Q&A: “If you had unlimited time and money, what would you do?”

Wait — before you brush this question off, you should know there’s a lot riding on your answer.

On the one hand, this question can be a powerful motivational tool for creating change in your life…

And on the other it can be a reality check that you’re wasting your time and money on exactly the wrong things.

Whether you’re a business owner or you’re working a job you don’t really like, how you choose to answer this question can unlock one of the most important secrets to living a more joyful life.

Let me explain:

My answer is simple: I would do everything I’m doing right now.

And if your answer to this question is different, stop whatever you’re doing and go do something you actually enjoy.

Because honestly, I kind of do have unlimited time and money in a way, right?

Sure, I’m not as rich as many people, but I have enough money to do the things I want to do and the freedom to choose how I spend my time. I’ve built a life that I love. I love my businesses. I love my community. I love where I live. I love my relationship with my wife. I love my hobbies…

I’m living the life I want to live, and I’m doing it right now.

So as I make more money, I plan on using it to do more of what I’m already doing.

If you’re in a spot where you’re working a job you don’t like…

Then it’s possible to use that pain to help motivate you to make some changes. Ten years ago that led me to start moonlighting as an entrepreneur after my day job.

I wanted to build something that gave me more financial stability, so I could put my energy and attention into the things I actually enjoy.

A lot of people get started that way. Ultimately, people who become entrepreneurs are chasing some form of freedom. It might be financial freedom, freedom of how they spend their time, freedom to live and work where they choose…

They want something more in life.

I’m not building wealth for the sake of building wealth.

For me, I have the goal of generating more wealth because wealth is a resource that I can direct toward causes I find noble.

Doing the things I want to do in the world — whether it’s helping to conserve land, supporting my community or taking care of my family, they all require resource. I’m not building wealth for the sake of building wealth or because it makes me look a certain way in the eyes of my peers.

I don’t care about that. I’m using the money I have in the way I want to be using it, and I don’t have a desire for more than I currently have.

[I just released a new post on examining your motivating factors. You should watch it next: Internal vs. External Motivation (How I See It).]

The secret in life is enjoying what you have.

The way to have more in life is to enjoy what you already have.

It is a far, far greater skill to have the ability to enjoy what you have than to have the ability to get what you want.

Because in the first case, the things you want become the things you have; while in the second, if you don’t know how to enjoy what you’ve got then what’s the point of getting what you want?

Enjoying what you have is the secret in life. Whatever you’re doing — approve of it, enjoy it, and it gets better.

Want more joy from your career?

Molly Pittman’s new book Click Happy will help you make the transition from wherever you are right now into a thriving career in digital marketing.

Armed with this knowledge, you will become a far more valuable asset to any business you choose to work with — whether you join an established team or strike out on your own.

So if you’re bored, or burnt out, or if you just know in your bones that it’s time for a change… this book is for you!