We often confuse money with our goals.

While at times the line is indeed blurry, by itself, money is not a goal. Money is a means to achieving our goals.

Let’s take a few statements to understand ‘money as a tool’:

1. I’ll become happy when I have a million dollars.
2. I want to be healthy. I’ll join a gym. To join one, I’ll need money.
3. I want to move away from my urban life and live in nature, far from the city. Let me buy a home someplace peaceful and rustic.
4. I need to educate my children. I will need to save money.
5. I need a relaxed retirement life. I’ll need to ensure I have money.
6. I want to be rich, so I can live my live without stress.

Figure out the goals in the above examples. You’ll see that money is a tool to enable some of your goals. You may want to keep in mind that money may not be the only way to achieve all of your goals.

Money is super important of course, but it’s not your goal. So make sure to distinguish😀

Money, Greed and The Need to Pause

To most of us, no amount of money is ever going to be enough. We keep on seeking more. The target just keeps shifting leading to a continuous state of distress and unhappiness.

We spend all of our time and energy, we give up simple joys of life, time for family and selves in the pursuit of happiness, i.e. money.  Our greed for money gets the better of us and our families. To make matters worse, we die in the end. It’s not even fair.😀

So what’s the point of it all? We don’t live our life and don’t carry money along either!

Hit Pause. Recalibrate. Rethink.

A possible way out of Greed?

1. Make a list of ‘what you really want out of life’ – your goals, that is.
2. Be wise.
3. Figure out the minimum & maximum amount of money you’d require to achieve your goal.
   • Example: if your goal is to settle in a distant, quite village, you can put a min value you’d require to buy a decent little house, and a max value required to buy a lavish one.
4. Figure out a Plan B – alternative ways to achieve your goals (if you don’t happen to make the money)
5. Go about your life keeping money targets in mind.
6. Live life focussing on needs rather than excessive wants.
7. If you hit your money target range, take a call on the specific goal.
8. If you don’t seem to be hitting your targets, relax. Put Plan B in action. Be objective.

All this while, just enjoy the journey. Don’t fret.

There’s no gold at the end of the rainbow. The gold is here and now, and if you’re enjoying this moment with yourself, your family & friends, and cherishing the challenges that life throws at you, it’s all that matters.

Each moment of your journey is the gold you’re seeking.

Enjoy the moments, and you’ll be rich.