Most of us live a significant portion of our lives driven by the philosophy: more is better. We may not even realize that we’re doing this. You can always use more money. There’s always another promotion to achieve. Who doesn’t need more space? Perhaps you are not into the material trappings. If it’s recognition that you crave, you can always have more likes, more shares, more accolades, more admirers. You can always have more friends, more connections. I can give more examples, but I think you get the idea. (See what I did there?)
There are a few problems inherent in the more is better model. For one, this race never ends. As soon as you achieve the next level, there is a new one right there, vying for your time and attention. We’re wired to keep climbing. I am exhausted. How about you?
Another problem is the corollary to more is better. It’s called less is worse and it’s even more insidious because it operates almost entirely in our subconscious. Less is worse thinking fosters a feeling of loss aversion that robs us of the opportunity to make change in our lives. Just as we are wired to keep climbing, we are wired to avoid dropping any rungs on the ladder. We also can’t stop, because everyone else around us is climbing so we’ll lose ground, relatively speaking.
The last problem with more is better thinking is that we often find ourselves focusing on the wrong thing. More, more, more requires our full focus and attention. This comes at the expense of everything else around us. When we focus on one area, we often do so at the expense of the other areas in our life. In the end, we discover the thing that has been consuming us is actually a distraction or an illusion.
What if there’s an alternative to more is better?
Minimum Viable Product
In business, we often hear the phrase, Minimum Viable Product. When designing a product or starting a new business, the idea behind MVP is that you provide just enough benefits and features to work, but no more. Your goal is not maximum success, your goal is minimum success. Instead of asking, “how can I make this better?”, you ask yourself, “what is the absolute minimum I can put into this product and still have it work?” Using an MVP approach can yield several important benefits.
What if you took the MVP approach to your life? What if, instead of more, more, more, you took the approach of Minimum Viable Happiness?
Minimum Viable Happiness
Instead of passively assuming that more XYZ will result in greater happiness, take a step back and try to determine the minimum amount of XYZ that could still achieve a reasonable amount of happiness. If you can’t imagine what the minimum amount might be, start where you are right now and reduce from there. If your current income is $100k, could you be happy with $90k? What about $80k? If you are working 50 hours per week, could you work 45 and still be productive? If you have four kids, could you be happy with three? Just kidding. You get where I’m going, right?
The shift from a more-is-better operating system to a minimum-viable system is profound. It changes everything. Here’s why:
The Challenge
50% Complete
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.