海角大神

Whenever I spend time thinking about my life, I get caught up in a lot of ideals. I think about writing a great novel. I think about some volunteer projects I鈥檇 like to work on. I think about the house I鈥檇 like to build and the great travel I鈥檇 love to do in the next ten or fifteen years. I think about my own physical fitness and I think about riding in .

These are wonderful dreams. I enjoy taking little steps toward them because, honestly, I usually enjoy the process.

Yet, when I step back and look at the broader scope of my life, that鈥檚 not what鈥檚 really important to me.

First and foremost, my family (and I consider my closest friends a part of that) is the single most important thing in my life. Bar none. Secondary to that is learning new things and, hand in hand with that, sharing what I鈥檝e learned.

Almost every other interest and passion I have in my life is secondary to those things.

I鈥檒l give you some examples to illustrate what I mean. Anyone who has read the site for very long knows that one of my favorite pastimes is playing board games and card games. I love playing games with other people across the table from me.

Yet, when I dig deep into it, it鈥檚 not really about the games. I do enjoy them, don鈥檛 get me wrong, but what I love about them is that it gets people I care about around a table engaging in a shared experience.

If you asked me what my favorite memories of board gaming are, they revolve around people. I think of playing Old Maid with my children. I think of playing Risk Legacy with my wife and three of my closest friends in the world. I think of sitting in my friend John鈥檚 living room, playing Descent with him and another of my closest friends.

Another great example comes from reading. If a friend or family member really enjoys a book, I鈥檒l almost always give it a read. Why? Beyond merely being a good book, it becomes a shared experience with that person.

So let鈥檚 bring this home: what does this have to do with personal finance?

Personal finance is all about goals. If you鈥檙e not selecting a goal 鈥� whether it be freedom from debt, saving for an abundant retirement at age 70, or something else entirely 鈥� you鈥檙e either already incredibly rich (and you probably got there due to goals) or you鈥檙e spinning your wheels. Progressing toward a better and more secure financial state is something that pretty much every reader of The Simple Dollar shares.

However, goals are useless if you don鈥檛 feel completely motivated to move forward with them. You might desire a change in your life, but unless you鈥檝e reached a point where that change feels vital to your future existence, it鈥檚 not going to happen. If you鈥檙e not getting out of bed with the feeling that today you鈥檙e going to move toward that goal, you鈥檙e probably not going to move toward that goal.

So, what is it that鈥檚 truly important to you? There is no right or wrong answer. It鈥檚 a matter of simply figuring out what鈥檚 truly important to you.

Here鈥檚 an example. I have a friend who dreams of being a sports announcer. He talks about it a fair amount. However, he also has a wife and a child at home. Recently, he told me that he thinks his sports announcing dreams are going to go on hold for a while. I asked him why, and he told me that chasing that dream requires a level of time and commitment that he can鈥檛 give to it right now. He had realized that his family was more important to him and he was sticking with the things that motivated him deeply every single day.

Does that mean that he鈥檚 abandoning the dream? Not entirely. Instead, he鈥檚 finding new ways to channel that passion that鈥檚 more in line with the rest of his family. He鈥檚 gotten involved with youth sports, assisting with the production of videos and other materials for other parents. This allows him to follow his passion while also being involved with his children. In fact, he鈥檚 starting a small video production company as a side business, where he creates professional videos highlighting a team and sells them for a reasonable fee. Several youth sports leagues are going to partner with him, so all he has to do is hire a few people to film the games, then edit them at home. He can film his own child鈥檚 games himself and involve the family in the production process at home.

Spending time with his family is the most important thing to him. Because of this activity, he鈥檚 spending time with them, earning some money on the side, and showing his children an entrepreneurial spirit along the way.

I can tell a very similar story about The Simple Dollar. My motivation to change my financial habits came from my oldest son. My motivation to write about it was many-fold: I enjoyed writing (value #2), I wanted to share some ideas with my friends and family (value #1), and I hoped to earn some money on the side to make our financial journey better (value #1), plus I would be able to involve my wife and my children in the process (value #1).

My dreams of making a living from writing didn鈥檛 start happening until I oriented them around what truly mattered to me. The same thing is true of my sports announcing friend.

So, what鈥檚 important to you? I think the easiest way to identify those core things that are important to you is to evaluate what you actually do over a long period of time. I鈥檇 focus on activities outside of the workplace, because we all need to earn a living, unless you鈥檙e already doing a job that鈥檚 key to what you value.

What do you spend your spare time on? I spend mine with my family and close friends as much as I can, and when I鈥檓 alone, I read and learn things. I bridge the two by finding ways to express what I鈥檝e learned. This is what I enjoy doing.

My personal finance success came entirely from those things. My family inspired me to make changes with my money. My desire to read and learn educated me on how to do it. My desire to share what I learned launched The Simple Dollar.

You can follow a similar path with what you value the most. The key thing is to always remember that, no matter what your goals are, a solid personal finance foundation makes it all much, much easier to achieve.