Downshifting - Values and Motives

Values and Motives

Money - We're surrounded by the 'Buy Now, Pay Later' credit culture and have forgotten the value of our true earnings. Curb your debt and prevent overspending by cutting up a card. Mantra - The more money you spend, the longer you need to work to pay for it. Remember - The best things in life are free. Re-learn the value of money and live within your means.

Time - Everybody can claw back time here and there. When you change your perspective on the best ways to spend it, a whole new world opens up. What happened to playing games, reading, talking and interacting as a family? We've just forgotten the joys of doing them all. Mantra - What's the point of owning a fortune if you haven't the time to spend it? Remember - The most important gift is time. Spend quality time with the most important people in your life.

I hereby pledge to slow my life down a gear, for the benefit of my health, my well being, my environment and for those around me whom I dearly love. —Tracy Smith, The Downshifting Manifesto

Slowing down the pace of life and spending time meaningfully while not spending money wastefully are principle values of downshifting. Another main tenet is enjoying leisure time in the company of others, especially loved ones, and shunning self-absorption because it resists the normality of individualism and isolation of post-modern society.

The primary motivations for downshifting are gaining leisure time, escaping from work-and-spend cycle, and removing the clutter of unnecessary possessions that are accrued while existing in those societies with the highest standards of living and levels of production. The personal goals of downshifting are simple: To reach a holistic self-understanding and satisfying meaning in life.

Downshifting successfully demands sustained commitment and trying financial and lifestyle sacrifices. It tests the will and self-control of all adherents, regardless of pre-downshifting economic class. However, because of its personalized nature and emphasis on many minor changes rather than complete lifestyle overhaul, it attracts downshifters or participants across the socio-economic spectrum. An intrinsic consequence of downshifting is increased time for non-work related activities which, combined with the diverse demographics of downshifters, cultivates higher levels of community or civic engagement and social interaction.

The scope of participation is limitless because all members of society, adults, children, businesses, institutions, organizations and governments are able to downshift.

In practice, downshifting involves a variety of behavioral and lifestyle changes. The majority of these downshifts are voluntary choices, but natural, life course events, such as the loss of a job or birth of a child, can prompt involuntary downshifting. There is also a temporal dimension because a downshift could be either temporary or permanent.