendary Charlie Munger says, have low expectations. You win the game by not playing.