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…
- Patient
- Disciplined
- Valuable
- Efficient
- Committed
- Innovative
- Proactive
- Purposeful
- 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
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
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