The idea that “more is better” is a powerful illusion. Here’s how I’m breaking the cycle within myself.
Why is it that we struggle to be content with what we have despite living in one of the most prosperous eras of human history?
The 2008 financial crisis and the aftermath of COVID haven’t been easy, but neither of these compares with the horrors of the previous century.
No matter which way we look at it, we’re experiencing life in a way that no one in the past ever thought would be possible.
Ask yourself this question.
If you could live the rest of your life as you do right now, would that be enough?
You may feel obligated…
By giving myself a lactose intolerance test at home
Doctors have long spoken about the health benefits of milk. As children, we’re taught that it’s good for teeth and bone development, but as adults, there's one thing that they forgot to mention.
Milk contains lactose, which is broken down by an enzyme called lactase. As babies, we need this enzyme to digest breast milk, but as we grow older, we produce less and less of this enzyme.
From an evolutionary standpoint, this makes sense, as it’s unlikely we’d be consuming milk as adults. Unfortunately, times have changed, and many products now contain dairy. …
Hmm, that's interesting. Here we have devolved governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
However, income tax, VAT (value added tax) and other tax brackets are all the same regardless of whether you're in England or one of the other nations within the UK.
Westminster will then allocate a budget to each nation/region and it's up to them to decide what to do with that budget.
If I live in London, it's possible that a large chunk of my taxes go towards paying for the health service in Manchester or for the upkeep of roads in Wales.
There is no…
How many articles do you have in total?
I've noticed that as you start publishing more, the older articles start picking up steam and your overall view counts go up as well.
A month ago I was barely hitting 100 views a month but now I'm noticing consecutive days where it's over 200 views.
Of course, not all stories will get views but when your recent ones get 20-50 a day and your older ones are getting 1-10, it does add up!
Ancient people didn’t just treat them as curiosities. Some cherished them like their own children!
When we think of people who lived during antiquity, we don’t usually consider what pets they had. Instead, we imagine stories of Babylonian destruction, Greek philosophy, and the slow rise of the Roman Republic.
But just as people today want to stand out from the crowd, the people of antiquity were the same. They wanted to be unique and impress others, and one way of doing that was by obtaining a pet.
Not just any old pet would do. It had to be perfect, and monkeys fit the bill perfectly.
Most Monkeys Came From North Africa
The Mediterranean civilisations of the Bronze Age would’ve found it…
You have the ability to create friendships but also to break toxic ones
When I was 13, my family decided to pack their bags and move to Wales. At the time, we lived in a little cottage in London, a rarity these days, I know, but it was getting too small for us. What we found instead was a large five-bedroom house that sat at the top of a winding hilly road and had a lush forest at the back and a gorgeous view of the river Severn in front.
It was like a dream had come true! Each of us could finally have our own bedrooms. There was also a large conservatory…
Travel. Travel Tips.
Who said it had to be an expensive hobby?
Most of us aren’t very good when it comes to budgeting for our holidays. Sure we’ll consider the cost of flights, where we’ll be staying and what our itinerary will be, but most of these costs get factored before we get on the plane.
What about when we arrive, though? How much of that budget do we really stick to? And how can we take into consideration unexpected expenses like buying a fancy souvenir?
Travelling isn’t expensive, but we make it expensive. …
They may have kept pets for practical reasons, but they did cherish them
If you were an animal living within the borders of the Roman Empire, you’d have a right to be afraid. There was every chance that you’d be sacrificed, sent to the arena, or hunted down for sport.
It didn’t matter what type of animal it was; even dormice weren’t safe. But if you were lucky enough to be accepted as a pet rather than food, then your life would be relatively calm, with a few luxuries thrown in if your owner was rich.
But what type of animal would you need to be to deserve such treatment? The lucky few…
Working out is only 20% of the work
How long have you been going to the gym? A few months or years, maybe? If you haven’t drastically improved your strength since starting, or if you’ve hit a plateau, then there’s probably one reason why.
If you’re like me, you probably watch many Youtube videos on different workout routines, and maybe you’ve had a personal trainer or two. But no matter what you do or how hard you train, your lifts aren’t going to improve unless you make one lifestyle change.
That change is your diet.
Why Does Diet Matter so Much?
If you’re training to get stronger, there’ll always be one thing restricting your…
You wouldn’t expect to lose weight in a week, so why have that expectation for money?
We live in a time where everyone craves instant gratification. But you can’t build muscle overnight, and you certainly can’t lose 50kg overnight either, so why should it be any different for making money on Medium?
If there’s one thing history has taught us, it’s that small, consistent increases always beat sudden gains. Take Warren Buffett, for instance, who, in 2013, made $37 million every single day!
Now compare that to a lottery winner, who has a 70% chance of going broke and a 30% chance of going bankrupt.
Which would you rather be?
When it comes to Medium, you…
Sajjad Choudhury
Product Operations Manager @ Onfido | Writer on History, Personal Development and Tech | Find and connect with me here https://linktr.ee/saj_chy
