Money is a Means, Not an End
Some people spend their whole life trying to be rich. They spend 80 hours a week working a job they hate just to get every promotion. They want to live a lavish lifestyle filled with multiple houses, cars and a yacht. They think they need millions of dollars to make themselves happy. Well, they’re wrong.
"Money - beyond the bare minimum necessary for food and shelter (and I am not talking caviar and castles) - is nothing more than a means to an end. Yet so often we confuse means with ends and sacrifice happiness (end) for money (means)."
- Tal Ben-Shahar (Happier)
It doesn’t take any specific amount of money to be happy. All it takes to be happy is to change your mindset. When you realize that money is something that you can always have more or less of, you can recognize that money isn’t the end goal of life. Money is just a means of getting you to your other goals (ends). My goal is to spend my whole life being happy, not rich. To have a similar life goal, it only takes three steps.
3 Simple Steps to View Money as a Means
- Make a list of what REALLY matters to you in life.
- Recognize that none of them are money.
- Understand that money can only be a means to an end.
That’s it. That’s all it takes to stop living a life where your main concern is money. To live a life filled with more happiness and connections with other people, stop working the long hours in the office for a boss you can’t stand. To create a simple life filled with hobbies you enjoy and time spent changing the world, learn how to say no.
Stop being a slave to your paycheck, find what brings excitement to your life and do that.
"One day your life will flash before your eyes, make sure it is worth watching" - Anonymous
People always say “do what you love and the money will follow.” Does that mean if you like to color with crayons in a coloring book that you should quit your job and try to sell your “art” on eBay? No. Be realistic.
Put plans in place to explore your interests and see if you can start earning money with them. Build up multiple income streams doing what you love. If you follow your heart and start focusing on being happy, you won’t worry so much about money. Use the energy you would have spent worrying on the life you want and were meant to live.
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