What is Sensimism?
Sensimism – gradual, consistent and purposeful small steps towards improvement or a goal.
Sensimism emerged from my journey with stoicism, empiricism, and a gentler form of skepticism. It's a blend of the finest elements from these philosophies, enriched by insights from various inspiring books. This approach helps me navigate the complexities of life, our inherent biases, and the quirks of our genetics. But sensimism is still evolving. It's like a seed right now. Together, we can nurture it. Maybe it will grow into a towering tree, a lush shrub, or a delicate flower. Or maybe it won’t. And that's okay. The real joy lies in exploring and writing about sensimism, and applying it to our lives. Who knows? It might resonate with others too.
The heart of Sensimism is about finding equilibrium in our fast-paced world. It’s a philosophy designed to make life more pleasurable and manageable. Sensimism offers tools and insights to help us decelerate, to pause the relentless pursuit of 'more.' It's about embracing the moment and finding contentment in the simplicity of being.
Target areas of sensimism
Sensimism aligns closely with Stoicism's ultimate objective: living a well-rounded, balanced life. Yet, it layers additional strategies atop Stoic principles, drawing heavily from the patterns we observe in nature. Think about how nature progresses: slowly, yet with a relentless and unstoppable determination, overcoming any obstacle in its path. Sensimism embraces this approach, advocating that small, consistent steps often lead to greater achievements than attempting large leaps. It zeroes in on aspects of life that we typically hold dear and expend most of our energy pursuing:
Key principles of sensimism
Anything worthwhile takes time
Frequency over intensity
Nothing is worth stressing about
Controlled physical stress is good for you
80/20 – Pareto rule alleviates pressure
Read more about each principle
What does ‘good life’ mean in this context?
It’s a fulfilling life, where you feel happy to enjoy the good things, without focusing too much on the struggles. Being happy with your successes and/or failures, without focusing too much on just the failures and misfortunes. Seeing these misfortunes as stepping stones towards a better, wiser you, but also as an inevitable part of life. At the same time, not seeing success as the main thing to strive for in life, but merely as only one of the many enjoyable things in life. And realising, that all these things take time – same as anything significant in nature, “growing” a good life takes time.
Now read that back and replace success with anything you or others strive for – money, fame, pleasure, knowledge, legacy.
Good life from sensimisms’ perspective is about being happy with how you manage your life, whatever it brings, good or bad.
Even learning to live with bad decisions, not beating yourself about it. But at the same time, being accountable. Owning up to the damage you cause, in the same way, as owning up to all the praise you might receive.
But hey, so far, we’re nicely in the stoic territory – I’m not writing anything new here. Let’s add our sensimism, shall we?
Sensim [Latin]: slow, gradual change.
Sensimism: a philosophy aimed at achieving your goals through slow, but sustained, gradual effort towards a goal.
A big chunk of it is based on how things are done in the longest-standing and most successful project there is: nature.
Natura non facit saltum
“Nature doesn’t make big jumps”
Imagine how things are done in nature. Does it change drastically over a human lifetime? Does it make any big leaps in the lifetime of a plant? A great analogy is a soft and vulnerable seed growing through tarmac into a plant. It’s not tough, it doesn’t have acid to burn through the tarmac, nor does it have the brute force or strength. What does it have?
It has sensimism: a slow but gradual and sustained effort towards a goal. It applies the tiniest of pressure so slowly, gradually but persistently – that it pushes the rough tarmac out of the way with its soft leaves, micrometer by micrometer.
That’s how you succeed at most things. That’s how sensimism sees success and the path to it. Not as a result of a lot of effort over a short period of time (that exhausts you, burns you out and more often than not leads to failure). Not as a yo-yo diet, where you push yourself to the limit, just so your lizard brain and exhaustion bring you back where you started. Sensimism sees success as a seed growing through tarmac – you get there through slow, gradual but persistent effort. Change your habits a bit, so that they become your new normal – and you will get there without much effort or risk of burning out. Just remember that real change, real success takes effort, consistency and time.
The question isn’t:
Can I do this?
but
Can I live like this for years from now on?
Being able to do something for a month is nice – but it won’t lead to lasting change unless you can keep doing it for years. Would any Instagram fitness celebrity be there without doing it for years? Could he/she to keep her followers if she stopped exercising after a few months and became chubbier (a sedentary, office lifestyle kinda layer of fat…)?
Would any entrepreneur be successful if she just tried very hard for a month or a year, then gave up?
Could any movement achieve any big goal, if they tried really hard for a few months, then stopped and called it a day?
Sensimism and relationships, love & sex
Working on your relationship every day a little bit will make it longer lasting and durable, than trying to find happiness by chasing a newer, shinier object. All relationships require work, maintenance and lose their sexiness over time. At least to some extent. If you are not happy in your current one, but this unhappiness isn’t caused by your partner not being a good partner, but by your doubts (grass is greener on the other side syndrome), then be sensible – work on it. It will reward you in the long term. Even if the short term feels like a heavy burden.
Chasing after the ultimate relationship will likely end up in the same situation – some other grass will seem greener again.
Sensimism and fitness & health
Doing a bit of exercise daily (and throughout the day) is better than not doing much all week, then destroying yourself during a 2hr cross-fit session.
Changing your diet gradually, to something that is healthier, but you also enjoy it, so it becomes your new normal, will get you the result you want: better shape that will stick for a lifetime, as opposed to getting ripped over 3 months, so that you can yo-yo back for test of the year.
Sensimism and health in short: Nothing will make any long-term (and therefore worthwhile) difference to your health unless you can sustain it over many years to come. If you are going to start a new routine or diet, first ask yourself: can I keep doing this for years to come? You’ll save yourself a lot of bad decisions this way.
This redefines the meaning of the word diet. From diet as in “a short-term reduction of caloric intake to reduce weight” to “what food I eat daily”. A diet isn’t a short-term measure. That’s a fast. When you hear people say “I’m on a diet”, it basically means “I’m on eating food”. However, what they mean is “I am fasting” in one way or another.
Live on the right diet/food long term, ensure it’s healthy daily, and you’ll reap the benefits for the rest of your life.
Sensimism and success, achievement
Learning something small every day through practice will make you overall smarter for a lifetime, compared to trying to cram all the theoretical knowledge into your head over a few months/years. Or working on something you are passionate about or good at for a longer period of time will be more satisfying, than trying to discover the next big thing and make a hole in the world in the next few months.
Your goals should follow your circumstances and skills, not your role model’s.
Realising that all this needs time will take the weight off your shoulders: where is the rush? It’s it worth the stress and self-inflicted pressure? Are you sacrificing your happiness today for a vision of a happy future? It’s it even based on your reality or someone else’s? Are you trying to copy the success of someone across the world, with completely different circumstances than yours?
It’s much too easy today to get bogged down with massive success stories. So many millionaires and inventors in their twenties, why not you then? Because you can never replicate all the random things that helped them succeed. Malcolm Gladwell and his book Outliers: The story of success will set you on the right path.
You can, of course, get inspired, and then apply that knowledge to your life and circumstances. And sensimly work towards that goal. This way, you will succeed in your own way, and you are unlikely to burn out.
Who am I?
Hey, I’m Lukas. Thanks for popping in! Throughout my life, I managed to overcome many obstacles, I’ve traveled for years, seen many continents and cultures, tried many things. Yet I continue to find new things to struggle with, despite looking for answers in all corners of the world… Maybe more people are struggling with similar things? Well then, let’s write about it on a website, let’s put all I’ve learned into a semi-concise philosophy, and hell, it might even help another person or two.
This is what sensimism is about – venting my frustrations and sharing my insights on how to work on them. I’ve overcome some, I am still struggling with others. This is a journey that might be easier when shared with a community of people, who might share similar ideas and experiences.
Lukas – lukascech.com | nimblecamper.com | nimble.help
Things I enjoyed recently
how friendships devolved during our time and why, and how we can fix them, by Rosie Spinks
Pretty much anything by The School of Life, like this one on Pornography or Two questions to repair a relationship [YouTube]
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