Rich and Miserable

If you’re an entrepreneur, and you likely are if you’re watching this, don’t prioritize making money over being happy. Money at the expense of pleasure is a wrong choice. It’s like having a giant toolbox full of all the best tools in the world, and list of dream projects, and never actually doing the projects because you’re afraid you’ll dull the tools.

What’s the point of having money if you’re never going to actually use it. What’s the point of having means, if you’re not going to go out and experience things now.

Spend your money. Now. And that is a very controversial view point. Have some of what you are chasing in your life now, or you’ll resent the work that you’re doing.

So, probably what you want is stability, savings, some of these things that come with having money. You want to have those things, but if that’s all you’re optimizing for, it’s likely you’re going to feel unsatisfied.

So don’t make things like stability and savings and investments as a reason not to enjoy your life now. Because let’s face it, you could get hit by a bus tomorrow. I know that’s kind of a heavy thing to say and maybe I shouldn’t be saying that, but the truth of the matter is you don’t know how long this game is going to last.

So if you’re not enjoying yourself now, you’ve got a problem. And what you want to do is build your life so you’re not this pressure cooker waiting for steam to release.

I was in Vegas recently, with thousands of entrepreneurs, and people are just getting buck wild. They’re going crazy. And it’s like, what is happening in your life that you have to go to vegas where everything that happens stays there, where you just have to get crazy?

Set up a life for yourself where that buckwhilin’ is built in. Where you’re enjoying yourself. So you don’t have to release all the pressure in Vegas when you go there for a conference.

The other thing is, figure out what you actually want. Once you’re taking home a hundred thousand, maybe a hundred and fifty thousand a year, in this society, in western society—where you likely live if you’re watching this—you don’t need much more money.

Money does not bring you happiness. To an extent it can bring you comfort. You likely have food and you likely have shelter. If you’ve got those two things, money is not going to do much more for you. It can bring you some comfort, it’s nice… But once you’re over one hundred thousand a year in this society, there’s not much more you can really buy. You can buy experiences and stuff like that.

But money is not actually going to get you anywhere. It’s a tool that you can use to create things in your life, but it’s not going to actually bring you the fulfillment you are chasing. So you might want to look at what you actually want, and why you want it, and then optimize toward having those things.

I am interested in wealth creation, obviously. I am interested in making money, I’m interested in supporting my community and doing things in this world that require more than a hundred thousand dollars a year. So I am very pro-creating a hundred thousand a year. I’m just saying, if you make a hundred, a couple hundred thousand a year, you have your necessities covered. And from there, it’s about how do you design your life so that you can be rich, and not miserable.

You’re being sold that you’re wrong, from every direction, everyone is telling you how you’re broken and how they can fix you. How you’re not tall enough, you’re not skinny enough and you don’t smell right. All these things about how you’re fucked up, and you’re not. You’re fine as you are. You don’t need to be fixed. And sure, you might want a nicer espresso machine, or whatever. That’s okay. You can have those things.

But it’s important that you look at what you want and why you want it. The goal here is not to change—I’m not trying to change you or tell you you’re wrong the way you are. I’m saying notice, and understand, the why behind your desires. And if you can do that, then you’ve got a better chance of actually getting these things, because you have an understanding of why you want them.

So some tips for how you can make things easier on yourself:
1. Don’t burn yourself out. I’m watching you work 15 hours a day, and that’s misguided. I have a post called Hustle. Grind. Sacrifice. It’s about what most people are doing—hustling, grinding, sacrificing, burning themselves into the ground. And it’s not about that. It’s about slow, steady pressure every day.
2. Move your body. Move your ass. Get up, and move around. You will feel better. It will help you in your life. You walk around the world in this thing. This is what you got! So make sure it feels good.

I want to make sure you end up rich AND happy. That you have wealth, and in the true sense of the word. Which is not just money. Wealth is health, it’s vitality, it’s pleasure, it’s relationships and intimacy. I want you to have wealth. And you will be sold that wealth means money, and I just want to dispel that myth. It’s not just about having money.

So, you heard it here first! I hope you enjoyed this video. Don’t be rich and miserable. Don’t burn yourself out. Don’t chase money for the sake of money. Take care of yourself, take care of you body, take care of your mental space, and have a good time. Ezra here from SmartMarketer.com. Catch you in the next one!