Cabbage. Cheddar. Bread. I’m not talking about the ingredients for a deli sandwich, I’m talking about money. Moolah. Benjamin’s. Cha-Ching. You get the idea. Money is SUCH a loaded topic for most people. Unless you grew up in a self-sustaining commune completely removed from civilization, you’ve been being programmed with ideas and beliefs around money and probably didn't even know it. Take a second to think about the gems we’ve all heard repeatedly: Money doesn't grow on trees. Money is the root of all evil. More money, more problems. Money makes the world go 'round. I could go on and on. Whatever programming exists in your inner matrix, whether it’s money is something to fear or money is the only reason for living, one thing is simply true: Money is a resource that makes other things possible.
So if you've got some not-so-great patterns about money kicking around in your inner matrix, let’s get those tuned up by looking at money from a different perspective. When I ask people, what do you want around money and wealth in 20 years, most will focus on an amount of money—how much they have in the bank, their net worth, their cash flow. These are important numbers to name and put energy toward, but for the moment let’s put aside numbers and budgets and spreadsheets, and let’s think about money more as one of the tools we can use to create a life of our own design.
We spend so much time focusing on that big number we want to see on the bank statement, now’s the time to ask the question, why? Why am I working so hard for all those zeros in the first place? 20 years from now, what will that wealth mean? Why do I want it? What will it make possible for me? To answer those questions, you’ve got to get clear on lifestyle: What's important to you? How do you want to live? This is where you can have some fun. Free up the mind, let the imagination do its thing.
Maybe your vision is all about opulence. A new construction house with all the amenities. A collection of fine art. Luxury cars. Vacationing on private jets to 4-star hotels. I mean, if living the high life is your thing, then make the sky the limit. Don’t hold back. If you’ve always dreamed of cannonballing into a swimming pool filled with hundred dollar bills, I’d probably counsel you to make a different choice, but hey, you do you. The point is, now’s the time to put everything on the table. Figuring out how you’re actually going to make those things happen comes later.
Maybe you want to create a life around health and fitness. A home gym. A lap pool. A private trainer. Eating organic, farm-to-table food. Leveraging regenerative medicines and concierge medical care. Traveling to wellness retreats. Monthly visits to the spa. Again, take it as far as you want. If Elon Musk handed you his credit card and said, go sick, what would you use that to create? Because we have to know where we want to end up in order to start drawing the map that will get us there.
Or maybe your idea of bliss is creating awesome experiences for your family. Traveling Europe. Backpacking through the Sierras. Snow skiing in Aspen. A big swimming pool in the backyard with a swirly water slide. You want to host all the holidays and family reunions and BBQ’s with fireworks and egg tosses and face painters and cowboys that make balloon animals. Why not make a list of all the experiences and adventures you want to share with your family? Kalamazoo to Timbuktu, put it all down. Because that’s going to guide the way you create, build, and manage your wealth.
Look, there are no right or wrong answers here. Wanting luxurious things doesn't make you evil. Not wanting them doesn't mean anything is wrong with you. The important piece is to explore and name for yourself what's important to you and how you want to live, and then put a price tag on it. A million bucks? 10? When you put a number on it, you can look at it objectively and say, okay, the lifestyle that's important to me 20 years from now is going to cost me X dollars per year. What kind of wealth do I need to build in order to make sure that lifestyle is covered? And that's it. We’re not talking rocket science here. Once you name what you want and commit to it fully, it's just a matter of simple math.
Now when you’re looking at that big number, it might seem a little daunting. How am I actually supposed to make that happen? That’s where our benchmarking comes in. If it makes you feel good, take that big number, write it down on a piece of paper, and stick it on the wall. That’s where you’re going. But in the meantime, you’re going to break it up into bite-sized pieces. 1, 3, and 5 year benchmarks. Every year, you’ll check in on your progress, and restate your marks according to that progress. But for now, you get hyper-focused on that first 1-year mark. Create your action plan. And get to work!
But remember, it all begins with what's important to you, what you want to create. Money is just a vehicle for getting there. Money’s not good or bad. It’s not out to get you. It’s also not there to save you. If you’re struggling in life, in any aspect of life, throwing money at your problems won’t make them go away. At best, it will just make those problems more complicated. Instead, we need to get clear on what we want our lives to look like. What’s it going to take to get us there? What’s the number? Because money is just an idea, right? This ethereal thing that taunts us or scares us or excites us. But a number is a thing. It’s real. It can be quantified and manipulated and calculated. We can work with a number.
So whether the thought of money puts a knot in your stomach or a smile on your face, take a minute to ask yourself, what’s important to me? How do I want to spend the time I have in this life? Then orient your perspective on money and wealth around how to use it as a tool for creating that life. And this is where I say, join us for a Power Series weekend and start exploring your relationship with money, and develop new tools, techniques, and strategies for creating a vision and developing the resources you’ll need to get there. Click HERE to learn more and sign up today!