There is no James Bond story. There is no jack Reacher adventure. There are no super powers like in spiderman. Our day to day lives look different.
The life of James Bond. A life of extreme adventure.
No hotel room services but cleaning your own shit every day.
No fancy restaurants but cooking after a long day of work.
No good looking, hot beaches but cold, gray, colorless winter days.
No hot cocktail bars full of enthusiastic people, instead this place here is dead and looks like a retirement home. The average age in my town must be 80+. (Belgium is a retirement home compared to the demography of some development countries.)
No adrenaline shots, instead you get some criticism from you’re boss you’re working too slow.
No fancy drives along the Italian coastline, but your daily, stressed traffic jams.
No trips around the world, but a trip to your office building.
No driving in an Aston martin, but waiting at the rain at the local bus station.
Is this ‘it’? life has to be more. Every day we wake up the same time, we shit, we eat, we dress up, we work, we’re tired, we watch some tv and we go to sleep. All to do the same over and over again.
This shot from 'the office' is closer to reality. Aka ‘a day in the life’ of an average overstressed worker.
In essence, our daily lives aren’t fancy or very adventurous.
A simple life is a good life. A simple walk in the park is good, even know it is so boring to do it over and over again. I do the same running trials over and over again, the same bike tours, the same hiking tours. After work, with the limited amount of time left, it is the only option. It is not that I can fly to Hawaii for the evening to do my evening run there. Man must accept that life is in essence not fancy. You must live in the moment. Accept what your life is right now. Make the best of it right now. It is so hard to accept, but it is life.
When I was a kid, I always dreamed of the extraordinary. The life of a 007 Bond. But I came to accept those moments will always be in the minority.
Some ‘bond’ moments in the real world that match minor elements in the fictious lifestyle of a 007 are:
a fancy dinner at a premium restaurant
shopping weekend
traveling to a luxurious hotel
spending the night at a fancy bar
James Bond living the life. Going to the casinos, traveling the world and flirting in 5 star hotel bars.
Dream about the future, and make small decisions every day that will you bring closer to the direction of your dream. Because a dream is a direction.
The moments of total craziness and the adrenaline shots of the highest levels are very limited in one’s life. Those moments like a bachelorette night, your graduation party or even simpler things like traveling are substantially limited in time compared to your day to day life.
Money doesn’t buy it
Imagining having a full team of workers and assistant to cover your luxurious lifestyle (chefs, office assistants, drivers, … ). Even if you happen to be a billionaire living the ‘life’, you will get used to it quickly. You get used to waking up at a 100+ feet long yacht. You will need to rediscover what gives meaning to your life. If you would be traveling all the times, we would dream of stability and a settled life. If we are settled, we can’t wait to travel. Even when traveling, or living the billionaire lifestyle: in essence your life is pretty boring.
It is not because you are a billionaire that you’re life in essence isn’t boring.
You think it is fancy to sit in your private jet waiting for the air traffic controller to give approval for takeoff? No, it is boring.
You think it is fancy to wake up every day at 11am laying at the beach all day long? No, you are going to get wildly depressed if you do so.
You think it is fancy to talk to your costly financial advisors to discuss your financial plan for the upcoming months? No, it is boring and I wouldn’t outsource this types of discussions.
… I can go on.
Billionaire Jack Ma is now finding purpose in gardening. This is during a visit in The Netherlands.
For every single person on this planet, whether you are rich or poor, whether you are the CEO of apple computers or an assembler at Foxconn, whether you are living a double life like Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie “catch me if you can” or working as a construction worker, in essence our lives are most of the times boring.
It is our own responsibility to find purpose in the simple things our live offers!
Conclusion
Conclusion of the story is that the lifestyle of a 007 James Bond is a fantasy. It is a fictional character. (of course it is). Yet, there are simple ‘bond’ moments we can incorporate into our normal lives to create a touch of exclusivity.
There is this normal life we all know (wakeup, shit, work, tired, tv, bed). Living an extraordinarily life 24/7 would make it’s purpose meaningless. We must strive to live a normal life and find enjoyment in the minor ‘bond’ moments our lives have to offer. Those ‘bond’ moments are not a goal. They are just there in our fantasies. They don’t really exist. They don’t create a meaningful life, only moments of short adrenaline shots the first few times. The basics of a good life are simple and boring.
Expectations vs reality
Bond driving the tropics vs driving in the life I know.
Bond catching fish for dinner vs my boring life of waiting at the supermarket after a long day of work
Bond having wild nights at luxurious resorts vs me being tired in the evening after a long day at work
Bond doing great business at lake Como vs me trying to solve a purposeless issue at my job