In Pursuit of A Rich Life.
“I’d like to live as a poor man with lots of money.”-Pablo Picasso
What is a Rich Life?
To tackle this question let’s look at different aspects of our life. Starting with food, shelter, clothes, education, travel, money, relationship, time and so on.
It turns out, My rich life is very different from Your Rich life, & Your Rich life is very different from My Rich life.
For you, it might be a comfortable car, great. For me, it’s hiking, still great. For you, it might be designer clothes, Lovely. For me, it’s new shoes, super lovely.
Instead of wee topics, I found the better question to ask ourselves would be, “What is a Rich Life for me?”, “What kind of a Rich life I want to live?”, “Where do I want to spend my money?”. Let’s start our journey with exciting questions.
But before we take our journey, I would request you to take our critic’s glasses off. Instead of telling, “Oh, It’s a waste of money”. Let’s be curious to find why some people spend 1500$ on a First class seat, and some people spend 200$ on an economy seat, even though both are heading to the same destination.
Let’s ask ourselves, “Why some people spend thousands of dollars for a dental check-up and some people never check their teeth?”.
Note: In no matter or form I am denying money in a rich life. Money is the most crucial part of a Rich Life. But remember it is a “part” of a Rich Life. I do not want to mislead you into thinking money doesn’t matter. It does matter. So educate yourself about personal finance. Here is a CEO strategy by Ramit Sethi: Cut Cost, Earn more & Optimise Expense.
Without a doubt, Money is the first and the most important aspect of a rich life. But be careful It’s a “part” of a Rich Life. God, I can’t tell you how irresponsible I was about my finance a year ago. I took my finance for granted. I always had sufficient money with me, until my recent start-up failure. I got shocked by my bills. This was an eye-opener for me. I became more aware of how my cash is flowing.
Through this insight, I found 2 most important questions, they are:
1: What do I want to spend my money on? (Being Generous)
2: What do I want to cut my money on? (Being Merciless)
What do I want to spend my money on?
I have always been told to earn more & spend less. I have been trained not to spend on unnecessary things. But what are these “unnecessary” things?
At the moment of purchase, I think it is a “necessary” thing. But later I realize I didn’t really need it.
The idea is to provoke a simple Question: What are my priorities? What do I want to spend my money on?
For me, my priority is Health. I love fresh fruits, radiant fruits. If I ever see a new fruit. I am gonna buy it irrespective of the cost or taste. I love books, If I ever see an interesting book I am gonna buy it on the spot.
Now, this may not be your priority, so Find what matters to you and spend lavishly on it.
Now, this is a different paradigm. We want ourselves to be excited about where we want to spend our money on?
It was a eureka moment when I realized, I was never taught to spend my money. Isn’t it weird? We are taught to earn or manage but never taught to spend.
What do I want to cut my money on?
Here’s the catch. Spend 0$ on things that do not matter to you. This is the part where you need to be merciless. But how do we know, what doesn’t matter to us?
Before answering this question let me tell you this, Creating a budget doesn’t work. I hate it because it makes me afraid of spending. I love spending on things I like. Instead of letting our voice tell, “Oh I shouldn’t have brought it.”. Tell yourself, “I brought this because I Love it. I am responsible for this spending.”
Now, how do we know, what doesn’t matter to us? Simple. Review your previous bills, but don’t judge your spending. Review it and observe which aspects you have to spend, which aspects you love spending & which aspects you don’t have to spend.
Once you figured these sections. Don’t touch the section you love spending. Take the two columns and decide. Either I am gonna negotiate the price or I am gonna cut it out of my spending ritual. This is where you become merciless. Spending nothing.
BONUS:
Here’s a mind-blowing perspective on winning your rich Life. Focus on your big wins. Look at the biggest expense of your life. For me, it is College tuition and Car. I gave my best to receive scholarships and brought a decent car that I could afford without any debt.
Now I don’t have to waste my time and energy deciding on having my lattes. If I like it I am gonna purchase it, Because I won my biggest expense. I am still improving on generating more income, optimizing my finance and automating my savings.
I understand it’s the same cliche advice. But trust me it’s a fun and exciting venture on its own.
Now tell me, What is your Rich life?
