A Thoreau Invite A Guide to Balancing How We Consume, Work & Live By Michael J. Moiso 2022

The study of human relations in business is focused on the ability to satisfy employee needs while achieving an organizations goals. For the employee, it is primarily about the pursuit of a healthy work/life balance. For the organization, it is about profit and sustainability. There is a tug of war between these two interests that tends to favor the organization leaving it up to the employee to figure out how to achieve a work/life balance with less, not more. To add to this, we live in a culture that promotes overconsumption making it difficult to live within our means causing the work/life balance to be even more out of whack. The old theories for motivation simply arent working requiring a fresh approach to this dynamic. Maslows hierarchy of needs, for example, introduced us to the 5 levels of motivation for the employee. The promise is that we can navigate through the 5 levels and eventually achieve the apex of employment, a true work/life balance. Reality is that the majority of us never get past the 1st level of our basic physiological needs such as housing, food and transportation. The 2 nd level of safety which has become important to our needs and wants as employees is rarely realized. That is so sad because we all deserve to feel protected in the workplace. Maslow underestimated the combination of stagnant wages out of synch with cost of living increases mixed with a global economy that deliberately promotes overconsumption leaving most workers living month to month, with no safety net. Henry David Thoreau, author of the classic, Walden; or, A Life in the Woods, introduces an alternative motivational theory where we dont need to work long and hard hours if we reprogram how we consume and pursue a low cost of living lifestyle, embracing a more simple way of life. Thoreau invites us to reduce our personal cost of living, thereby relieving the pressure on our income paving the way for less work and more free time. Thoreau outlined this theory in his book Walden after he experimented living in the woods by Walden Pond in Massachusetts, where he practiced a life of simplicity with a low expense footprint. After the Walden experiment, he continued to follow his own advice and lived a modest, deliberate life wherein, materially, he never had much, but was rich when it came to the freedom to do what he wanted. He was only 30 years old when he finished the Walden experiment. Afterwards, he took on a part-time job as a land surveyor and spent the rest of his life doing what he enjoyed most - hiking, observing nature and writing his books. He maintained a low cost of living that only required part-time work affording him the time to enjoy his pleasures. Thoreau foresaw that our unbridled quest for the higher life would saddle generations with a work-life that left no time for living and no real security. He was obsessed with the concept that societys idea for how we should work and consume was not in our best interests, because it forces increased labor, and deprives us of our most valuable commodity - time. Thoreaus foresight here is astounding. He predicted that overconsumption would be the death knell to a healthy work-life balance. Thoreau sought to prove his solution by living as frugally as possible in order to have time to take part in what he called the art of living - which for him was his daily sauntering to Walden Pond and elsewhere, and writing about nature. For Thoreau, time and freedom far outweighed the labor required for an expensive lifestyle or any materialistic pursuit. He did not like to toil so he created a lifestyle for himself with a minimal cost-of-living that enabled him to work as little as possible. He summed it up this way in Walden: but I foresee that if my wants should be much increased, the labor required to supply them would become a drudgery. If I should sell both my forenoons and afternoons to society, as most appear to do, I am sure that for me there would be nothing worth left living for. I wish to suggest that a man may be very industrious, and yet not spend his time well. There is no more fatal blunderer than he who consumes the greater part of his life getting a living. Thoreau reveals that the lifestyle we choose directly correlates to the labor and work life required to sustain that life. Many have a desire for a nicer lifestyle and are willing to work more to attain it and there is nothing wrong with that at all. The point here is not to sway anyone from the work/life balance they want, but for those seeking a different path Thoreau challenges them to consider reprogramming how they consume to achieve more of a balance. Thoreau said, The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run. He conveys how important it is to compare the cost of a purchase to the amount of labor it will require. The point is that the way in which we consume affects our work-life balance and it is within our power to change this and alleviate the stress on our income and work life. Most workers find themselves trapped in a world of overconsumption, distressed income, high debt and no sovereignty because they are chasing the wrong dream. The problem is the majority are living month to month, are renting, not owning, and are not meeting basic needs, are deeply in debt, have no savings and are potentially one month away from going under. Thoreau challenges us to rethink the relationship between our consumption and the work-life needed to finance our consumption. He invites us to consider a more self-reliant approach to our personal economy and work life. This method applies whether you want a more minimalist life or if you want the finer things in life. Both require reprogramming how we consume and becoming more of an entrepreneur for our personal expenses and savings. Thoreau is challenging us to be more self- empowered with our finances and our work life. This makes sense equally for the person wanting the finer things because it helps you focus on making your money work for you in a smart way. Reprogramming how we consume to lessen the burden on our income and work life is a revolutionary approach that Thoreau invites us to take. This can be quite liberating. Thoreau is challenging us to be a conscious consumer and to see our finances through a new prism that elevates the consideration of expenses on our work/life balance. He simply wanted us to live a deliberate life that incorporates financial entrepreneurialism and aligns our consumption with a sustainable lifestyle, a life that reduces the stress of work and income creating more time and freedom for the art of living. The study of human relations is rife with motivational theories, and they are all appealing, but none of them have anything on Thoreau. His approach certainly isnt for everyone, but the analysis he provides for how we pursue our work/life balance is definitely worth noting.

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