Die with Zero: Thinking about life after illness with 'DIE WITH ZERO'

If you have experienced depression, I think you have thought about your 'future life' at least once.

I myself also had to rethink my life's priorities after taking a leave of absence due to depression. Compared to before I got sick, I feel that my way of thinking about 'how to live' and 'how to work' has changed significantly.

It was in that context that I encountered the book 'DIE WITH ZERO' by Bill Perkins.

This book gave me many insights into thinking about 'life after illness.' It also became a catalyst for significantly changing what I want to value in my life.

In this note, I will summarize what I thought about and learned through 'DIE WITH ZERO.' If there is anyone out there right now who is also thinking about 'how should I live my life from here on,' I would be happy if this could provide even a small hint.

By the way, I read this book on Kindle (e-book) a few years ago, and recently I bought the paper version and read it again. It is a book that stays in my heart no matter how many times I read it.

If you read this note and feel like you want to know more, please pick up a copy of 'DIE WITH ZERO'.

Note: This article is written for those who have recovered to some extent from illness and are positive about returning to work, or who have already returned to work. At a stage where treatment has not yet progressed sufficiently, thinking deeply about life itself might be a burden. I would be happy if you could read this again when you have recovered.

Life is made up of the 'sum of experiences'

The core idea of 'DIE WITH ZERO' by Bill Perkins is that the purpose of life is not to increase assets, but to maximize life satisfaction.

Many people keep saving money for their old age and die without being able to spend it all. The author states the following about this:

As this quote shows, leaving money behind when you die means you have wasted the time you used to earn that money. The author calls for changing such a way of life and aiming to 'spend all your money while you are alive, that is, to die with zero'.

The author emphasizes the importance of balancing the three resources of life: 'money, time, and health'.

• When you are young, you have plenty of 'time' and 'health,' but little 'money.'

• As you get older, 'money' increases, but 'physical strength (health)' and 'time' decrease.

That is why it is necessary to think about spending, saving, and what to use your time for in each age group.

Also, the author says the following:

In short, life is the sum of our experiences, and the best life is one built on a accumulation of experiences. It teaches us that the most important point in enriching life is not how much money you save, but how many positive experiences you can accumulate.

This is the core idea of the book. Based on this philosophy, the author explains in detail specific methods for how and at what stage of life to 'invest in experiences'.

This article will not cover the specific methods, so if you are interested, please pick up the book and read it.

'Perspectives' for enriching life taught by 'DIE WITH ZERO'

In this chapter, I will introduce some of the words and ideas from reading 'DIE WITH ZERO' that had a particularly big impact on me.

1. Changing the 'yardstick' of life. From money to experience

We tend to use money and assets as the standard for a rich life. However, the author questions that very 'yardstick' itself.

To reiterate, this is the core part of the book. What ultimately shapes life is the 'total amount of memorable experiences,' in other words, the amount of memories.

The more memories you have, the richer your life is. And experiences become mental assets that support you again and again later on. The author calls this 'memory dividends,' and you can get returns from memories over and over again.

2. The courage to invest in the 'now'. Experiences have a 'peak season'

What is important in maximizing life experiences is 'timing'. By saving or procrastinating, you may miss out on 'experiences that can only be had at that time'.

Experiences have an expiration date. There is a 'peak season' for your physical strength and circumstances regarding what you want to do, and if you miss it, you will never be able to experience it in the same way again.

Furthermore, the author points out the following regarding the value of money.

By spending money while you are healthy and interested, you can derive more joy from those experiences. Once you get older, the same amount of money will yield less satisfaction.

For example, suppose you think, 'I want to climb Mount Fuji someday!' As you age, your body declines, making the act of climbing itself more difficult. By the time you have enough free time to take on the challenge, you might have a body that can no longer climb, or you might have even lost interest.

The earlier you invest in experiences, the longer you can reap the 'dividends of memory.' That is why it is more important to focus on 'how to spend this very moment' rather than waiting for the perfect timing.

3. Reevaluating energy allocation. Optimizing 'working' and 'experiencing'

We are constantly and unconsciously choosing what to allocate our life energy (referred to as life energy in this book) to and how much.

If you lean too far in one direction, something else will be sacrificed. That is why it is important to determine what leads to 'life richness' for you and to think about where and how to allocate your life energy.

In particular, the author sounds an alarm against saving too much for 'peace of mind in old age.'

Many people continue to save money for 'peace of mind,' but in reality, they die without ever fully using that money. Originally, money is a means for 'living,' not for 'saving.' If you make saving an end in itself, you lose sight of life in this very moment.

4. 'Health' as the foundation for everything

And the foundation for all of this is 'health.'

I think this is something that those of us who have experienced illness understand painfully well. Health is the foundation for maximizing experiences. No matter how much money you have, if you lose your health, you cannot extract its value.

The author calls investing in health 'the investment that yields the most certain return.' By staying healthy, your range of actions expands, and your life satisfaction increases. I believe that a way of life that prioritizes health over money is the most prosperous in the long run.

Conclusion

So far, I have introduced some memorable quotes from 'DIE WITH ZERO.' Every one of them makes you rethink 'how to live' and 'what to spend your time on.'

What I learned from this book is that life is determined not by the total amount of money, but by the total amount of experiences. Within a limited amount of time, what do you choose, and what do you leave behind? This book gave me the opportunity to think about that.

In this article, I focused on introducing the contents of the book. Next time, I would like to talk about how I, from my own perspective as someone who has experienced depression, received the ideas in "DIE WITH ZERO," and what changes and realizations I had. I hope this will be a hint for rethinking how to live after an illness.

That's all for today!
Thank you for reading until the end.

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