Enough

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game HunterI am old enough to remember single-edge razors for shaving. I’m not talking about disposable razors. I mean the whole deal was to have a razor with one blade edge. Then, I remember when double-edge blades came out. Nicks were common with both razors and we used something called a styptic pencil to congeal the cuts and stop the bleeding.

I noticed my face would feel incredibly smooth after a shave when a new blade came out but after a few weeks, around the time I had to purchase the first refill, it stopped being a wonderful experience. My face stopped feeling so smooth and it became ordinary again.

Now that I also shave my head, too, I still find that a cartridge lasts two weeks just like then.

Over the years, I allowed myself to get to 5 blades on a razor before stopping myself and asking, “Why am I paying so much money to shave?” Currently, it costs about $50 for 14 cartridges of 5 blades, and just under $40 for 20 of the 3-blade cartridges.

It begs the question when is enough?

I asked ChatGPT that question. It answered, “It's difficult to say when enough is enough, as it depends on the context and the specific situation. Some questions you might ask yourself to determine if you have reached the point of enough might include:

Have I achieved my goals or reached my desired outcome?
Am I satisfied with the results of my efforts or do I need to keep going?
Is the cost of continuing to pursue this goal or activity worth the potential benefit?
Is there a point at which continuing to pursue this goal or activity might actually be detrimental to my well-being or happiness?

Ultimately, the decision of when enough is enough is a personal one and will depend on your individual circumstances and priorities. It can be helpful to take some time to reflect on your goals and consider whether you have reached a point where it is time to move on to something else.

This is decent advice for most things. The closest I can get to answering my razor blade dilemma is to ask myself, “Am I feeling satisfied by my experience?” No.

Sometimes, our behaviors are actually habits—the product of our conditioning. For example, the morning coffee or tea, depending on where you are in the world. That you have cereal, eggs, fish, a croissant or some other breakfast food may be a product of conditioning or habit. Once it is a habit, like smoking, the behavior occurs without thinking and often without pleasure.

It’s what we do.

Like women wearing heels to the office or men wearing a jacket and tie, we have been taught and we act on it without thinking. It becomes a part of our owner’s manual.

In one of his books about marketing writes how “people like us do things like that.” It’s done for group affiliation. The professionals dress a particular way. Working-class people dress differently. It’s in the documentation.

But when do you notice that the commute is too mind-dulling and not worth it anymore? When do you notice and act on changing your life to make it work better for you and not for the company you work for or their client? When do you make the decision to aspire to be great and not succumb?

When is it enough for you and you turn the corner?

With the pandemic over in much of the world, employers have begun the gradual clawback of time to insist that people commute to an office a few days a week. Is it OK with you to lose that time that could be better spent doing something else with your life?

I don’t know what’s right for you. However, if you’ve noticed that doing so is mind-dulling, you can make a different decision. You don’t have to buy the $50 razors.

ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. He is hired to provide No BS Career Advice globally. That can involve job search, hiring staff, management, leadership, career transition and advice about resolving workplace issues. Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us

He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2500 episodes.

I do a livestream on LinkedIn, and YouTube (on the JobSearchTV.com account) Tuesdays at 1 PM Eastern. You can send your questions about job search, hiring better, management, leadership or to get advice about a workplace issue to me via messaging on LinkedIn or in chat during the approximately 30-minute show.

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