How important is money to you? What does it mean to you? How much time in your day do you spend worrying about money? Is being rich one of your goals in life? Do you know why?
These are all important questions that you should answer for yourself.
I have come to the following conclusions in my quest to understand the world of finance:
- Money is not real
- Money is a side effect of living your purpose of life
- Rich is a state of mind
- Money reflects value
- Money is a tool, it is means to an end, not vice versa
All of the above conclusions have lead to understand that worrying about money is pretty silly. I am not mocking people who are struggling financially. I am just saying that many people are focused on the wrong issue. Most people are unhappy because they have the means and the ends confused. If you continue worrying about acquiring more money, then you will end up leading a poor life. I can almost say that with certainty.
If you should not focus on money, then what is it that should focus on? You need to focus on the real source of wealth, which gives rise to wealth. You should focus on creating genuine value in your life. Worry about that. Try and figure out a way how you can create value for others. That is the true source of wealth – value.
How does that help? Here is how. If you focus on creating genuine value for others, then you will just know that riches are surely to follow soon after. With that in mind, you won’t have to worry if the economy is rising or falling, or if the dollar is becoming stronger or weaker. You won’t even have to worry if you lose your house or your savings because you will always now that you have never lost the source of that wealth: yourself.
You are the biggest asset in your life and you should invest the most time and effort into fine tuning your ability to create value.
The big question, then is not how to get more money, but how to create more value. So, how do you create value?
1. Understand yourself. You should be the person who knows you the best inside out. That will require time and effort. It will require you knowing what you like and what you dislike. You will have to figure out what drives you and what depresses you. You will have to know your strengths and your weakness. Only by understanding yourself, you will be able leverage your strengths and your passions to figure out where you fit in the world. Moreover, you will be able to figure out your underlying purpose in life.
2. Follow your life purpose. With a clear image of where you want to go in life, you will naturally dedicate yourself to your ideal and become and expert at what you are trying do in life. If you try and do anything else but what you absolutely love, then your whole being will resist and it will ultimately lead to unhappiness and poor life. If you follow your passion, then you will just know what to do and where to go. You will able to make choices and decisions so much easier. There will be a clear distinction in what you need and do not need in your life.
That is all there is too it. Surprised? You should be.
I was going to write more about transferable skills, marketing and branding and so on. Yet, it does not really matter. It does not matter if you understand what rich or wealthy and poor really mean. They have little to do with money. Remember, correlation does not imply causation! Rich and poor are simply states of mind.
Being rich means doing all the things that you always wanted to in your life. What else could anybody really want in life? After all, even those who acquire a lot of money, what do they do with it? They usually spend it doing the things that they want to do. It might be going on vacations, spending time with the family or learning something. Yet, it is crucial to understand: you don’t need to be rich dollar wise to do the things that you enjoy.
All you need to do is make the right decisions by understanding yourself and following your life purpose. That is the real difference between the true rich and the true poor. With these new definitions of rich and poor, reread the article and see if it makes more sense now. Go ahead and do it. It might change your life.
With that in mind, this would be a more appropriate picture:
QUESTION: Are you still worried about money?
_____________________
Image (top): Delox – Martin Deák
Image (bottom): dotbenjamin
9 Comments
Great Article, Tom!. May I pose a question: what if you are a single parent of 3 kids reading this article. What if you as a single parent have no education passed high school and no family support? What if you are unemployed as a single parent with three kids and no education in this horrible economy? What do you say to that person who wakes up each morning in despair and fear? Don’t worry about money? I am in no way trying to undermine your article. I just want to know what you have to say. I already have my answer and will post after hearing yours and others.
Thanks, Zenobia :)
I have boiled down what you said to the following issue: “unemployed as a single parent with three kids and no education in this horrible economy who wakes up each morning in despair and fear”
What do I say to somebody like that? Exactly the same thing. I would tell them to work even harder to understand him/herself and find their path to follow. It is actually more important than in any other situation because there are kids involved. I believe it is important to set an example to children so that they have a role model, a positive role model at the very least.
Moreover, if you are in situation where you have three kids, no job and no education, then you have to ask yourself how and why you are in that particular situation? Answering that might give a lot of insight.
I understand what you are getting at. How can you tell somebody in a situation like to tell not to worry about money? Well, I can because it is the truth. The truth about money, about setting example, and helping your kids grow up so that they can follow and made better decisions than you did.
I hope that answers it.
Best,
Tomas
yup! that makes sense. that is what i was thinking as well. It is hard to find hope and positivity in trying times. But, if you can find the strength to hope, the end result is more prosperous and greater than you imagined. :)
Preach on, Tom, preach on.
People take the wrong lessons from the success stories.
Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, etc don’t have tons of money because they were able to figure out how to devise money-making systems.
No. They were able to figure out how to consistently give copious amounts of value. I mean, tons of it. All the while understanding themselves: what they’re passionate about, what they feel they can provide awesomely in this world, and what makes them truly happy to where it doesn’t feel like a “job” to provide those bucketloads of value.
It’s a tough read for some, because they want quantifiable guides to make money. And you can’t draw a direct correlation between giving value and earning money sometimes.
But, like you said, it’s the truth.
Let’s stop worrying about money and start worrying about living passionately and meaningfully, as well as providing value (which is what will give us money… which is a means to an end anyway, not the reward itself).
Oleg
Oleg!
Does that create for such a simple world? Yet, we manage it to make so complicated?
What you just said is all we need to become successful in life. It is simple that nobody would actually believe. People are always looking for strict guides that tell them how to do things, always forgetting that the key element of success is understanding themselves.
No wonder the phrase of know thyself carries so much weight, but yet so little people understand it’s true meaning! There are not shortcuts in life and there is no need for them. Journey itself is what matters!
Thanks for another great visit Oleg!
Best,
Tomas
Thanks for this post! Reminds me of a great quote by Shakespeare that I just shared with a client this morning: “Know thyself and to thine own self be true.” Right on! Because you are right–our life here on earth has absolutely nothing to do with money. :)
Dear Michelle:
You are welcome! I am glad that I am not sitting here talking gibberish :)
I mean, your website itself tells me that YOU are not here for the money: Following Your Joy. Love that simple concept!
Now that I am thinking about, I made my life so difficult in the last 20 something years, when in reality it is so simple :)
Thank you!
Best,
Tomas
When travelling to visit another state I prefer to drive instead of flying; it is mostly about the trip than the destination, although the destination is important too.
With money is the same, and with marriage, love, parenting, etc. It is about enjoying the trip while moving towards a destination.
With my wife we say we have a millionaire’s breakfast everytime because even though some times is just a cup of coffee, we spend a couple of hours just talking the two of us, enjoying each other’s presence and company.
Raul
Raul:
It is about the journey rather than the destination. You are right. Sometimes we just get caught up in the moment and forget to enjoy it or sometimes we start thinking about the how to get to our destination and forget to enjoy the moment.
Life is a continuous progression and it never really ends unless we stop it. Let’s all enjoy this never ending journey!
Best,
Tomas