When does much become *too* much?
When does much become *too* much?
#69 - walking through a pretty city
Hi there,
March is here, 2 months of this year down. Sorry about missing last week: a big family dinner at a buffet Indian restaurant left my tummy expanding into uncomfortable territory. Then, as expected, a week back from holiday was chock-a-block, particularly with an eye towards the future with going to a careers fair and…
Highlight of the week ⭐: a school trip to Keble College, Oxford. 29 other potential Oxbridge aspirants and I visited one of the colleges at the university, getting a tour around the amazing campus and even a walking tour of the city centre. A wonderful day out and a good opportunity to get some questions answered.
As we walked into Slice of India last Sunday, I had a plan “I’m going to pace myself this time, eat as much as possible so that I’m not too full by the end”. Fast forward 40 minutes and I’m sitting leaning against the sofa, filled to the brim, unable to breathe. I said to Mum, “Coming here ends up being punishment”, reminding me of a fundamental principle in economics - the law of diminishing marginal utility (or returns).
Lots of big words there, let’s break it down. It describes that as you demand more of a product, the benefit you get from it decreases. Buying a phone initially gives you lots of utility or satisfaction; a second phone might help to keep work and personal lives apart. With a third phone and beyond, most of us won’t find much use in it. So we’re less willing to buy 3+ phones.1 That’s what happened with the food - beyond a certain point, consuming more butter chicken was resulting in ‘negative utility’.
For businesses, there comes a point where their average cost goes up if they produce more, meaning they make a loss/less profit. They have to try to judge where this point is and produce at a level just before this.
Applying this concept to our lives, there are some activities that we hold on to past their expiry date. After a certain point, they cease to be happy and become more of a chore, a have-to-do instead of a want-to-do.
This might occur for many reasons. Being unwilling or uncomfortable with change, afraid to break set routines and structures to try something new, can mean we end up doing things we should stop. Alternatively, it could be succumbing to the ‘sunk cost fallacy’ and staying somewhere or with someone just because we’ve already started.
It’s important we recognise when the best days of our relationship with someone or something have finished, be happy to move on and welcome a new person or activity in its place. For example, I had video dance lessons with my sister through 2021. But after a certain stage, I just wasn’t enjoying them.
Perhaps more recently, this has happened with my sports reporting at school this year. I’ve been assigned the task of collating and editing all the match reports through the week, ready to be published in the school newsletter, whilst also watching 1 game a week to write my own summary of. This has been a good experience, for sure, but there have been points when I’ve thought to myself “Should I drop this now and try something else? Some cross country or boxercise maybe?”
I acknowledge it isn’t as easy to remove the handcuffs and run freely into the sunset. There are factors that tie us to certain things against our will and emotions can distort the arguments of logic. But this is where reflection and being true to ourselves, something I’ll discuss next time, is crucial to figuring out what we’re doing with our lives and if we’re making the most of our finite time.
Just because you are still enjoying an activity doesn’t mean you should continue with it. Are you still gaining enough benefit from it to justify keep going? Or have you passed the point of diminishing returns? 🤔 📉
Book of the week 📖
I gave up on One Up On Wall Street - life’s too short to be reading books you don’t like. I’ve picked up How To Become A Straight-A Student and by trying a new note-taking strategy, I’ve gotten through 1/3 of the book in 2 days. All will be revealed…
Podcast of the week🎙️
The Diary of A CEO with Steven Bartlett: #216 How Safe Are We, Really?
Can’t remember a politician being so frank in a long time. Hear about a unique experience, being chief of one of the biggest cities in the world.
Article of the week 📰
A global rush is on to reduce cow burps — and help save the world from climate change
We all know that cows release methane, accelerating global warming; this is one of the reasons behind consuming less beef. Turns out we’re finding a solution, down under.
Quote of the week 💬
Success is a series of small wins. - John Maxwell
Short but powerful. Get those small wins this week.
Adi
In economics, we carry this on further to explain why as quantity increases, the price has to decrease; only then will buyers be willing to purchase more.