The Pursuit of Money, What’s the Purpose?

by RJ

in Psychology

A man I know just completed an Ultramarathon. That’s 100 miles for those counting at home.

When I heard about his training, I was curious as to why someone would want to go through this. Isn’t running 26.5 miles crazy enough? More importantly, how can running that far be good for your body?

I overheard him say that, “Running 100 miles is by no means good for your body. I didn’t do this to get in shape. I did it because I’m a different person now that I was at the beginning of training.”

Even though I still wonder why anyone would want to run 100 miles to become a better person, I thought what he said had a lot in common about the pursuit of wealth. Specially, the goal isn’t to acquire wealth so you can check a goal off of your bucket list. Instead, one should pursue wealth for the person it allows  them become.

What kind of person becomes a millionaire? A person who is…

  1. Patient
  2. Disciplined
  3. Valuable
  4. Efficient
  5. Committed
  6. Innovative
  7. Proactive
  8. Purposeful
  9. Honorable

Money is Easy to Measure

I’m always looking for ways to track my life. When I start tracking something meaningful, 100% of the time I improve in that area.

I look at net worth and wealth, as not only a way to track my finances but also my  personal development. If my net worth went down, where did I go wrong? Did I not provide enough value? Was I not disciplined? Was I not productive in my work?

If my net worth went up, I want to know what I did right. Did I provide a lot of value? Was I innovative? Did I go about my life with a purpose?

On the first day of some month in the future, I’m going to be calculating my net worth in a spreadsheet and the total is going to read $1,000,000. When that day comes, I’m not going to be thinking about what I can now do with $1,000,000 that I couldn’t do yesterday. I’m going to think about what it took to get there. As Zig Ziglar says, “Don’t pay the price. Enjoy the price.”

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Photo by: Radar Communication

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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

Pat S.No Gravatar January 26, 2011 at 4:35 pm

Pursuing financial security really is about the journey, not the destination. Wealth is not a number, but the ability to maintain a current style of living without additional work. It is about not being a slave to your creditors, and being able to pursue your passions and dreams. An arbitrary number doesn’t always provide this kind of security. Someone may have a million dollars in saving, and a million dollars per year in expenses. In that case, I wouldn’t define that person as wealthy, but someone with 500K in savings and 25K a year in expenses could live for 20 years on their savings!
Pat
http://compoundingreturns.blogspot.com

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