July 26th, 2008
Subscribe to My Book: The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption
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Quick Summary: Subscribe to ‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’, my year-long blog-as-a-book experiment in why we choose to consume, or not.
‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’ is my year-long blog-as-a-book experiment in why we choose to consume, or not.
Here is the equivalent of a book blurb –
Why would a twenty-something, single, eligible, IIM-educated, upwardly mobile marketer on the corporate fast-track in India’s business capital decide to go ‘off consumption’ for a year?
Will a year off consumption, not buying anything that isn’t a necessity, leave him ill-equipped to handle life and work in Mumbai?
Or, will it leave him with invaluable insights into what drives us to consume, or not, into the nature of consumption, into human nature itself?
– and here is the story so far –
We derive our identity (and our happiness) basically in four ways — from the things we own, from the experiences we have, from the people we relate to, and from the meaning we create. These four elements are arranged in a “hierarchy of identities” that is not only different for each one of us, but also changes for each one of us over time.
When I passed out of IIM Bangalore six years back, and had some money for the first time, buying and owning things were important to me, if only to prove to myself that I could afford to. So, I set up a full household, acquired costly tastes, ate out five nights a week, and played host the other two nights. Basically, I spent the next six years spending as much money as I could, to make up for not having enough in the previous twenty one years.
Then, one day, I realized that I had run that race (with myself) and it had left me tired. I had already bought all the things and experiences I wanted, and even some I didn’t really want. I couldn’t really buy what I wanted anymore, because the things I wanted now could not be bought. My hierarchy of identities had changed; creating meaning, relating to people, and having life-changing experiences were more important to me now than owning things. So, I decided to stop buying things I didn’t need, go off consumption for a year, in the hope that a year of austerity would cleanse my soul.
Then, three and a half months into my experiment, I realized that it was not enough to not buy things that I didn’t need, when I already owned so many things that I didn’t need. So, I decided to keep only the things that I need and give away everything else.
To find out what happens next, subscribe to ‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’, in a feed reader, or by e-mail –
— and if you my experiment moves you, do spread the word around.
