What is downshifting and downshifters

Hello, friends! Do you know what downshifting is? What kind of movement is this, what is its meaning, why is it so popular in developed countries?

I found out about downshifting by accident, I saw it online. The word seemed interesting, so I decided to look for information for self-education, so to speak. I dug up a lot of things. I liked some of it, some not so much, but the information turned out to be interesting and informative. I think that it will be useful to many, especially to residents of megacities who are tired of the bustle, the constant race for material wealth and the ideals imposed on us.

What is downshifting in simple words

Let's see how people live now. From early childhood we are taught that we must study well in order to receive a decent education in the future. And this education should lead us to good earnings.

In turn, having a good income, we will be able to satisfy our immediate needs, namely: build a big house (buy a good apartment), acquire many useful things, buy, buy, buy... ad infinitum.

That is, from childhood we are taught to be consumers. And we try, but of course, it’s been hammered into our brain almost from the cradle.

And then suddenly there is a reboot. And you understand that this is not where happiness lies: not in an expensive car, not in a huge apartment, and not in rags that have nowhere to go.

Happiness is when you have time to sit and talk with your child, communicate with your parents, and do what you like and not someone else. And while you work like Papa Carlo, you don’t and won’t have time for this. And I want to change something in my life, slow down, slow down... and start living. This is how downshifting appeared.

Serpent Tempter

The epic with the snake bite ended well: Pavel Pestov’s girlfriend underwent surgery and returned home healthy. But after this experience, the young people did not want to continue the Indian reset and returned to Russia, starting to look for work.

Pestov was prompted to decide to quit and move to Goa by emotional burnout at work. “The CTC Media holding has several channels that simultaneously create special projects for a huge number of events, for each of which I was responsible. Worked on weekends and holidays. It was energetically difficult to work, for example, on New Year’s Day at the skating rink in Gorky Park. I realized that I didn’t want to repeat the next year in the same way,” recalls Pavel. He was also supported by Maria, who retired from the trading and metallurgical company in 2021. Between them they had 500,000 rubles in savings and another 200,000 rubles for a rainy day - the couple planned to live in India for at least several months. There were no plans to work remotely. “It was an experiment on myself: what is it like to live only enjoying and contemplating? I also planned to rewrite my dissertation on philosophy there,” says Pavel.

“I realized that doing nothing is not heaven on earth, but a serious test”

The couple rented part of a villa in North Goa, in the Arambol area - a favorite place for downshifters, musicians and hippies. “Every sunset, everyone would gather on the beach, jam on the drums and dance. We were surrounded by stilt walkers, jugglers, yogis, Hindus, dogs, and sellers. And everyone said goodbye to this day, thanking us,” Pestov says nostalgically. In the second month of heavenly life, an accident occurred that forced young people to reconsider their attitude towards downshifting. “I slept on the floor in the hospital and prayed that the girl would not die from a secondary infection,” says Pavel.

There was something to worry about: Masha’s life was threatened not only by the poison itself, but also by an infection that could get into the blood during the skin transplant operation. According to Pestov, an adult English downshifter, Masha’s roommate, died suddenly from an infection acquired in the hospital: “None of his relatives came to his cremation, and only a small part of his elderly downshifter friends were present. This prompted the idea that they would also forget about me if I disappeared from society for a long time.”

No matter how great a specialist a person is, after six months or a year the local professional “crowd” forgets about him, and it turns out to be extremely difficult to restore a career without losing position and salary, agrees Alena Vladimirskaya: “Even if a person went to freelance, and not just lie around on the beach, the flow of orders from customers gradually begins to dry up and eventually becomes insignificant. In the end, God willing, he will have enough for a return ticket.” For downshifters, spending day after day on the beach, time seems to stand still, but in the metropolis it goes on as usual - people quickly rise in positions or change jobs, the expert argues. According to her, there is simply no usual circle of acquaintances who could help with a recommendation for a returning downshifter.

Pavel and Masha were lucky not only to get out of India safe and sound, but also to quickly find the job they wanted. Masha was invited to the same company from which she left six months ago, and on better terms. And Pavel met the owner of the Golden Girls strip club, Lucky Lee, and got a job as his PR director. “I learned a lot of karmic lessons from this experience. For example, I realized that doing nothing is not heaven on earth, but a serious test. And the new job became a reward for the pain and trials that we managed to overcome in India,” says Pestov.

How do downshifters live?

Adherents of downshifting do not want to live in “monetary slavery.” They do not want to sell their life to their employer. Downshifters don't need big houses or expensive cars. They have already realized that they can well be happy without it.

These people devote their time to family, hobbies, and travel. Their life is simple, they try to live in harmony with themselves and the world around them. Of course, the easiest way to do this is in nature, because it is peaceful.

Therefore, downshifters move to warm countries with a mild climate and inexpensive life, or to the countryside, where they set up family settlements or simply live a village life.

They grow organic vegetables and fruits, take care of their health, and lead a measured lifestyle. In principle, this is how people should live.

Minuses

Why, despite all their positive qualities, are there not so many downshifters in other countries and in Russia? The answer to this is the many disadvantages that come with this lifestyle.

Loneliness often becomes the companion of downshifters. People no longer share common interests and values with former friends, so people’s surroundings very often change completely.
Failure to meet the requirements of society leads to exclusion from life. Downshifters do not fit into traditional dogmas, and therefore often cause indignation and even rejection from conservative-minded people. This, in turn, creates quite a lot of pressure on a person.
Declining standard of living. Even though many take this step consciously, not everyone likes it. According to statistics, only 40% of downshifters are satisfied with their financial situation; the rest suffer from the inability to buy what they want and financial restrictions.

Who is a real downshifter?

A downshifter is a person who has achieved success in life. He had a good job or his own business, decent earnings, a lot of knowledge, and career growth.
This is a strong man - he knew that he would have to overcome difficulties, the new life would not be easy. But he has a goal, and he is ready to give up pleasures and “tighten his belt” for the sake of it.
A downshifter is a hardworking person. Everything he had in his previous life was given to him for a reason; he worked hard and gave it his all.
This is an ideological person. He has an idea, a goal, and he will do everything to achieve what he wants.
It doesn't matter how the downshifter makes a living. He can choose any creative activity that will bring him income.

Too much relaxation

Teaching others how to find balance in life is a fairly common career choice among former downshifters. This is what Vladimir Kursov did, the former owner of the Like Box SMM agency, which worked as a contractor for large advertising agencies Hungry Boys and BBDO. By 2014, he was tired of “all these tenders, deadlines,” experienced burnout and was hospitalized with depression.

“A person who was born and raised in Moscow will definitely want some action in two or three months”

To regain his strength, Kursov left his Moscow projects and went first on a two-week vacation, and then for permanent residence in Thailand. “The distances are small, there is always a bike nearby: sit on it, half an hour - and you are where you need to be. The weather is good, the atmosphere is relaxed, no one is in a hurry. Even if you’re late, no one will give you a hard time,” Vladimir lists the advantages of island life. According to him, the prices for rental real estate made it possible to feel like “a king in a villa with a swimming pool” at the same level of expenses; the time difference with Moscow also had a positive effect: when it’s 11 a.m. in Moscow, in Thailand it’s already 3 p.m., “and you’re in time.” go to the beach and get a massage.”

But two months later, Vladimir “couldn’t stand it” and returned: “The atmosphere there is completely relaxed. A person who was born and raised in Moscow will definitely want some action in two or three months.” There was a lack of communication with new people and cultural leisure - there were no cinemas, the only entertainment was ferries to the neighboring island, trips to shopping centers and local advertising.

Kursov returned to a ready-made place - the head of SMM in the presidential election campaign of Grigory Yavlinsky. After completing the project, he decided to leave marketing and started developing his own company for non-drug stress relief, and is now preparing to open a meditation school.

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Who can't be called a downshifter?

Not all people who don't want to work hard can be called downshifters. For example, a young man who worked for a couple of years in an office became disillusioned with his work and sat on his mom and dad’s neck - he’s just a lazy person and a dependent.

I also want to talk about psychological reasons. There are people who express their protest to the whole world, and therefore run away from it into the wilderness. But this also cannot be called downshifting. They, as a rule, return again “to the world.” Downshifters do not prove anything to anyone, they are “looking for themselves,” their path in life.

Thai holidays

People who left a stable career for a retreat on the seashore, and have now returned to Moscow and are trying to restore their shaky career, quite often come for advice to professional HR people. In Alena Vladimirskaya’s practice, such clients appear once every one and a half to two months. She gives a classification of downshifters based on the reasons for leaving. In the first case, a person unexpectedly receives a certain amount of money - for example, after participating in the IPO of a company of which he was a shareholder - but it is not enough to buy an apartment or start a business. This money is often used to “breathe out” and live at sea, disconnecting from the work routine. The second type is “bored” office employees who can afford to work remotely or quit and go freelance. The third are people who went to relax for the New Year holidays, but decided to stay for a long time.

“You don’t have to quit your job to change your life”

The third type includes Polina Olitto, a former employee of a large telecommunications company (Olitto has no right to disclose her name under the terms of the agreement with her former employer), where she worked for more than ten years - after graduating from the institute she got a job in her native Omsk, and transferred to Moscow to 2014 as part of a new project. For a graduate with no experience, a place in a large company was a success, says Polina, but over time she lost interest in her tasks: “Everything became predictable for me, I did not see further growth. In addition, working in an office takes a lot of effort for such simple things as arriving on time because it’s customary, not going on vacation an extra day because it’s not supposed to, and so on.”

In November 2021, she went “nowhere” and a week later she was in Thailand. I wanted to rest for a week or two, but I stayed for four months, two of which I lived in Phuket, two in Bali. There was no savings, and Olitto took on a freelance project - she launched a company website with business coaching courses, and advised several startups on improving efficiency. Her income fell compared to the Moscow period, but not much, and her standard of living generally increased. “In Moscow you earn and spend, you always have something to spend on, but in Asia you simply don’t need much of the Moscow lifestyle,” explains Olitto.

In four months, she gained strength and realized that she wanted to return to the rhythm of the metropolis. I didn’t consider the office option - I launched my own project, similar in content to the one I was doing as a freelancer. Now it exists in the format of a blog on Instagram called Woman Recovery program: Olitto advises those who want to start a healthy lifestyle and find work-life balance (balance between work and the rest of life. - Forbes ). She does not promote downshifting among her clients: “You don’t have to quit your job to change your life. I’m all for eco-friendly and less stressful ways to understand yourself.”

What to do if you want to become a downshifter?

You are tired of your old life and want to change it. Moreover, the idea of downshifting is close to you. What to do in this case? Well, you need to think about how you will live further and for what.

First decide what you would like to do? What attracts you in life? What do you want to dedicate it to? Has the answer been found long ago? Great! Go ahead.
How will you earn your “daily bread”? Because the first and second points are not the same thing. Maybe you want to spend the rest of your life traveling on a yacht. What should I eat? And how to maintain the yacht? Income options for a downshifter: remote work that does not require being tied to one place; rental of housing; interest on deposits (in our country it is dangerous and unreliable); new job; earning income from your hobby.
While you're thinking, accumulate funds. You need to have a “safety cushion”.
You consult with your family, lay out your plans, talk about your intentions, and receive support.
Choose the place where you want to move. You study it: climate, housing, work, children's education, people's morals, etc. Do you have enough money to live there with your expected income?
Leave work quietly and calmly. Will you ever come back? Life is unpredictable and full of surprises. Will you live a new life as a downshifter and suddenly realize that the old one was better?
Make your plans and dreams come true.

Results

Downshifting can be a way out of prolonged dissatisfaction with your life. It's much better than alcohol and drugs. Downshifters are creative people who devote all their energy to rest and recovery, as well as to self-realization. But before you run away from reality, think about whether you really want to give up everything?

A downshifter is... Definition, basic principles and interesting facts on News4Auto.ru.

Our life consists of everyday little things that in one way or another affect our well-being, mood and productivity. I didn’t get enough sleep - my head hurts; I drank coffee to improve the situation and cheer myself up - I became irritable. I really want to foresee everything, but I just can’t. Moreover, everyone around, as usual, gives advice: gluten in bread - don’t go near it, it will kill you; A chocolate bar in your pocket is a direct path to tooth loss. We collect the most popular questions about health, nutrition, diseases and give answers to them that will allow you to better understand what is good for your health.

Consequences of downshifting or how the matter could end?

Events for a downshifter can develop in several directions:

You are happy, your new life suits you completely, you don’t even want to think about the past, you live for your own pleasure and do what you love. This is ideal.
Everything turned out to be not as rosy as thought. Life is difficult, boring, I’m tired of this downshift, the money has run out, the income is meager. I'm going back!
You have lived a quiet life, regained your strength, you can return and move to a higher level.
I spent some time as a downshifter, came back, but stopped the race for material values. I earn as much as is necessary for a simple life without frills.

Where to go for a downshifter: the best places

There are many places for downshifting. Our compatriots often travel to warm regions, where life is calm and inexpensive. These are Thailand, Ecuador, India, Turkey, Chile, Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Cambodia - completely exotic!

The bravest ones remain in their homeland, take land somewhere in the wilderness and develop family estates. Among such people there are many businessmen and those who have a lot of money. Some people simply move from the city to the village, start a farm, a vegetable garden. He lives in the fresh air and is quite happy that he left the city.

Many of our downshifters travel to the Krasnodar Territory, Voronezh Region or to environmentally friendly areas. Or you can go not far from the city, and from time to time, missing civilization, make forays there.

Conclusion

Well, friends, you have learned what downshifting is and who real downshifters are. If you're tired of the constant race for success and you want to change your life, maybe you should stop and think?

You can relate to this movement in different ways, everyone has their own opinion. But there is something in this, do you think? After all, everyone wants to live in harmony with themselves? That's all I have for today. Natalya was with you. If you liked the post, share it with your friends!

PS How do you like the idea of moving to warmer climes and living for your own pleasure? I'm waiting for your comments!

Alternative ways to improve your life

Downshifting is not the only way to make your life better. The most reliable prevention against becoming a downshifter is self-realization and a full, comprehensive life. You shouldn’t dwell on just one area, because money and career will not bring harmony to life. Creativity, respect from society, sufficient rest and interesting leisure time – this is what can replace downshifting and leave a person “included” in society.