we have all heard that better gear won't make you better
nor will it make you happier let's talk about why today
hey guys i'm rafael and welcome to the channel where our goal is to always fix it in camera
and then finesse it in post and i always appreciate the early thumbs up on the video
because being happy is better than chasing happiness or more specifically called the
hedonic treadmill which is the observed tendency of humans to quickly return to relatively stable
level of happiness despite any major positive or negative events or life changes for example you
buy that brand new super awesome hybrid cine ai enhanced camera and your happiness is through the
roof you are literally floating you are at peak happiness a day later you've been capturing images
and they aren't much better than you were able to produce just a few days before you again realize
you haven't upgraded your skills just because you bought a new camera and your happiness crashes
now you're at peak sadness and a few more days later you feel normal again you pick up the camera
and you start to figure out how to make better images and you slowly come to the conclusion
you could have achieved nearly the same results with your old camera just with better knowledge
this can happen with almost anything and it's called the hedonic treadmill of life you can run
as fast as you want and accumulate all the riches you can yet you'll remain stuck at your natural
usual state of happiness because the riches you gain will simply raise your expectations and
leave you no better off than you were before or more concisely the next thing i get will make me
happy or the next milestone i achieve will make me happy attitude you have to realize that happiness
is your natural state of contentment with your present moment there are two camps really want
and need do you need that new gear like as in you don't have a camera or a computer and therefore
you can't do that job or is it a want as in i have the camera i have a computer that worked very well
but it would be nice to have something new and better i am the camp of long-term thinking get
what you will need to use for a long time be it a phone a camera a car whatever buy the best you can
afford and plan to use it as long as possible when you upgrade every year you get a huge dopamine hit
and you're training your brain to expect it you get addicted and when one time you can't upgrade
you feel instantly bad and the first thing that you want to do is get out of that feeling
so your brain tries to justify the purchase as a solution to make you feel better
companies and marketing don't make it any easier either they entice you with how much better it
would be with their product and some of the shadier companies enable plan obsolescence
for their product to slow down or just fail at the two-year mark forcing you to buy their new upgrade
this is where you need to plan your purchases with long-term thinking will it last as long as you
need it you have to train yourself to only upgrade when there is an actual need camera is no longer
working or fixable the foam is dropped into the ocean the car won't start if your gear hasn't paid
for itself twice or three times over then you are not allowed to buy yourself a new piece of gear if
you haven't used the gear to its maximum potential you're not allowed to buy new gear if you haven't
first invested in yourself to improve your skills you're not allowed to buy new gear no matter how
much you buy for yourself nothing really seems to happen to make you happy over the long term
it's what you do with those purchases have you used that camera to learn everything about it
have you learned all the techniques to capture better images today than yesterday have you ever
seen anyone lead with the gear for the reason you should hire them maybe perhaps a rental house not
once has a client hired me for the gear that i have but it's what they produce with it that
makes them stand out and you can't stand out with gear that anyone can buy i have never hired
people based on the gear they have i have hired people based on how they know how to use gear
more importantly how well versed they are in the creative task we are trying to achieve
become intentional with your purchases intentional with what you actually need intentional how you
will use it know that gear will help you do something perhaps faster and better but that
doesn't mean you should buy it this will help you remain at your baseline happiness for longer which
will make you feel more content and we all know what happens when you don't spend that money you
pay off your bills you save and you can invest it where the money will actually grow which relieves
anxiety and stress which brings you back to your baseline happiness there is an endless willingness
of people to buy into the story of more is better new is better and too often many fall into what
they want more than what they need there is a sweet spot in all of this it's not a minimalism
it's not less is more because honestly sometimes more is more it's having everything that you want
and need to have a life you love and full of self-expression with nothing in excess it's an
awareness of how the flow of money and stuff in your life is the light of your true happiness and
the sense of purpose and values i've personally found that making these videos and spending time
thinking of what could benefit you guys has triggered the same reward feeling as buying
new gear every time i finish a video and upload it it starts getting views then comments i engage
with you guys and start discussions the simple act of engaging with other people even remotely
with these videos makes me happier so much more than any piece of gear would it's the
like-mindedness that really drives the whole experience after a day or two the rush is gone
but then i get excited about making the next one at least this way i feel productive week after
week so you need to find those experiences that will elevate your happiness play music
with your current instrument take photos with your current camera be happy with where you are
today not for the promise of how things may be tomorrow or the proverbial carrot on a stick or
you'll just be stuck on the hedonic treadmill or simply put the rat race as always thanks for
watching give me a big thumbs up subscribe i'm rafael i'll talk to you soon bye for now you