Our final intangible asset is a little unconventional, but possibly the best investment of them all. 

Life efficiency is the ability to derive more life from fewer inputs. Put another way, it’s the art of enjoying life without having to try so hard. 

Trying too hard

Consumerism is a great example of low life efficiency.

People force themselves though tedious 9-5 jobs to earn the money consumerism promises them can be exchanged for happiness. 

But as we discussed earlier, happiness comes from a genuine sense of meaning and purpose. It cannot be bought.

Hence, all the effort invested in a consumerist lifestyle yields little more than environmental destruction: 

High inputs + low outputs = poor life efficiency. 

Self sabotage

Eliminating self sabotage is essential for high life efficiency. Here, we’re talking about things like empty calories and other addictions, negative self-talk, stress about things outside your control, binge-watching or binge-eating, and actions that harm your important relationships. 

Self sabotage means you invest effort to make your own life worse. In other words: 

Increased inputs + decreased outputs = negative life efficiency. 

Living lightly

An efficient life is one with low inputs and high outputs. It’s generally best to start with getting comfortable with the low inputs. 

The skill of living lightly makes life a whole lot easier. It hinges on three interconnected actions:

1. Reduce consumption, thus increasing your financial freedom and allowing you to…
2. Reduce pure willpower-driven effort, which will help a lot to…
3. Reduce stress, which lowers your vulnerability to consumerism and self sabotage.

This virtuous cycle starts with step 1. Indeed, the ability to derive greater happiness from less consumption is an incredibly valuable intangible asset.  

Direct the resulting space to purpose

Living lightly will free up plenty of space in your life, manifested in the form of time, money, energy, motivation and peace of mind. 

Gradually filling this space with your purpose completes the picture of life efficiency: 

Low input + high output = high life efficiency 🙂