#45 Become A Master in the Art of Living

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A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labour and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.

I love this quote. I've changed my mind on some things and retiring early is one of them. I actually want to build a life that I don't want to retire from. I want to become a Master in the Art of Living. Let's unpack what that means.

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Transcript

A Master in the Art of Living

Shwmae guys, and welcome back to the life to the full podcast, the podcast that helps you make the most of your time here on earth. 

My name is Daf Morse and I am your host. It’s my job to learn and to teach, to educate and inspire you to Live life to the Full.

I’m hoping that this is a familiar greeting to you now that goes along with the comforting, pumping music that accompanies the start of each episode.

But do you know what shwmae means? Somebody asked me what does shwmae mean the other day and I thought, maybe I should clarify. As with the greeting yekshemsh which I used to greet my friends back in my teenage years (bonus point for you if you know where that comes from) it means how’s it? As in how’s it going. It’s how we greet each other in Welsh. You can answer with a simple shwmae back or you can actually answer how’s it going. So there we have it. Now you know what shwmae shwmae means. I hope that’s shone a little bit of sunshine into your life.

At the beginning of a new year I want to start you off with a quote that I’ve been building my life around for the last few years, ever since I quit teaching in a school. 

It’s a quote from Francois-René de Chateaubriand, an 18th century French writer, politician and diplomat. 

Interestingly, and rather amusingly, historian Peter Gay says that Chateaubriand saw himself as the greatest lover, the greatest writer, and the greatest philosopher of his age. Quite an impressive view of oneself!

The quote is this. 

A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labour and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.

Firstly, who wouldn’t want to be a master in the art of living? It sounds pretty cool if you ask me. Very few of us get close to being a master at anything, but to be a master in the art of living. Surely that is a goal worth pursuing. 

This idea of drawing no sharp distinction between his work and his play, his about and his leisure is what’s really captured my attention and has given me plenty of food for thought over the past few years. As with many of you, I came across the FIRE movement, the financial independence retire early movement, and was initially seduced by the idea of spending a few years or a decade working and saving and then eventually I’d be able to live off my investment portfolio and never have to work again. The idea of having enough money to swan around and play golf, go for long walks in the countryside, learn languages and travel the world without having to work for those things was indeed a difficult one to turn away from. Who wouldn’t like to have that much money so that you can do whatever you want? But that’s the thing. Doing what you want in life doesn’t come with the prerequisite of having it all already paid for. You don’t have to completely be financially independent to start making a life you’d rather live. In fact if you listened to episode 40, you’ll know that even just having an emergency fund of 3-6 months worth of living expenses set aside can give you freedom to start choosing a different path. So I ended up contemplating how to live a life that I don’t want to retire from. Instead of having a goal of being able to retire early, I set about crafting my life in such a way so that I can enjoy the work I do and even that that work is like play. I started this podcast in 2020, I had a year of doing YouTube and now I’m back with the podcast. Is it work for me? Yes. It’s something I take time to think about, write, record, edit, promote. Is it play? Absolutely. I love being able to spend my days thinking about how to make my life better but more importantly how to make your life better. 

Some people like to keep work and play separate. Some people are just happy enough to have a job which they turn up to, don’t get hassled, don’t have to do much and that pays for them to enjoy the rest of the time that they’re not working. There’s something to be said about that but I am inclined to live a life where the lines between work and play begin to blur, a life in which work feels like play but is actually work. Have I managed to transition fully to work that is play? Not yet, but I am moving in that direction and that sense of progress inspires me and makes me feel alive and brings me joy and satisfaction.

When I look at my father and my father in law, they have something that I didn’t have as a teacher. They love their work. They would both still be doing what they’re doing even if they weren’t getting paid for it. When I was a teacher I looked at them with a sense of, for want of a better word, envy. I never did love my job. I wanted this thing that I was spending at least a third of my life doing to be something that I wanted to do, that I enjoyed doing. For the most part, teaching was fine but now I can honestly say, which I could never say as a teacher, I’m pumped to get back to content creation on Monday mornings and after the school holidays. When I was a teacher, I hated going back after the holidays because it meant I was going back to doing something when I’d rather be doing something else. Now when the holidays are over, I think, great. It’s time to play.

Another key takeaway from this is a master in the art of living leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always seems to be doing both. In other words, he’s just cracking on with his own life without caring what people think of him. Most people suffer too much by caring what others think of them. They let the thought of other people thinking about them kneecap their own lives. The truth is nobody cares! And even if they did, why should you care what they think? Where does it get you? It debilitates your ability to make changes and choices for yourself. If you don’t know them or you don’t value their opinion then let them think whatever they want. To you, you are both playing and working. As with most things, not caring what people think of you is a trainable skill and probably calls for an entire podcast episode in itself. I’ve seen Tim Ferriss get people to lie down on the floor in a public place for 10 seconds without telling anyone what they’re doing. It makes you feel uncomfortable and starts to build the muscle of not caring what people think of you. Mark Manson has done a coaching session with a guy and builds up to him handing out flat earth leaflets on the streets dressed in a chicken outfit. It reminds me of when I was a teenager and I used to get down on my hands and knees in shops and pretend I’d lost my contact lens and would usher people around and urge them to be careful not to step on it. Ah, fun times. 

No-one can go from being a novice at something to being a master overnight. This idea of mastery is one that takes time. Experiencing different situations and knowing how to respond to each little change in the environment. Mastering anything, be it the violin, a karate kata, …  living is a lifelong practice. You can start your journey to becoming a mater in the art of living by making small steps towards doing something for play. Something that might become work one day. This podcast is something I would like to make my lifestyle business one day. In the meantime, I’ll settle for quitting the classroom and going self employed, with 8 different income streams, some of which feel like play. If there’s something you’ve wanted to do for a while, just start it. You’ll be amazed at what you can learn about yourself, what you enjoy, what you’re good at, what you’re not good at, what you think you’re better than you are at. It can be the start of living life more to the full and becoming a master in the art of living. 

Make becoming a master in the art of living a long term goal and break it down into smaller task oriented things you can do in a year and break it even further down into actionable steps you can take this week. If you don’t start the process of becoming a master in the art of living, you’ll continue to let the fear of others hold you back. You will continue to give power over your life to people you don’t know. You’ll continue to have your working life dictated to you by someone else and it might be rubbish! Only you will know if you’re currently satisfied with your work/play balance. If you’re not working towards your own goals and vision, you’re letting someone else dictate that goal and vision for you. Be a goal-setter. Be a lifestyle designer. Be a master in the art of living.

One of the most powerful questions anyone can ask when they want something to happen or to change is to ask how? If you’re listening, thinking, I’m stuck in a dead end job as a delivery driver, how is that ever going to be play? I’d encourage you to start asking how can I start bringing in elements of play? How can I start doing something that may be able to become something else in the future? If you’re stuck, I’d love to help you. I offer coaching on lifestyle design. Get in touch on Instagram. I’m dafyddmorse and Lifetothefullpodcast.

I’ll leave you again with the quote.

A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.

Until next time. Peace out!