Fixing your relationship with money
Most people have a terrible relationship with money. They despise it, hate it even. If only we lived in a world where people weren’t reliant on pesky little piece of paper, everyone could finally be free!
Well, firstly if you hold that fantasy in your head let me stop you right there. Our entire society is set up in a beautiful way in my opinion: you get rewarded for adding value to other people. That’s pretty much it. Money is merely a representation of that value. Without it, there would be no incentive for people to compete to bring others better, newer, more comfortable ways of living. We wouldn’t be incentivised to build better technology, find better cures, build greater cities, and the list goes on and on.
Now is this system without fault? Of course not! But how about instead of despising a system that works the vast majority of the time, let’s work with it.
The toxic relationship with money
Most people look at money as a means to an end. From my argument earlier, money is merely a representation of the value you add to other people, so the amount of money you can generate is infinite. Where most people go wrong is thinking that there isn’t enough to go around in the first place.
We can quite literally print as much money as we want. They money itself isn’t that valuable, but what it represents is.
Two phases of life
There are two distinct phases in life, and most people get stuck in the first. It starts off with you figuring out survival — make enough money to cover rent, food, shelter, etc. And then a bit of discretionary spending.
The second, more interesting phase, is when you have all the basics covered and you are allowed to pursue what you’re naturally inclined towards. You can finally do the things that make you feel alive, the things that make you excited to get up in the morning.
The way I look at it, the main reason you want to make money is freedom. You get to do whatever you want, whenever you want, and that is what you should aspire for.
Don’t wait till you’re old.
Another myth is the tale of “I’ll eventually retire and do whatever I want”.
Guess what? That time is never going to come. The way money works is, the more they print, the less value your money holds.
Does that mean your services are worth less? Of course not! But what that does mean is that your warchest isn’t going to be what it’s worth ten years from now.
So what do you gotta do? You hold assets! You buy things that can provide value to other people consistently, regardless of how pesky money is doing.
Inflation is coming for you? No problem! Just raise your prices to match the market and you’re golden.
You want to make a bit of money, invest in assets till they can give you the lifestyle you want to live, and ideally you want to do it before you are too old to do anything with the money.
If you just live paycheck-to-paycheck and put aside a little bit of money, that can be taken away from you or diluted at any time with little to no discretion.
Prioritise freedom
After you reach Phase 1, which is earlier than most people think, you need to start thinking about what it is that you were meant to do. What do you have to offer to the world that holds meaning to you and value to others? Find things that spark joy in you, and spend money on those things.
Save a little bit, sure. But you shouldn’t be saving with the hopes of “spending it all once I retire”. If anything, you should be working to retire.. like.. tomorrow, so you can do the things you love.
Whenever your plan starts with — first I’m gonna do A then B, in all likelihood B is never gonna happen. So you’re almost always just better off doing B directly.
It’s a tale of courage, not duty.
Most people are risk averse because they are comfortable. They lack the courage to pursue what is meaningful to them. Money should be an enabler of life, not something that prohibits it.
Most of the time when people are reluctant to pursue what they want (aka, transition to phase 2) they end up not taking the leap out of the fear of the unknown.
The truth is, the fear of staying where you are forever should scare you more, because that’s the path you’re on right now.
The shifts in mindsets
- Money is abundant
- Time is more valuable than money
- You can make your own luck
- You want to get rich asap by buying assets, not save up and (hopefully) spend it when I’m too old to walk straight
- Money is an enabler of life, not a restrictor
- The most valuable thing money can buy is time, followed by freedom
- You can only save and spend so much money, but you can earn infinitely
- You need less than you think to cover your living expenses
- Hedonism is an bottomless tarpit. Use that money toward your goals instead.
- Money solves money problems, and money problems are less problematic than you think.
