Rent vs Passion

Every time coming across an article or an advertisement for exercise, I never fail to be astonished by the amount of care and attention paid to such a uninspiring, if not down right boring, activity. I mean, it's running/jogging on the treadmills, or lifting some deadweight, then shower in a communal shower! It's not world changing, dream pursuing, or self actualization. You don't need nice bag, good smelling soap, and perfume at the gym; you certainly don't need detailed note taking for what you have been doing; timing, what to eat/drink before and after, what precise routine don't deserve heated debates and arguments. Lastly, lifting some certain amount is certainly not worth bragging. By the way, exercise is not the only boring activity that people make a great deal out of. Work is another (especially when you don't like the work), where some people would work ridiculous hours, then use that as a badge to look down on others (coincidentally, those usually ain't the most effective; unhappy people rarely are).

Each activity usually has 2 dimensions: effort and reward. An activity is effortful if it demands a lot from the performer and tires him or her out. An activity is rewarding if it is enjoyable, either fun or fulfilling. As such, we can divide all activities into 4 groups:

	Low reward	High reward
High effort	Rent	Passion
Low effort	Procastination	Entertainment

A low effort, low reward activity is time filler; things that you do when you don't have resources or energy for anything else (eg. staring blankly at the TV, spacing out, etc.). A low effort, high reward is entertainment, where you just enjoy and don't exert much. Both of these ain't demanding, so they generally don't have much long term impact, and we also usually deem them less interesting and valuable.

The interesting categories are the high effort ones. Because they demand a lot, we don't do them "just because." We do them for a reason: either because we are passionate about them, or because not doing them would bring troubles. The first one is passion. They are the ones that try people, that bring people to greatness, that actualize dreams and realize happiness. They are the ones that we should spend most of hour time and effort (available) in. The latter type of high effort activities are what I call rent, since they resemble, well, rent: the payment must be made, usually regularly and costly. Normal rent (be it house rent, mortgage, utilities, or business fixed cost) is paid in money. Activity rent (exercise, cleaning, washing, laundry, and work) must be paid with time and effort.

Here is the thing: because we pay so much in rent (a normal person holding a full time job spends at least 8 hours/day for work, then an hour for cleaning and exercising on average), we may mistakenly assign a lot of meaning to them. It's like how we taste more expensive wine and cheese better, or food made by ourselves or our loved ones more delicious. However, such perception is ridiculous! Think about, do you brag on how much money you pay on rent? (except how little you pay) Or, do you grow up dreaming of, says, lifting 180lbs? In fact, you don't even dream of a thin body. You dream may be popularity and social pride, which requires a nice, thin body, which requires treadmill running. Or you may dream of some sort of success, which requires health and endurance (mentally and physically), which requires exercise. Or you may dream of being rich, which requires money, which require work. Always, the rent activities are just requirement to do something else, and that something else is usually in form of a passion activity.

Thus, when effort is required, we should determine if it is passion or rent, and treat it appropriately, like below:

	Rent	Passion
Attention	As little as possible	As much as possible
Timing	Minimized; preferably while waiting for something else;multitasking if possible	At best time possible; preferably sole attention when doing
Work load	Front loaded (starting hard, easier over time)	Back-loaded (more precisely, hardest work while "in the zone")
Investment	Bare minimum	As much as affordable

Let's take a quick example: my jiu jutsu and aerobic exercise. I love judo and jiu-jutsu. On the other hand, to do these sports effectively and to have healthy life, I need to do aerobic exercise (it has amazing effects on my belly). Thus, the former is passion, and the latter rent. How do I spend time on them?

I think about martial arts virtually most of my waking hours. I read books and watch movies about them. If you happen to see me doing weird gesture, it might be a hand escape that I am contemplating on. I sometimes arrive at practice early to quiz my instructor, and almost always leave late. I love doing them with others as these are times for observing and learning.

On the other hand, for the aerobic exercise, I have a set time and goal for it, and never spend a second more. I read somewhere that minimum exercise time is 30 minutes (provided that the heart rate target is reached), and each of my aerobic session is precisely 40 min: 5 warm up, 30 at target heart rate, 5 cool down. Plus driving and walking, it's about 50 min in total. Yes, I checked the clock. I even minimize time at the gym: no shower there (why? it's nicer at home), no socialization, not even work out with others (high risk of injury; what's with my male ego and over running when others are around?). Outside of the gym, beside minimum reading and occasional articles on the news, I never think about aerobic exercise. See, just the rent, and not a cent more.

Guys, our dreams are always big and demanding. They are sources of endless hardwork, thinking, strategizing, and pride. We don't need to waste time and effort on rent! Get over it, pay the minimum amount, and move on. Our lives are waiting!