When I quit my last job to become an entrepreneur, I could no longer afford my house rent. So I moved into a place with half the rent. Later I moved from Mumbai to Trivandrum, and my rent further went down by two-thirds.
Strangely, even though my ‘quality of living’ ostensibly declined by any measurable metric, it liberated me and gave me the runway to do a startup.
Over the years, I have discovered that owning things is fine. But if we ever start believing that they are ‘essential’, they start owning us. Imagine being owned by a BMW!
Feeling compelled to ‘maintain a lifestyle’ is like running on a treadmill, minus the health benefits. Even if you succeed, you have only managed to remain stationary.
The less we feel compelled to own things, the less we have to lose. And a man who has nothing to lose is a dangerous man – in a good way.
– Rajan