Wealth and happiness

 We’re not among the super wealthy but certainly comfortable.

1. Worry. I went through a business bankruptcy when young that left me scarred and scared. In some ways, I’ve never gotten over it completely and still occasionally worry. We have enough wealth to live our life style for the rest of our lives. But when our investments are crashing I still sometimes get uneasy. I’m just glad we have plenty of margin.

2. Impressing. When I was young, occasionally, I’d try to impress a wealthy older friend with how much we had. And in comparison we had little. I remember they were never impressed or even noticed. Now I’m them and have no desire to impress others. And probably don’t notice the ones trying to impress me.

3. Work. I worked hard to build businesses and investments. Long hours which created stress and exhaustion. I dreamed of building our wealth until I could retire and relax. Now I could retire. But I enjoy running my business, helping others and still building wealth. So I still work but at a more comfortable pace and enjoy it.

4. Happiness. When I was young I dreamed I’d be happy if I had more wealth. So I sort of put off happiness. Then, along the way, I realized that was foolish. I was wasting my whole life waiting to find happiness. So I learned to be happy in the journey not just the destination. And I’m glad because, honestly, I’m happy now but not happier.

5. Contentment. When I was young I dreamed of being able to buy whatever I wanted. And occasionally bought more than we needed or really could afford. Now I can afford all that we need and most of what we want. Yet, I learned to be content along the way which helped us build wealth. And now I’m content not spending all of it.

Wealth is surprising. You dream it will solve all your problems. And then, hopefully while young, realize you had that power all along.

You can be happy and wealthy but only as you learn to be happy before being wealthy.

Life is Simple

At the core, life is extremely simple.

If you want to be happy then do what makes you happy.

If you want to be rich then do what makes you money.

And if you don’t do anything then you don’t get anything.

You either love someone or you don’t, either worked hard enough to achieve success or you didn’t and you are either proud of who you have become or you’re not.

That’s the “secret” to life and it’s all very simple.

The worst part about this is, that you know that this is true.

You know that if you just did the things you’ve been avoiding, the hard things, the uncomfortable ones, that your life would likely be far better!

You know that better than anyone, but keep avoiding it because you “missed too much” or “failed too often”; which is ultimately nothing more than pretty excuses.

The truth is you just want to avoid the discomfort of the action.

Something is keeping you from it, be it fear, discomfort or something else.

There is some story that you tell yourself that you believe that keeps you from doing that task.

You are not good enough, not smart enough, not disciplined enough. Life has been unkind to you, your parents prevent you from doing it or your situation does not allow for it.

You can make thousands of excuses and give even more reasons to why life is not that simple, but, in the end, it still is.

For if you just sat down and worked out, if you just worked harder or smarter, your life would be better. Period.

Now, if you do not know how to do it, then spend time figuring it out!

If you do not know what to do, then sit down and work on that.

But in the end it is all about doing the things you know you should.

That’s all it takes.

Stop making things so difficult for yourself, stop telling yourself the reasons that you cannot do it and find the reasons why you can do it or how you can.

Stop looking for ways out and find ways into the action.

Do more of what makes you happy and less of what makes you sad.

Do the things that progress your life and avoid the things that slow that progress down.

Surround yourself with people that make you feel amazing and drop the ones that don’t.

And get the things done that you know you need to to make your life better.

Life, at its core, is very simple. Don’t make it so complicated.