Manas Hota

This is probably controversial: I think using money to eliminate every minor inconvenience from your life is a negative in the long run. There's a certain level of inconvenience that's just an important part of the human experience. The smooth, textureless life is the forgotten life. Experiencing friction is part of being human. Some of your most memorable life experiences are so memorable precisely because they had friction. It's why you still laugh about the trip when your bags got lost by the airline and you had to wing it. When your flights got cancelled. When the hotel lost your reservation. When all your plans went awry. And friction builds tolerance for the inevitable chaos of life. I know so many people who have obsessively removed friction from their life and now seem to be utterly thrown by the tiniest thing. They've got private planes, private drivers, and private chefs. People managing and staffing their various houses. All the trappings of a friction-free life. But then get absolutely derailed by the smallest unexpected bump in the road. As with all things in life, when it comes to reducing friction, the dose makes the poison. A little bit of friction reduction is good. You reduce your stress. You improve your happiness. A medium bit is maybe even better. But a lot becomes toxic to your life. Not diminishing returns. Negative returns. Be wary of the blind pursuit of friction elimination. You may find that the friction was what made your life feel real.