I”ve started reading and in past 2 years I have read around 50 books. You can follow me on Goodreads here:

I started reading for leisure and to grasp new ideas and the biggest reason: for the sheer fun of reading.

Starting this year I did something, I joined reading challenge on Goodreads and pledged to read 30 books this year. And by December I had read 24 books. When I was surfing to decide which book to read next, I just saw that I am “5 books behind” my schedule and was reminded by Goodreads that I have to read 30 books this year.

Before I realized, I was trying to find shorter books to meet my goal of 30. So I shortlisted 3 books which were very short but then something struck me! What was I doing?

I almost forgot why I read on the first hand.Now,I just wanted to read to reach my goal of 30. Why did I do that? Then I realized the same thing happens when we play games.

For example: Many people started playing Candy Crush for the sheer fun of it and then started collecting points , badges and very soon, increasing those points became the most important thing for them in the game.

Same thing happens on Social Media, Facebook was a way to get closer to your friends by sharing stuff and consuming what they share and soon people got obsessed with number of likes.

What just happened there? I just got gamified and lost the track of the actual outcome and became consumed in accumulating medium. That’s called medium maximization.

It means that when we do thing A for the outcome B, but when we add a medium say C, we lose track of B and keep pursuing C, even forgetting what was the outcome for which we took action.

A-> B

A->C->B

As a human we tend to keep doing A to collect C , although C has no value if we don’t use it to get B.

Biggest example of this is Money.

Read again: The biggest example of Medium Maximization is Money.

Money has no intrinsic value. It is nothing, just a number. The only value it has is when you use it. But mostly humans keep accumulating these points, judge their and others success by these points and usually leave a lot of them in their accounts when they die.

Here are 2 questions for you:
1. Have you ever actually thought of the outcomes that you want to achieve and then thought how much money you’ll need.
2. Lot of people think of having more money, they work their asses off for it. But have you ever asked Why you need more money? and also how much more do you actually need.

I’m not saying you should not save any money or work hard to earn it, I am just saying to know what you’re sacrificing to make that extra money and be clear of what you’ll be doing with it.

Don’t get me wrong. Everyone has different needs and aspirations and need different amounts to money to achieve those aspirations. What I am saying is be clear of your needs and aspirations. Work 16 hrs a day because you want a bunglow!, because you want it. Don’t work 16 hrs because your friend works the same and wants a bunglow and you don’t want to lag behind.

Here’s what you’re sacrificing: TIME

In trying to maximize money, most people lose out on time. Time is a precious resource. It is finite and when it ends, all the money remaining is wasted(unless you only wanted to save it for your kids to use. and that also makes sense if your kids stop running after money after inheriting money and actually optimize what they do with their time).

Its important to keep an eye on Time and what you do with it. If your desired outcomes are being satisfied by the amount of money you are making, change the game. Instead of trying to accumulate more, try to earn the same amount using less of your time. If you are earning $5000 a month after working 12 hrs a day and it serves all your objectives, instead of trying to earn $7000 per month, try to free up 4 hours while earning the same and use it at something you always wanted to do. Spend time with your family, join a club or pursue a childhood hobby. This way you’ll actually be richer by 4 hrs.

Now think, what can you do in those 4 extra hours.

So this is a different way to think and plan your life. Instead of accumulating money senselessly, think of your objectives and see how much money you need and how much time do you need for those objectives. and work accordingly. Work to earn that money and that time. This way, you’ll not be wasting your life in accumulating badges that have no intrinsic value but pursue a valuable life.