The Daily Meaning
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Choose Freedom
Today, we Americans celebrate July 4th, our Independence Day. It's always been one of my favorite holidays, as it represents the best of what summer has to offer. As I've gotten older and seen more of the world, the concept of freedom has also grown on my conscience. We often take it for granted, and shame on us for doing so.
Standard of Living vs. Quality of Life
One of my friends recently decided to downgrade his living situation. It was a difficult and humbling decision, but the right one for his current stage of life. In our discussion, he lamented how it's going to be hard having a lower standard of living. Reading between the lines, I could tell what he was really saying was that his life would inevitably become worse as a result of this decision. Embedded in his perspective is the belief that a higher standard of living increases happiness and a lower standard of living decreases happiness. While culture generally believes this to be true, I couldn't disagree more.
Unwinding Your Way to Contentment
The pursuit of more is a slippery slope. It starts innocent enough. We enter the real world and get our first place. We see how nice our friends’ place is, so we also get something nice. Maybe we’ve been driving a beater for a while, so we decide to get an upgrade. After all, we’ve been working hard and we’re finally making grown-up money. Then the new iPhone comes out and we realize ours is already a few years old……better get a new one. One small step, then another, then another.
Pile of Cash Test
Several years ago, I was meeting with a coaching client who wanted to buy a new vehicle. When the conversation heated up, it quickly went in the direction of buying a very nice, very new, $35,000 vehicle (this was back when $35,000 was a lot for a new vehicle). They were dead-set on using a car loan to make this happen.
Home
Well, we’re on our way home from Thailand and Qatar. A few hours ago, we began the long journey back to Iowa. It’s been a whirlwind of a trip. When I get back from these trips, people sometimes ask if I feel refreshed. Spiritually, absolutely! These trips always help me reframe my perspective and focus on what’s most important. But mentally and physically? No, I’m spent….the tanks are empty! In a lot of ways, my day-to-day life will be a slow-down from what we’ve been doing these past 10 days. Though these trips fill my tank to the brim, I’m always glad to be home. I’m excited to be home. I miss home.
Creating Margin for Impact
I talk a lot about the idea of creating margin in our finances. We do this to provide peace, flexibility, and contentment. However, there’s a piece missing from the typical narrative of margin. All these positive consequences of creating margin are about me, me, and me.
The Problem With More
We have a “more” problem in our culture. In nearly every facet of our lives, it becomes about having, getting, making, and doing more, more, and more. The problem with more is that every time we get more, more is still, well, more.
Self-Inflicted Wounds
It’s a practice as predictable as it is sad. We humans are really good at creating self-inflicted wounds in our financial lives. I’ll use an example
Too Much of a Good Thing
I get a massage once every six weeks or so. It’s absolutely wonderful!. I decided to prioritize this about 18 months ago, and I’m so glad I did. For me, this is an occasional luxury that adds richness to my life. There’s part of me that wishes I did it every week. But that very idea also brings to mind a concept I think about often. It’s possible to have too much of a good thing. Part of what makes this little luxury so enjoyable is the anticipation and the scarcity. If I did this every week, it would just become a normal ho-hum thing…..like brushing my teeth or taking a shower.
Cost vs. Value
I’ve had $5 meals that were a rip-off and $200 meals that were a bargain. It’s easy to look at those two prices and naturally assume it’s the other way around. After all, $5 isn’t much and $200 is far too much. However, we tend to look at just one side of the coin: cost. When assessing purchases in our lives, we need to look at both cost AND value. The cost matters, but the value is equally important. In order to determine if the cost is worth it, whether $5 or $200, we need to understand the value to us.
The Curse of Comparison
When I was growing up, the only Christmas I experienced was my own. I knew what it looked like in my home, and my friends theirs. Technology changed the game with the invention of social media. Maybe some of you are in the same camp, but I spent some time scrolling through Facebook and Instagram yesterday. Christmas post after Christmas post. And maybe some of you can also relate to having a multitude of feelings when seeing other people’s Christmas celebrations
Looking Down the Mountain
We just recorded our 107th and final Meaning Over Money podcast episode of the year. That’s two episodes per week plus three bonus episodes. After typing that number, even I second-guessed whether that’s true. 107? Wow! That’s more than 30 hours of finished product content. Did that really happen? How did that happen?!?
The Problem With More
“The problem with more is every time we get more, more is still more.”
- Travis Shelton
What is Enough?
A couple just told me $525,000 isn’t enough money to make ends meet in their town. They were dead serious. It took every ounce of me to keep my composure in that moment. As a point of reference, the median household income of their city is around $85,000. In other words, they make 6x the median income……and are whining about it not being enough to make ends meet. To further exemplify the absurdity of their statement, they are in the top 1% of ALL Americans. Yet, it’s “not enough.”
It's All Going to the Landfill
Nearly every possession you currently own will end up in a landfill before too long. It’s sad, but true. Even crazier is that some of our more expensive items (technology and clothing) will likely end up there in a matter of years.
The Power of Scarcity
I’m a World Cup fanatic. I don’t watch a lot of soccer year-round, but at the same time, I’m on record believing the World Cup is the greatest sporting event in the world. Country vs. country, so little margin for error, and billions of people watching. The stakes are so high. However, there’s one other ingredient that helps create World Cup magic. Scarcity. It only happens once every four years and only 32 countries qualify. In other words, it’s a huge deal!
Thankful For What We DO Have
The act of being thankful focuses our eyes on what we do have, not what we don’t have. When we’re thankful, we think of the friends and family we do have, not the ones we don’t have. When we’re thankful, we think of the job and opportunities we do have, not the ones we don’t have. When we’re thankful, we think of the house, vehicle, and possessions we do have, not the ones we don’t have. When we’re thankful, we think of the gifts, skills, and passions we do have, not the ones we don’t have.
If Only We Were Rich
Do you ever look around and notice people in your life who are rich? Man, if only we were rich like them! The things we could buy….the things we could do. Life would be so much better if we were rich. It must be nice to be rich like them…..
…..but then I take a step back and remember two things:
1) Having a $40,000/year income puts us in the top 1% income earners in the world.
2) Having just $5,000 to our name puts us in the top half of the richest people in the world.
