“Whatever success you’re after, keep in mind that someone has already had it, hated it, and deluded themselves into thinking that just a little more would solve their problems.” – Ryan Holiday
Excerpt From: Lewis Howes. “The Mask of Masculinity.” iBooks.
It makes you think a lot about materialistic things in general, doesn’t it? I’m completely fine making a solid 3k-5k a month. All I really care about is traveling, making a difference, and once I start making over that amount, I’ll develop a non-profit organization and build schools in impoverished countries. That’s my life assignment.
Some people’s life assignment revolves around getting a Bugati. Look at Christian Guzman, for instance. Back around August of 2016 before my breakthrough, I would watch his videos to try to get a burst of inspiration. Instead, it was about houses, money, and cars. A lot of followers, again in the comment section, would hurl rhetoric at him in terms of lavishing himself in luxury. The point I’m trying to make is during the video, I felt his energy. And in saying that, his energy was so off. He had such a feeling of discontent with the entire process. He did not seem happy whatsoever. Same thing goes with another YouTuber (fitness) named Chris Jones. I feel that he’s another person who doesn’t seemed entirely fulfilled, although he has a gorgeous house, significant other, and car. This is what scares me.
“I think one of the big reasons why men, specifically, chase money and fame is because they were turned away earlier from those feelings of acceptance and attachment, and they found some security in this myth that being rich, that having Tai’s house, will finally make them feel like men.” – Lewis Howes
Luckily, I’ve never been one of those men. However, I feel like a particular clothing store, which I would get my clothes tailored from, was pushing me to the bring of having a Material Mask. It being an Indian based store in BKK, they’re very pushy. They would constantly push me to buy and invest more after picking up some. Thankfully, the last time I went there (back in April), the manager ripped me off completely and told me to pick up 300$ worth of clothing (which would be only one suit and a pair of slacks – compared to five shirts, three slacks and a blazer just a year before) by the following week. I left and said, “is this it? Is the trust broken?” And if I had gone back to pick up everything, I think not only would I have lost all my dignity, but the mask would be officially on. I messaged another employee expressing discontent; and later on that evening, I went on to block all numbers and never went back since.
Did I need an extra 3-7 suits? Hell no. I have about 5-7 suits already; plus a couple of blazers, vests, and an assortment of ties and slacks. However, people will push you to do things you don’t want to do. If you’re not accepting, they become more adamant.
Don’t get me wrong, wearing perfectly tailored clothes gives me such a “swag” that no one else in Bangkok has. However, it doesn’t give me true fulfillment, and that’s what Teacher Edward told me just a couple years prior.
“Listen, you can have all the clothes you want, Arsenio. If you don’t know what you’re going to say, all of that won’t mean a damn thing.”
And the last Tai Lopez story is….
“There’s two ways you can consume, as a person making money,” he said to me. “There’s conspicuous consumption and inconspicuous. And conspicuous is what makes you unhappy. So I don’t have any nice watches, okay? And some of my friends are like, ‘You should have a Rolex because if you are successful, you need to show that.’ Well, I don’t really care about watches, never did. So if I bought a watch for myself, it would be what’s called conspicuous, me trying to show off.”
Excerpt From: Lewis Howes. “The Mask of Masculinity.” iBooks.
Wait, but kicking off a video with you getting out of a Lambo or standing in front of a mansion isn’t showing off?
Look, we’re going to do different things with out money. Entrepreneurs like Gary Vee says reinvest, which is the smartest thing to do. Other people go to high-end stores and saturate themselves with high quality “materialistic” things. Other people travel. However, if you think that’s going to let you into the “cool group” you’re sadly mistaken.
Does anyone know the movie called “richie rich?” Ahhh, as a child, this movie was amazing. A little boy who was unbelievably rich tried to fit in with the neighborhood kids by playing baseball. They shoved him away constantly because he wasn’t “them.” Money is not a code, it’s an enabler.
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