Don't Set Yourself Up for Disappointment
“The world is filled with people who look modest but are actually wealthy and people who look rich who live at the razors edge of insolvency.” - Morgan Housel
We judge wealth by what we can see. The nice cars, the beautiful houses, top of the line clothes. People tie themselves to this scorecard.
What you don’t see are the issues at home, the maxed out credit cards, and the anxiety that comes with the mindset of, “If only I had a little bit more…”
Being ‘rich’ is never as good as we expect it to be.
Often we can be put into “time poverty” – where we have no control over our time. We become servants to our jobs, emails, phones, etc.
I’m all about the grind and working hard, but at what cost? I’ve worked the 80+ hours a week and for me, it wasn’t worth it. No amount of money was going to make me happy.
And whether you want to believe it or not, almost all of us are disposable. Our companies will find a replacement.
You can roll your eyes all you want but we hear this time and time again. How someone accumulated wealth and they tell us it wasn’t as good as they thought it was going to be.
When someone tells you they want to be a millionaire, what they really mean is they want to spend a million dollars and see what that feels like.
Usually spending is a reflection of your ego - I want to show people that I have money.
But money doesn’t bring us happiness, it can just help remove levels of unhappiness.
Don’t get me wrong, being wealthy certainly has its perks.
You gain peace of mind of not living pay check to pay check.
You can fly private or first class rather than sit with the peasants. You can eat the best food or get access to the best healthcare.
We want to assume that more money will solve all of our problems.
Money doesn’t solve our problems – we are just faced with new ones.
The goal post always moves, it’s never enough.
With this mindset, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.
“I will spend more time with my family once I ‘make it’.”
“I’ll donate money once I have enough for myself.”
“When I accumulate $1 million dollars, I will finally do X or I will be happy”.
Odds are when that moment or event does happen, you will be no better off.
If you aren’t going to do it when you’re in your 20’s or 30’s and single, you think you will get around to it when you are married with kids? OF COURSE NOT.
We become so focused on what we want in life that we completely disregard what we already have.
I love the idea of writing down a list of items that we have overcome – a lost family member, serious injury or health scare, intense interviews or conversations.
We have overcome the daily obstacles that were thrown our way, why not celebrate those?
A rich man is loved by family and friends. Someone people want to be around and who supports those around them.
So, take that vacation and enjoy a family trip. Get out of the house, enjoy nature and the world we live in.
Help someone in need. Create good conversations.
Those are the expenses and memories that will be well worth it.
Find out what is important to you.
Be honest with yourself of what you’re ultimately looking to achieve.
You need to ask yourself, what do I really want?
What do I want to be remembered for?
“Possessions make you rich? I don’t have that type of richness. My richness is life, forever.” - Bob Marley
This post was inspired by these 2 podcasts:
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Disclosure: This material is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.