The amount of free financial resources available to you and I today is literally mind boggling when you stop to think about it. There a literally hundreds of free personal financial blogs that offer some of the most useful personal finance articles. Most of these blogs teach the basic concepts of how to get out of debt, budgeting and planning for retirement. I am very thankful for them as they provide us with the concepts and principals to reach financially independence, however it is that you define it.
Have you ever asked yourself, “What’s the point?” Or, even more importantly, have you ever asked yourself what your most important financial goal or principal is? Sure, you could say becoming wealthy, being debt-free, saving for retirement and so on. But those answers don’t really answer the question, “What are you doing all of this for in the first place?”
I appreciate all of the previously mentioned concepts. Yet, there is something else, even more important that I have only recently begun to realize in the last year or so. When you understand this concept, all of the other concepts begin to work and until you implement it, none of them will work. You’ll just get started and then eventually quit. How many times have you started something only to drop it or forget “why” you started in the first place? It’s probably because you didn’t understand what doing it could do for you in the first place.
When you plant this concept within yourself, things like saving money become easy, getting out of debt happens quickly and you find that you learn how to get money working for you versus seeing money as a constant struggle.
Contentment
Contentment brings peace of mind. Contentment means not being so stressed out that you forget what you’re living and working for in the first place. Only contentment makes it all worth it. Let’s be honest, motivation and passion are overrated. Not that they aren’t important, because they are. But if you don’t know why you’re doing something, all the motivation in the world won’t sustain you to completion. To be clear, you have to have discipline, motivation and a work ethic to reach success. And you have to be passionate about what you are doing. But first you have to know why you’re doing it. And, I think that deep down, we all want to be content.
Contentment is the mental space you want to get to right away. It is the opposite of chasing your tail, running in circles and being so stressed out that you can’t sleep at night. We live in the most marketed to society in the world and that does anything but cause contentment. It makes many of us think “I’ll be happy when I get this car or this house.” Or, that “I’ll be happy when I have $1 million in the bank or my 401k.” But it just doesn’t work that way for there is always the next thing and the next and the next. Or, or, or….
The human spirit was not created to gain contentment, peace of mind or happiness by gathering more stuff. This is one of the biggest lies we all suffer from. You can get out of debt, make more money and save a million dollars but until you understand that these things alone do not bring you peace of mind/contentment, money will always feel stressful. I believe this because I know people who earn $30,000 per year who are much more content than people I know who are making $300,000 or even $3 million per year.
Do you know what makes you content? Or, are you just chasing a number? Change your focus and change your life for the better.
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Mike,
This represents the height of wisdom. When I see Buddhists calmly going about their day in Dharamsala, I see that success may not be what we think it is. You’re right when you say: “Let’s be honest, motivation and passion are overrated.”
I can see how people could take that the wrong way, and you clarified what you meant by it, but as soon as I read it, it hit home for me. At what point do we say, “I did it. I have everything I want.” Few people ever reach that stage. It’s as elusive as enlightenment. I’m closer to that now, than I’ve ever been at any point in my life. After getting cancer last year, it reinforced it even further. True success has little to do with money. It has to do with how we feel inside. Great post! Everyone, I’m sure, will interpret your words in their own way. And that’s what makes them great!
Is it possible to reaech that point? I don’t know. It might be the Buddhist equivalent of Nirvana. Nonetheless, the journey there is what makes things exciting. The question is if the destination is one that will truly bring contentment, or only one that you believe will bring satisfaction, but once you get there, it vanishes.
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Sure, I believe it is; but let me clarify. I’m not talking about chasing money, a “destination’ or wanting more stuff’. I agree that when we do that, we get there feel “happy” for a bit and it vanishes. Often times (and in my past) I’ve seen people talk about wanting to reach that destination and then they will be happy/content. The saying goes “When I get the new house, car, spouse, I’ll be happy.” That leads to one chasing their tail. I believe you can wake up tomorrow and be content but you have to define that and know what it means to you. Not what I, society or someone else says should be important for you. Do it in your own terms and about things that are most valuable to you.
Hey Andrew,
First, thanks for the comment. Ah, you see? For so long I was chasing “success” based on a destination or monetary achievement. And let me just say that 1) I like nice stuff 2) I believe that from a planning standpoint, you have to have a formula per se. Or, you’ve got to know your number. But I think that I’ve learned that my most valuable asset is my time and what I do with it vs. wanting wanting and wanting more more more. That is a never ending game and as you allude to at what point do you ever get there? But if you can understand what it is that makes you content, why wait until you reach 65? I had to do some soul searching on this because what really makes me content.
It was this video that got my attention http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u20vVbhpM50&feature=player_embedded
Yes, it is an individual thing and the goal is to get people to stop and think.
Very interesting thoughts on reaching happiness and contentment. You are right being a number cruncher is probably not the best way to reach happiness, because a number might never be enough! However, I don’t agree with your thoughts of reaching contentment, and passion/motivation being overrated. I feel that without passion and motivation it’s really hard to reach any goals. I have been saving for a couple years to start my investing portfolio, and just opened a MMA account with Aurora Bank and could not be happier with that aggressive goal that I set myself and was able to accomplish This accomplishment has motivated me to work harder to achieve harder goals. Otherwise, how will life be interesting with no challenges?
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for your comment. On passion and motivation, let me clarify. I mentioned that they ARE very important yet if we don’t understand why we are doing something (defined in our own terms, versus chasing a material item) the passion and motivation fades away. How many times do people not follow through on their goals? This is why gyms across the country are busiest in the months of Jan and February and then less so as the year goes on. People don’t keep their commitment to their goals because they aren’t aware of what will make them content. So, I just think it’s important to know what is most important to you upfront. It sounds like you are taking action and making progress!!