When Size of Your Problems Is the Size of Your Life

 size of problem

Today, I was watching a retired person changing food from bigger to smaller boxes, presumably because there was now less food and therefore it required less space in a box. Later, this person went on to reshuffle clothes in shelves for the thousandth time. 

This person told me that they are very busy and even asked me to help them with some of their chores. The worst request I received was to wash the floor, because they were “too busy” trying to review what food they had in their freezer.

In this way, these shelves, clothes, boxes, and freezer represent the size of that person’s life.

Respectfully, my value per minute was significantly higher, and while I’m happy to do occasional chores, I believe that there is a time and place for everything that we do. For example, I know I am the most productive in the morning before I have my lunch, after which point I lose a lot of my mental power. That’s why I postpone lunchtime as late as possible and do all my most important tasks in the morning.

Therefore, please don’t ask me to do anything superficial in the morning. I’m busy. Yes, I can do something later in the day when I’m done working.

In fact, once or twice, I even offered to hire someone to do some tasks that weren’t worth my time because for me, the cost per minute for doing those tasks was significantly lower than the profit I would make otherwise.

As such, I manage several businesses, and at any point in time, I have several people asking me questions, and I have lists of ideas of what I want to do and need to do. That is the size of my life.

Certainly, I’m not as busy as Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk, and I’m sure that occasionally I may annoy people who are even busier than I am with superficial questions or requests.

This also helps us determine if we are on the right track in life by considering the kind of problems we are trying to tackle. If completing a video game is your goal, then that is your life. If you are worried about someone being rude to you, that’s your life. And if you are striving to succeed big, that’s your life too!

This logic also addresses the deep question of the purpose of life, as many people often find it confusing and difficult to figure out this question. Respectfully, they may feel like their lives aren’t adding up to anything significant. However, by simply looking at the activities they are engaged in, we can see that their to-do list isn’t very impressive, and they may not go far if they continue on this path.

To improve our lives, we need to enhance the quality of decisions we make so that when we look at our lives and ask if we are happy with it, the answer should be an immediate and unconditional “yes!”

Picture of Roman Russo: Author of Optimal Happiness

Roman Russo: Author of Optimal Happiness

Roman Russo wasn't always happy and struggled with his own negative emotions, anxieties, and depression, until one day he pledged to resolve this part of life, whatever it took. The journey took 6 years, but it was worth it. Today, Roman considers himself to be one of the happiest people alive, part of the 1% of the happiest elite, and he now teaches others a working and universal happiness formula to reach a similar goal. He offers his best advice on Optimal Happiness social media, newsletter, blog, and books, and teaches a complete and unconditional happiness formula in his online courses.

6 thoughts on “When Size of Your Problems Is the Size of Your Life”

  1. I like what you say about asking questions. I’m very curious by nature. I can’t do very well with book knowledge but I love talking to people and asking questions is my primary way of learning. I understand though that most people are busy nowadays and don’t have the time.or patience to get into big discussions with random people. I wish they would though.

    I love asking question but I also love to answer questions…if I can be of any use. One day somebody asked me a question regarding my work on social media and I sent her an half hour vocal response explaining exactly about a certain method I have been using. She told me that she was shocked and inspired. That she has never seen somebody going through so much detail and care to answer a question on social media. She thought it was special … I thought it’s normal. If I can help, I will. Just like I wish at times if I have a question somebody will answer it.

    What you said .. what problems you concentrate on solving, that’s your life. What you focus on, you will get…
    What goes around .. will come around

    1. Of course, I welcome all sorts of discussion, as this is arguably one of the reasons I lead this blog. I remember recently sitting quietly with a few new people, being part of the group but not engaging because people were catching up with each other. I stayed quiet until someone asked me something directly, and the conversation just exploded from there. I instantly became the center of attention because I talked about deeper topics that people were interested in discussing. I don’t say this to gloat, but to point out that in this way, we are similar. Deep conversations are usually a gateway to something bigger and more interesting. So, let’s keep the discussion going!

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“The problem is that of optimization,” states Roman Russo, author of Optimal Happiness: The Fastest & Surest Way To Reach Your Happiest Potential. There is plenty of advice on how to be happier or less sad, but no one is speaking about how to become the happiest we can be. And this is the difference that makes all the difference. By not looking at our maximum potential for happiness, we fall short of achieving it. After all, we all have hundreds of ideas on how to be happier or less sad, but most people still feel like they are not living their best lives. As such, Optimal Happiness explores the question of how to be the happiest we can be, regardless of who we are, where we are from, and what our life circumstances are. It proposes a complete and unconditional formula for happiness and explains how you too can become happy today and forever, inviting you to join the 1% happiness elite and become one of the happiest people alive.

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