Nothing-maxxing is something my generation called something different that still meant doing nothing.
In simpler times, we called it relaxing.
Today, it’s a healthy intention to do more relaxx-ing.
And to live more healthy and stress-free that helps prevent burnout.
For the younger generations today, some of those older ways were left as pickup pieces in the attic… like cassette tapes.
Tapes left clues to a simpler life, that’s less digital. 📼
And if you were to stack them up, it would sound like a fun game of Jenga, where you know the plastic is also embedded with a world of music or ideas.
That was home entertainment, along with books, board games, and blank sheets of paper.
That we still have today…
And are maybe sitting in the same attic bin from last century 😀
…Where boom boxes, cassette, and VCR tapes ruled as ways to get information other than what we saw on televisions. Like news shows and newspapers.
There were no hours spent digital scrolling. The time limit ended after the play button was pushed and tape finished.
That was the end, like how a movie ends.
Limited technology back then let us naturally pause and slow down. Nothing maxxing was how it was and part of the world in the pre-internet days.
Those were the days when research was done in libraries on microfiches or the book reference sections, and sourcing was by the phone directory or word-of-mouth.
When the World Wide Web birthed in 1996, it took years for the new technology to take off from dinosaur day chaos, and for the early versions of pioneering companies to settle into comfortable mainstream.
There was a divide like today where some people used the new technology in most their daily life or did not
I was working in the hotel catering world that lived in a non-tech world. I worked with people and food. Most of my business college friend graduates were working in offices with gigantic IBM and Dell computer screens.
In daily life, home computers and internet helped us save time. It was convenience and providing learning about the world we wouldn’t have otherwise been exposed to.
But coming from pre-internet times (…maybe you, your parents, or relatives can relate?), we didn’t have daily computer screens to distract us.
We lived life in our 3-D physical surroundings.
Not being distracted by our smartphones, we let our world be about the people, places, and things in front of us that made us happy.
Today, we’re moving back to those roots to live healthy, while balancing social media, Zoom, and the AI age to enrich our lives.
Because healthy roots and happiness come mostly from our real life events, creating memories, and feeling happy nostalgia.
Nostalgia from smiling at eventful memories with people we adore and places we love. And sometimes thoughts that were bittersweet or bitter at the time.
And those times provided (and today can still provide) helpful reminders to how we’ve changed ways and learned (grown) from the past, like during the 2020 years.
Some good changes in you happened not because you would have chosen that journey, but because life mysteriously led you into that path.
…And in other situations, you’re probably still waiting for redemption that will become a-ha’s in the future as to why you went through some of those rough patches…
Some odd doors of opportunities opened, and others stayed shut that should’ve easily opened.
But you went through those trying times blind (and grew as a healthy byproduct).
Like you did in childhood, so that you could grow up and grow wiser.
Nothing ends up wasted if you apply the lessons learned that life is about.
And by nothing maxxing more, you can purposefully reflect and make your pain and trials worthwhile, by becoming stronger.
You can heal your past hurts and help others go through theirs.
You also allow more better strategy thoughts entering by sitting quiet and listening.
Today’s Zoomers know too much digital life vs. real life is taking over. And wanting to take back over healthy and happy life, they’re going back to living balanced for healthy reasons.
Like my generation looking back now knows… and playing Atari and board games for hours as kids was just entertainment and adrenaline rushes.
Back then, being good at playing Monopoly didn’t mean you’d grow up to be good in business… or that ranking top at a race car driving video game would make you a good driver on the road.
…And in today’s video games, could actually make you more dangerous.
If you and I spent that same time sitting around doing nothing (nothing maxxing), we would likely gain more as we let thought possibilities enter.
So nothing maxxing helps us grow. It’s not just a way to pass time.
And as adults today, you and I can use put our nothing time to good use.
I know when I can just sit around, I allow ideas to enter.
So just being and sitting around bored is not as bad as it sounds, if it’s reframed to coming up with ideas.
And then I apply those ideas to real life. There’s a practical use. And that’s how you optimize your life as you test out and see the results in what works and doesn’t work in your applications.
The opposite would be leaving ideas in your mind as they would either die, or someone else in the Universe with a similar idea could run with it.
But using those ideas, you get a chance to be resourceful and work with what you have, and build more creativity.
And more nothing maxxing quiet time, away from noise. And away from cassettes 😊 And of course, the tethered phone device that used to be on a cord.
When you can quiet the busy mind, you can get your best answers in a quiet mindset (that can be your new headset).
A mindset shift can also help you embrace a slower paced life from a busy one that used to be desired. This is a paradigm shift in how the world is changing.
Embracing your balanced life and best you is not a race or a competition with anyone else… it’s a challenge you can put yourself to the test with for your happy and healthy life.