Commodity

As much as possible, I like to distance myself from want. I prefer to need nothing – or failing that, as little as possible.

When you want something, you trade a piece of yourself away. You give the universe power over you. You yield control over your actions, or at least some influence over them, to something outside of your mind.

Even if you agree with me about this virtue, you’ll never be completely free of outside needs and wants. But moving the needle towards zero is a worthwhile goal. The less you need, the more room you have in your life to be a producer of value instead of just a consumer of it.

And the more frequently you find yourself in situations where you’re the commodity instead of needing a commodity from others, the more freedom you can buy with your life. That’s the only real exchange rate you have – how much of your life you want to let others dictate instead of you.

Try to keep it to a minimum.