Be Boring: The Million-Dollar Value of a Simple Life

The most valuable moments are often the most ordinary ones

Be boring. Have a boring life. Be silent. Enjoy it and tell no one.

A dad that used to take his baby girl to school, at the same school my girls are on, died last week. I used to greet him, didn't know him well, but the normal "good morning" was common. He had his own style — tattoos, dreads, stood out. I never thought twice about it, just respected him for being there every morning.

Last week I got to know he died. Not just died, he was killed within his car by a burst of a machine gun, in the same zone I live in — Sintra, just 2 districts away from my door. What happened to Portugal?

Peace to his soul, hurts me to see his daughter go home without him. Specially because I'm a father of 2 girls, so touches me deeply.

The Million-Dollar Ordinary

Back to my point; Life should be boring:

• Take care of your family
• Put food on the table
• Ensure kids are dressed properly and clean
• Take and pick them up from school
• Do exercise, eat well, sleep
• Repeat

Be wealthy, still don't overspend, save, donate and don't say a word. Be rich, and yet humble, grounded, and work like you need to.

Don't be overly emotional: at the road, at work. Often it's not about you, someone is just having a bad day. Let them. Say sorry (even if it's not your fault), move on.

The Real Wealth

If you manage to do that. Just that. You're a Millionaire, because a Millionaire would pay to have the same level of boringness you have.

Think about it:

• The ability to walk your kids to school every morning
• Coming home to the same family every night
• Knowing where you'll sleep tonight
• Having predictable, mundane routines
• The luxury of being unremarkable

These aren't consolation prizes. They're the jackpot.

The Complexity Trap

Life can be extremely simple, and yet boring. If you don't overcomplicate it or try to live too fast.

We're constantly sold the idea that life should be:

• Extraordinary
• Adventurous
• Instagram-worthy
• Always growing
• Always achieving

But what if the real achievement is just showing up? Day after day. Morning after morning. Same school drop-off. Same bedtime routine. Same quiet dinners.

The Violence of Excitement

That morning greeting I shared with a stranger-father was boring. Completely unremarkable. Yet it was everything.

His absence this week reminded me: the opposite of boring isn't exciting. The opposite of boring is chaos. Violence. Loss. Uncertainty.

When life gets "interesting" in the wrong ways, we'd pay anything to get back to boring.

Embracing the Mundane

Here's what I'm learning:

Be proud of your boring commute. Someone's fighting for their life in a hospital bed.

Be grateful for routine arguments with your spouse. Someone's eating dinner alone.

Appreciate mundane work meetings. Someone just got laid off.

Treasure ordinary school mornings. Someone's child isn't coming home.

The Millionaire's Perspective

A millionaire would pay to have:

• Your health worries (instead of terminal illness)
• Your relationship problems (instead of loneliness)
• Your work stress (instead of unemployment)
• Your parenting challenges (instead of infertility)
• Your boring routine (instead of chaos)

Stay Hard, Stay Boring

This isn't about settling or giving up ambition. It's about recognizing that:

• The foundation of an extraordinary life is ordinary days
• Consistency is more valuable than intensity
• Presence is more precious than presents
• Routine is a luxury, not a prison

Stay safe. And stay hard.

But more importantly: stay grateful for the beautiful mundanity of another ordinary day.

A Father's Promise

Every morning when I take my girls to school, I'll remember that father. I'll remember that showing up is everything. That being boring is a privilege. That ordinary moments are where real wealth lives.

And I'll say "good morning" to every parent I see. Because that simple, boring interaction might be the most important part of their day.

Or mine.

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Life is fragile. Cherish the boring moments. They're the ones that matter most.