Esther Jacobs ‘The No Excuses Lady’ On Modern Consumerism; What It Was, What It Is, How We Got Here, & What We Can Do About It
An Interview With Drew Gerber
Minimize your possessions and you will not only create space in your home, but also in your mind. Maybe you can live in a smaller house, reduce your expenses and retire much sooner.
Sometimes it feels like we all live in a hamster wheel and no matter how much we make, or how much we succeed, it is never enough. Even people making 6 or 7-figure incomes, can still feel that they are barely making it. Where did this “never-enoughness” come from? Were things always like this? When exactly did it change? What would be needed to return to an earlier framework of consumerism that doesn’t burn us all out?
In this series, we are talking to historians, journalists, authors, social science experts, sociologists, thought leaders, and other experts about the history and progression of modern consumerism. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Esther Jacobs, The ‘No Excuses Lady’ from The Netherlands.
Esther is a seasoned international (TEDx) speaker (1000+ keynotes) and the author of 30 books. As a book writing coach, she has helped hundreds of others to write and publish their book. She was knighted by the Dutch Queen for collecting €16 million for charities.
Esther is often called the ‘No Excuses Lady’ because she turns any obstacle into an opportunity. For example, she got ‘fired’ from her home country, The Netherlands, for traveling too much. As a ‘digital nomad’ she now advises governments and individuals about the location-independent lifestyle.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to know how you got from “there to here.” Inspire us with your backstory!
Wow, I don’t know where to start… Let’s just say that I have always been an entrepreneur. I have never worked for a boss. That means you get to know yourself really well. It also means you have to take responsibility, both for your successes and for your failures. There’s nobody else to blame…
As a freelancer, I discovered how large corporates work and how many things can be done faster, leaner, cheaper, and easier. As an entrepreneur, I have learned to ‘work with what I have’. Not to wait for permission, a budget, or ‘the right time’. I think that is where my minimalism started: I only do the most important things and don’t write elaborate business plans, try to get funding, etc. I just try things out and if they work, I build on them. For example, I organized an inspiration trip on a discounted transatlantic crossing on a cruise ship. In Buenos Aires I learned to dance the tango and back in Holland I organized workshops ‘tango as a mirror’, mixing my limited tango experience with my ample business insights. When the Euro was introduced, I collected all ‘left-over’ foreign coins for charities and raised €16 million euros, without any experience, budget, or network! Recently I bought a small olive orchard in Puglia, in southern Italy and now I am making my own olive oil and organizing inspiration trips there. No excuses!
What lessons would you share with yourself if you had the opportunity to meet your younger self?
I actually was asked to write a letter to my younger self recently, as a contribution to a book. I can advise anybody to do this. It helps you to think about what you wish you would have known when you were younger. My main message was to trust myself and my intuition, more than I trust others. Even if everybody says you are wrong and you feel you are right: go for it. Never doubt yourself. It would have saved me so much stress if I had actually been able to share that with the young Esther…
None of us are able to experience success without support along the way. Is there a particular person for whom you are grateful for that support to grow you from “there to here?” Can you share that story and why you are grateful for him or her?
There is not one particular person, but there were — and still are — various people along the way.
Nelson Mandela is a big inspiration to me: after 27 years of unjust imprisonment, he decided to leave any bitterness behind him and share his light and wisdom.
My dad is another inspiration. He was an entrepreneur and avid traveler, he inspired me with both. From him, I learned that curiosity is a big driver and that improvisation and flexibility can turn any situation into an opportunity. Now that he has Alzheimer, he still inspires me with how he handles this horrible disease. Instead of being sad or angry about what he cannot do anymore, he enjoys what he still CAN do. He becomes more open, more loving, and more himself every day.
What day-to-day structures do you have in place for you to experience a fulfilled life?
I have no structure at all! Maybe that IS a structure? LOL. My life is of the ultimate freedom. I never wake up with an alarm clock, I wake up when I am done sleeping. I am never longer than a few weeks in the same place. Nothing — except for my writing retreats — is planned ahead. I get most inspired by changing environments and routines.
Some things are constants, though. I try to eat healthily, I am a flexitarian and I try to avoid sugar when I can (but I LOVE cookies!). I don’t drink coffee or alcohol, I don’t smoke. I sleep at least nine hours a night and I exercise regularly. I have a virtual personal trainer and via Zoom, we can work out anytime, anywhere.
So, while the BIG things in my life change all the time, I try to keep a regime that enables my body and mind to deal with all that.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think it might help people?
I recently bought a small olive orchard in Puglia, in southern Italy. I did not speak Italian and did not know anybody there, I just fell in love with the land and impulsively bought this plot. There is a 200-year-old traditional ‘trullo’ house (which looks a bit like an igloo) that I am restoring. I am building a minimalist but modern ‘tiny house’ next to it. Among the 48 centuries-old olive trees, this is a heaven of peace. I produce my own @tinytrullo olive oil and I organize writing and inspiration retreats there. This project makes me so happy!
Many people have a dream, but they don’t dare to follow it. Or they over-plan and overthink, resulting in probably not doing it, either. My example shows that following your dream provides a kick and that the outcome is always positive: even if things don’t go as you planned (imagine a construction project in rural Italy, in Italian), you are still experiencing new things and feeling deliciously alive.
Check out www.tinytrullo.com for more info.
Ok, thank you for sharing your inspired life. Now let’s discuss the “ism” behind most marketing: consumerism. To begin, can you share with our readers a bit about why you are an authority on the history of consumerism?
Ever since I got ‘fired’ from my country, I have not been registered anywhere. I have lost many things that we all take for granted: residency, passport, insurance, registration in my own house, registration in the chamber of commerce, bank account, phone plan, right to a pension, social security, etc. As a result, I have created a lifestyle that is super light, resulting in maximum freedom. Everything I own fits in two suitcases, yet I choose to travel around the world with only carry-on luggage, for months on end.
Minimalism is one of the pillars for a lifestyle of freedom. I choose experiences instead of possessions and find that more and more people are interested in this lifestyle philosophy. I share tips and experiences about how to become a digital nomad, how to live a lighter life, even if you choose to stay in your home base, and about location-independent entrepreneurship and remote work trends and how they are all related to minimalism, anti-consumerism, making choices and not be led by the norms of society.
Let’s begin with a basic definition so that we are all on the same page. How do you define the concept of consumerism?
I would say that this is the drive to buy things that you don’t really need, convincing yourself that you DO need them.
There is this quote that really resonates with me: “We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.”
Throughout history, marketing has driven trade for humans. What role do you see that marketing played to get human societies where we are today?
Marketing is everywhere: on TV, in print, on the internet, in shops, in the streets, in our homes; even our friends market us their ‘ideal life’ on social media. We live lives of extreme luxury and still, we feel ‘poor’ sometimes because we are constantly reminded of what we don’t have (yet).
Many products are even designed for obsolesce. If your smartphone is designed for a certain time frame, then you’ll need to buy a new one. The first light bulb produced by Philips is still burning. The company feared that they would not sell any more lightbulbs and ordered their R&D department to design a light bulb that lasts exactly 1000 hours. Those are the lights we are using now.
Were there other points in history when humans experienced “I don’t have enough” even when basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing were met?
Constantly!
I think that after the second world war there was a big shift. Many more products were available and because we went through so many hardships, we thought we deserved some luxury.
Humans are distinguished from animals by their use of language. How do language, storytelling and other human-only attributes leave people with a sense of not having enough?
We have two choices: either look towards others who have less, or compare ourselves to those who have more. Somehow, we tend to look at others who have more, leaving us wanting more. It would be better if we could just enjoy what we have, share it with others, and just BE instead of comparing and trying to get more.
Storytelling is constantly going on: in the media, on social media, and even at family and friends’ parties.
Why don’t we tell ourselves and each other another story: enough is enough? What do you really want? Let’s focus on achieving that, instead of distracting ourselves with buying more things that we don’t need.
Different cultures view trade/consumerism differently. For example, many 21st-century marketing professionals in a capitalistic society will discuss solving human “pain points” as a way to sell products, services, and other wares successfully. How do cultures differ? Please give examples or studies you may know about.
Those ‘pain points’ used by marketing professionals are actually invented by marketing. Often people first have to be ‘convinced’ that they have a problem and then can be seduced to buy the company’s solution to that problem.
I spent a few winters in Cape Town, South Africa, where the gap between rich and poor is huge. Both groups live so closely together that it is hard to ignore. While advertising and consumerism for the rich are like in Europe and the USA, people in the slums are not concerned by the brand of their refrigerator or if it matches the colors of their kitchen. Many people there are happy to even have a refrigerator!
Was the phenomenon of “pain point” or “not enough in marketing” ushered in during the industrial revolution? Or, how did the Cold War impact this? Perhaps even Manifest Destiny? How have human technological advances impacted trade and marketing professionals’ obsession to solve human “pain points?”
Old ads give us some insight into what happened. They show new products, especially for household activities. The first washing machines were marketed in a way that women saw it as a luxury and men were made to feel bad if they let their wives do laundry by hand, the old-fashioned way. After every household had all the ‘essential’ things, the marketers continued to apply this principle to non-essential things, making them feel like they were essential.
The sense of ‘entitlement’ has been stimulated. I want this, I need this, I deserve this.
In your opinion, how has the way humans consumed their news impacted trade, consumerism, and human development? Can you please explain what you mean?
The media tend to emphasize negative developments in the world. Fear, crisis, war. This gives people an uneasy feeling they want to soothe. Consumerism is a way to feel good, to forget for a while.
Buying things makes our brain release dopamine. This ‘feel good’ hormone is associated with excitement; it helps us experience the thrill of the hunt, keeping us motivated while we track down the perfect birthday gift for a hard-to-buy-for friend. Also, social media is designed to be addictive for this same reason. A ‘like’ on your post also gives you a dopamine hit, leaving you wanting more.
If we could get that good feeling from the news, then we would not need to seek it elsewhere.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs indicates that humans only seek self-actualization after basic needs are met. How do you think “clickbait” impacts Maslow’s hierarchy and the overall human development?
The instant availability of ‘feel good’, like sugar, alcohol, drugs, sex, and ‘likes’ is becoming more and more of a problem. Marketers understand better what triggers us than we do. Which means that they are leading and we are following. We have all become addicts. Dopamine addicts. If you don’t take control of that, it means you are being controlled by those who ‘distribute’ the drugs. In this case the (social) media, advertising, shopping, pharmaceutics, etc.
For you personally, if you have all your basic needs met, do you feel you have enough in life? Can you please explain what you mean?
You’ll never have enough, because there is always more, there are always others who have more. Only when I stopped consuming, and buying new things, I became aware of how engrained this had become in my life, and in my well-being. Buying things gives me a good feeling (hormones?) and just like everybody I want to feel good. Or some want to impress others, which also gives our feel-good hormones a boost. It is an addiction. You can’t just stop it. First, you have to become aware and then make conscious choices. Now I watch in amazement sometimes at the amount of energy, time, and money people spend buying things.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Buy less.
If you want to go on that trip around the world, but you feel you don’t have enough money, stop buying your daily Starbucks beverage or other small luxury that you probably don’t even notice or enjoy anymore. After a year the money you saved could buy you a round-the-world ticket.
Minimize your possessions and you will not only create space in your home, but also in your mind. Maybe you can live in a smaller house, reduce your expenses and retire much sooner.
Try to find your self-worth in yourself, not in what you wear, have, or buy.
What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?
I’d love to help you on your journey, whether it is writing a book about your experiences and ideas or living a life of more freedom. Find me on www.estherjacobs.info or connect on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram.
For more inspiration and practical tips, read one of my books, join one of my live online workshops, or maybe even participate in a retreat in and exotic location around the world.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.
About The Interviewer: For 30 years, Drew Gerber has been inspiring those who want to change the world. Drew is the CEO of Wasabi Publicity, Inc., a full-service PR agency lauded by PR Week and Good Morning America. Wasabi Publicity, Inc. is a global marketing company that supports industry leaders, change agents, unconventional thinkers, companies and organizations that strive to make a difference. Whether it’s branding, traditional PR or social media marketing, every campaign is instilled with passion, creativity and brilliance to powerfully tell their clients’ story and amplify their intentions in the world. Schedule a free consultation at WasabiPublicity.com/Choosing-Publicity.
Esther Jacobs ‘The No Excuses Lady’ On Modern Consumerism; What It Was, What It Is, How We Got… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.