“Quality is not an act, it is a habit.” ― Aristotle
We live in a throwaway society. Always, we are looking for more: more money, more clothing, more friends, more lovers, more experiences.
We throw away what we find just as fast. No sooner do we make new friends than we bid our old friends adieu. Not long after we fill our wardrobes with expensive new designer clothes, we send our old clothes off to the landfill.
In fact, we generate millions of tons of waste collectively every year—and that is just physical waste. Think about the un-quantifiable amount of spiritual waste we also generate with our fixation on “more.”
Thankfully, there is a way past all of that waste, and that is to embrace the mindset of quality over quantity. By doing so, we can liberate ourselves to truly get the most out of our time, money, relationships, possessions, and life experiences.
Hedonic Treadmill: Reason Behind Quantity Mindset
Are you familiar with the hedonic treadmill? It tells us that as human beings, we have a tendency to return to equilibrium. New things get “old.”
Maybe you were super excited when you got your new gaming console last year, but now, you take it for granted. You feel much the same as you did before you bought it, leaving you longing for something else. That is an example of the hedonic treadmill at work.
As another example, let’s say you are in a relationship. When you first met your partner, you got butterflies in your stomach and would have done anything to impress them. Every moment you received of their time felt like a divine gift. But now, time with them is just something you expect, and you hardly look at them twice. That is also the hedonic treadmill.
A lot of people assume that we are simply stuck with the hedonic treadmill. But we are not. We can approach our lives with a conscious, deliberate mindset where we choose to value what we have in the present, right here, right now–to appreciate the intrinsic quality of that thing that is eternal.
Life-Changing Benefits of a Quality Over Quantity Mindset
When you get off the hedonic treadmill and choose quality over quantity, your life can change in tremendous ways. You begin to derive more value from what you already have, and you liberate yourself from the constant desire that would gnaw at you otherwise. Let’s go over some of the extraordinary benefits of choosing quality over quantity.
1. Your time on Earth is fleeting.
One of the single best reasons to embrace quality over quantity is that by its very nature, your lifetime is limited. You do not get an endless supply of minutes, hours, or years. An investment in quantity is a losing one by nature.
Choosing better quality means worrying less about how many minutes you have and making the most of each and every one.
Indeed, this is the true way to uncover the infinite–while your minutes are measured, the value and joy you can derive from each are without limit.
2. Detox from the wrong surrounding
“While the number of friends may feed your ego, it will never satisfy your heart.” – Frank Sonnenberg
Have dozens of “friends,” but don’t feel close to any one of them? If you find yourself lonely in a crowd, it could be because you have focused on surrounding yourself with as many people as possible rather than on finding people who actually offer you value.
In fact, structuring your life this way creates a recipe for negative value. You may even be exposing yourself to toxic people who subtract value from your life.
When you switch to choosing quality, you can finally let go of the people and things you do not need. Just cutting those toxic ties will help you save time, reduce stress, and lead a happier life.
3. Quality generates trust.
Another benefit of embracing quality is that it brings more trust into your life. There are so many ways this can manifest.
For starters, if you put the time and effort into only purchasing quality items, you will stress less worrying about them. You’ll know that they are likely to offer years of great performance.
Do you run a business yourself? When you value quality above quantity, you will be focusing on putting out only the very best products and services. In so doing, you will win the trust of your customers and offer them more satisfaction.
This same principle applies to personal relationships too. When we create quality bonds, we have people who we know will have our backs when the going gets tough–and they can trust us to have theirs.
Those types of relationships can be deeply rewarding and provide you with a sense of security and stability that can enhance every moment.
4. Specialized Knowledge
Quality over quantity is a mindset you can apply not only to relationships and worldly goods, but also to the pursuit of knowledge.
As a simple example, say you are someone who used to try and learn a little bit about everything, dabbling here and there. You amassed a lot of general knowledge, but nothing deep and specific. You have decided to pursue quality over quantity going forward. You now choose one or two areas in which to develop what Napoleon Hill called “specialized knowledge.”
This type of knowledge is often in high demand, but low supply, which can open professional doors. But perhaps more magical is the journey that specialization can take you on.
You will be able to plumb the true depths of knowledge–and beyond. Through your adventure, you become a pioneer, exploring the frontiers of your field. Who knows what you will discover beyond the edges of the map?
5. You discover a new way to relate to those close to you.
Let’s circle back to talking about friendship. You probably liked your quantity of casual friends in the past. But did you ever really love them?
If you replaced them year after year without blinking, they could not have meant much to you. But when you invest in a few quality friendships and vow to maintain them, you enjoy a profoundly meaningful experience.
The conversations you have will be vibrant with connections, insights, compassion, and joy. Time will stand still as you bask in those moments of true camaraderie. Each second will be richer and fuller, like you are living in high definition.
You will no longer need “more” friends when you choose quality over quantity, because each friend you have brings “more” into your life just by generating continuous joy.
6. Even the planet will thank you.
The decision to choose quality over quantity means you purchase and throw away fewer items. You help reduce the burden of waste for the planet.
Even though you are “just one person,” you should never underestimate the importance of what that means. If every person just did their individual part, our entire planet would be healthier.
Billions of people treat the Earth itself like a disposable object, and that is the reason we will soon have to battle the worst effects of climate change.
Earth, like time, is limited. It does not have an infinite capacity for “more”–more resources, more space. But its life-sustaining value and its remarkable ecology are infinitely precious.
When we are focused on spiritual things, it is easy to lose sight of the value of the physical world. But remember what Neville Goddard teaches us: The world is yourself “pushed out.” Choosing quantity not only harms the planet, but directly injures our inner selves. Choosing quality heals the Earth–and us.
7. You are what you eat.
Speaking of healing, you can also choose quality over quantity with respect to the choices you make concerning your body.
Eating high quality food can get you away from harmful toxins and inflammatory compounds, providing you with a richer, fuller spectrum of nutrition.
When you eat good food, you also get away from GMOs that are grown with ecologically-harmful herbicides.
This is a prime example of how quality decisions can enhance our well-being and that of our planet simultaneously.
8. You expand your horizons.
When we focus on quantity, we often miss extraordinary opportunities. Let’s say, for instance, that you are on a summer trip to a foreign country. You will be there only a few months. You have just met an incredible person. You know your lives are headed in different directions, and you will never likely see them again after you go home. What do you do?
If you are concerned with quantity, you might overlook the potential value of this scenario. You might think, “But we will only get a few short weeks. That is not even worth it.”
It is true such a relationship does not offer much in terms of quantity. The experiences you share will be few, and the hours in which to share them will be fleeting.
But valuing quality over quantity will teach you that the value of even the shortest relationship can be absolute. The minutes may be few, but each of them could be far more rewarding than the numerous minutes you might spend with someone else.
9. You discover the true magic of the Universe.
Finally, when we choose quality, we train ourselves to look for it. In doing so, we also teach ourselves to find it.
Once you develop that into a habit, do not be surprised if you start discovering it all around you, even in the most unexpected places.
Ordinary, everyday objects, processes, and experiences will begin to fill your life with meaning.
Before you know it, you will fall in love with the Universe in a whole new way.
An Overview: Quality Oriented Mindset Unlocks Limitless Joy and Value
Modern culture has put us in the habit of seeking instant gratification, buying more things whether we need them or not, and disposing of what we have with no thought to its intrinsic worth.
We are not perpetually discontent because the hedonic treadmill is in our nature. We are forever discontent simply because we refuse to get off of it and discover what we can become.
Choosing quality over quantity frees you from the treadmill so that you can truly love the best things in your life: close, meaningful relationships, beautiful, well-made items, and the remarkable planet that is our home in this extraordinary Universe.