If you’ve read my Freedom post you’ve heard me say downgrade your life to simplify it. You may be thinking how? Lifehack If you want to simplify your life fast; cancel your TV subscription(s).
Seriously.
Of all the suggestions I could have made, this one is hard for most people. Hear me out. I promise you, if you can do this, your life will change forever. If you do only this one thing, your life will never be the same again.
Don’t try to fool yourself.
This does not mean that you say to yourself “Self, I will not watch TV.”
Cancel your subscriptions. All off them.
Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Hulu, Peacock, Apple TV Plus, Paramount Plus, and Amazon Prime Video.
I literally had to ask Google for that list because it has been so long since I subscribed to anything that I didn’t even know what was current!
Get rid of your TVs. Yes, that is what I said. Do it. The one in the living room, the one in the bedroom, the one in the family room and everywhere else you have stashed them. Garage? Under the kitchen counter? Bathroom? (really?!?)
How do you feel right now?
Are you are starting to hyperventilate just a little? Do you feel anxious or uncomfortable at the suggestion of giving up TV? Are you feeling angry at the idea of getting rid of your (likely) very expensive television sets?
If so, this is a very strong signal to yourself that you really do need to make this change in your life. Why would removing one little piece of technology from your life cause you to feel this way? It’s not logical. You still have your phone. I haven’t said to do away with your laptop, iPads, computers or video game systems. Are these feelings you are having right now reasonable?
If you are feeling okay with this suggestion, then you are way ahead of the game and simplifying your life will be much easier for you and that is awesome!
Let’s get those objections out of the way.
- I don’t care who else lives in the house with you, if you pay the bill, it is your decision and your decision only.
- It doesn’t matter how much those tv units cost. That, my friend, is what we accountants call a “sunk cost”.
- It is not child abuse to have a household without tv.
- The children will not need it for school projects.
- The children can entertain themselves without tv.
- You can entertain yourself without tv.
- There are other ways to relax.
- You will not become a social outcast because you are not following “insert latest series here”.
- You will have something to talk to your friends about.
- No one will even know unless you tell them.
- You will not get behind on current events. Pop culture maybe, but trust me, you’ll still know a world pandemic has occurred.
Did I hit them all? If you have any other objections I missed just send me an email, but really, I can save you the step. I can 100% guarantee that you can live without tv. I have done it for a decade and you will find that there are a lot more people than you think that don’t have a TV. Once I didn’t have one anymore, they started coming out of the woodwork!
Why would you do this?
First, let me say that I never set out with the intention to remove TV from my life. After separating from my husband, I simply didn’t have a TV. I still had my subscription to Netflix and I would watch cartoons and movies with my daughters on my laptop. They would watch programs on their phones.
In the beginning, I assumed that once I had my affairs sorted I would buy a TV, hook up cable and life would go on. What I discovered, much to my surprise, was that none of us were really missing the tv!
You Physically Orient Your Life Differently
The first thing I noticed was the way we set up the living room.
The furniture didn’t need to be organized around the best wall for the TV and set up so that all chairs and couches were facing it. Instead, we faced the couch towards the picture window.
At the time we lived in a small rural village situated on a hill that sloped down to a river. We lived at the top of the hill. Although we couldn’t see the river we could see the mist rising up off of it on summer mornings (a sure sign that a hot day was on the way!) and had a great view of the fall colors. When winter came we rearranged and had all the furniture cozy around the fireplace at the end of the room where we spent countless hours watching the flames, chatting, and warming our toes by the fire.
I will guarantee you that we would not have done that if we had a TV. Suddenly and inexplicably the TV was no longer the center of our living room or our lives. In hindsight, we had introduced a way to appreciate nature, to slow down, and to just be with our thoughts without knowing we had done so!
I know, you don’t live on a hill in a cool little storybook village. But you do live somewhere. You have no idea what you will become aware of once you axe the TV!
It’s the Key to Change
That’s the whole reason you are reading this post, right? You want to change your life.
I know very few people that don’t have full and busy lives. If you want to make changes in your life you need to make space. You need these 3 things to be available to you:
- Time
- Energy
- Resources
Canceling your TV is one area almost everyone can make the cut and find themselves the time, and the energy, and the resources, they need to make change in their life.
Time
Time is the no-brainer. Even if you watch only 1 hour a day (and the average person watches much more that that) you have regained 30 hours a month to put towards making changes in your life. If you had 30 hours at work to dedicate to project you would get a lot accomplished! So too in life, my friend.
Energy
I know. TV is the thing you do when you are out of steam and just need to relax and recoup. Fine. Do that. Sit down, stretch out on your couch, and relax. You may be surprised to learn you don’t need a TV in front of you for that.
As a matter of fact, without the TV directing you from one subject to the next and taking up all of your conscious and subconscious reflections, you will be left alone to think and guide your own thoughts. You can devote a little head space to thinking about the changes you want in your life, how to make them, and planning.
After you have sat quietly for a while you may feel bored. You can take a nap, which will actually restore your energy if that is what your body really needs and release you from your chaotic thoughts (if that is a problem for you), so that you can wake up reenergized. Or alternatively, you may feel inspired to get off the couch and do something else like go for a walk, tidy up the kitchen, or round up a good book.
Resources
How does quitting TV give you resources? Well, what is cable costing you a month? Probably in the zone of $100 if you have the full package. Add to that Disney Plus or the other prime subscription you have. You’re pocketing at least $1,200 dollars a year. That’s a nice trip to the spa, an overnight retreat for yourself, or dinner out with your pals every month guilt-free!
And what about those expensive TV’s? You won’t get nearly what you paid out of them but you might be able to sell them for something. If not, donate them to a less fortunate family, or a student, or young couple just starting out in life with few resources of their own. You can bank the good karma instead of the money!
Aren’t there any other ways to make space for change?
Sure. Tons of them. They will, however, likely be unique to you and you are going to have to spend precious time and energy figuring out what, in your crazy, busy life it makes sense to cut out that will give you more time, energy and resources than ditching tv.
Maybe you can quit the gym. That will get you time and resources, but likely won’t help your energy levels much. Working less will get you time and energy but cuts into the resources. Doing less activities with your pals will get you time but won’t help your energy or your resources.
Zero Risk
This is a zero risk proposition. You can always re-subscribe to any and all subscriptions. Believe me when I say any of these companies are more than happy to take money out of your pockets and put in it in theirs. They won’t turn you away.
The chance that the world will run out of TVs any time soon is very low, if you happen to decide you need them all back.
What have you got to loose?
Full Disclosure
I currently own a 32″ Ruko TV and subscribe to Netflix. My Sweetie and I will occasionally enjoy a movie and popcorn or entertain ourselves by watching a comedian. I have been known to pull up a YouTube documentary or (try) to follow some yoga and stretching videos. I am not saying tv or subscriptions are bad. They are not.
Using them as a daily, mindless diversion, that robs you of an opportunity to focus on the changes you want to make in your life is the reason you want to detach yourself from TV.
Off You Go!
Now is the moment. Don’t over think this. Just login in or dial-up your subscriber and cancel. You can literally have the heavy lifting out of the way in the next 10 minutes.
You can hang back on making a TV pile in the back yard for a few days. Once the family realizes there is no reason to sit and stare at at black, blank, screen you can start to rearrange your rooms. Pull the TV out of the bedroom and put some fresh flowers where it used to sit instead. Re-arrange your living room so you face each other instead of the wall.
I promise you friends, this will be LIFE CHANGING.
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SIMPLICITY
CLARITY & LIFE PURPOSE
CHANGE