Your Money Or Your Life?

Written by Patrick Mathieu - 20 Comments
Categories: money and finance, philosophy

money-or-life.jpg
Image courtesy of Mugley.

Right now, the news coverage is overloaded with stories about the economy.  This is completely understandable, because recently there have been some very interesting developments in the global economy.  What’s unfortunate about the media coverage is that the majority of it is focused on trying to “make sense” of the current situation. Sadly, that approach just seems to be causing more and more confusion and panic. Personally, I believe in the concept that one should focus 10% on the problem and 90% on the solution.

Crystal Ball Gazing

We have “experts” looking at the past, comparing it to the current situation and then extrapolating what this will mean for the future.  I find this approach very interesting because almost every financial prospectus comes with the fine-print warning that past performance does not predict future results. Just because something happened in the 1930′s does not mean that it is directly relevant to our present-day situation.

Consider the Source

We have “experts” telling us what we absolutely must do in order to “survive”.  We are overloaded with advice about the survival of the global economy.  We are overloaded with advice about the survival of various national economies. And we are overloaded with advice about the survival of our own personal finances.  My question is: Are these different “experts” from the ones that were advising us before these interesting economic developments?  To my mind, financial “experts” are in the same league as weather “experts” and that is not meant to be a criticism of either group.

Anchoring Yourself in This Storm

Let me shift your focus for just a second.  I want you to think about the three happiest days of your life so far.  Take all the time you need to find the three that you would consider the “happiest”.  Have you got them?

For me, they would have to be…

Now I’d like you to immerse yourself in the feelings of your happy days.  Really try to relive them!  Remember the people that may have been there with you. Remember the sights, sounds, smells, conversations, and emotions.

Are you there?  Are you reliving those happy times? Good! Now… please tell me how much money you had in the bank on each of those days.

My guess is that you probably aren’t able to answer that question with any real certainty.

Our Relationship To Money

Yes, we need a certain amount of money to live.  However, we also need to remember some very important facts about life and our relationship to money.

  • You are not your bank account
  • You are not your credit score
  • You are not your mortgage rate
  • You are not your retirement savings balance
  • You are not the economy

Our Relationship to Life

If we can manage to pull ourselves away from the 7/24 news coverage and spend some quiet, reflective time, my guess is that we will come to realize some important truths about our relationship to life.

  • Your life is made up of “the good times” and for the most part, those good times have nothing to do with money
  • Your life is made up of the meaningful relationships you have
  • Your life is made up of the meaning you give to it and the significance you attach to it

Conclusion

We’ve probably all seen the bumper sticker that says: “He Who Dies With The Most Toys, Wins!”  The fact of the matter is that at the end of the day, “He” is still dead.  It’s not about the toys – it’s about the feelings we have while we’re alive.  As my children have taught me again and again: sometimes the best feelings don’t come from the cool toys, but from the cardboard box they came in.

Yes, the economy is doing some very unusual things.  Yes, that may end up having an impact on you and your family.  But I promise you that you will only feel helpless if you focus on the things over which you have no control.  My suggestion is that you use your power of focus to stay anchored in the present moment and to choose your reactions wisely – they make all the difference.

I now return you to round-the-clock coverage of the falling sky, already in progress.

Patrick Mathieu is a life coach for personal development.  He is also a motivational speaker and author and he has been featured on Oprah & Friends where he discussed his powerful Mortality Manifesto.

  • http://tecthought.wordpress.com Scott

    Great Post! This week, I had decided (as hard as it is) to stay away from the news media’s advice/comments/ramblings about the doom and gloom of our present economic times. I’m not worried about my 401K, how much more money I need, etc. I attribute the present to an economic “warm boot,” and eventually it will figure itself out.
    So far, I really don’t feel anything different, personally, than I did last year as far as this subject goes. I must say though, once it starts affecting me personally (job loss, foreclosure, etc.) things may change. Remains to be seen.
    Thanks!

  • http://matthewlang.co.uk Matthew Lang

    Superb post Patrick! I’ve forwarded it onto a couple of people. Hope it pays forward!

  • http://goodthoughts.abetterperson.com/2008/10/money-or-life/ Money or Life | Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds

    [...] is an absolutely marvellous post on the Pick the Brain blog. It is provocatively titled Your Money or Your Life and it simply asks the question, which is more [...]

  • http://financialphilosopher.typepad.com/thefinancialphilosopher/ Kent @ The Financial Philosopher

    Patrick:

    You have the proper perspective. In my “professional” life, I am an investment advisor and financial planner.

    As you may imagine, I have been in close contact with my clients over the past few weeks and my “advice” to them is to tune out the noise and tune into their lives.

    If our worry over money is causing significant stress, then the proper perspective will have an individual realize that their energy and value given to money is too high.

    Essentially, if you have health, food, clothing and shelter then the utility for money beyond that threshold should diminish tremendously, if not completely disappear…

    We should search for meaning in our lives — not meaning in our money…

    “Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.” ~ Viktor Frankl (1905-1997)

  • http://www.healthmoneysuccess.com Vincent

    Totally agree with Patrick. We should just stop worrying about things that we cannot control. Worrying about things that we cannot control just bring us more misery.

    Cheers
    Vincent
    Personal Development Blogger

  • http://islandinthenet.com Khurt

    Thank you!

  • http://www.mathieu.com Patrick Mathieu

    @Scott: “Economic warm boot” – I love that! You should trademark it.

  • http://www.mathieu.com Patrick Mathieu

    @Kent: If only ALL investors had an advisor/planner who was willing to admit that sometimes too much attention can be given to money! Bravo!

  • http://theuniverseas.com/archive/economics Alex M

    I haven’t been able to figure out if economic experts are just dumb, overly biased, or just purposely deceitful. But whatever they are, they aren’t much help because they never talk about the forbidden topic, which is the money system itself. That is what the real problem is: money is made out of debt and nothing else. At the beginning of this year, I started a series of illustrated articles on my site called “The Truth About Economics.” Anyone interested might want to check those out by clicking on my name above. Once a person understands how the monetary system works, nothing that happens economically is very surprising. And with knowledge comes calmness in the face of worry and fear.

  • http://www.How-To-Sell-Your-Home.ca Allan Todd

    An absolutely well thought out, well written article!

    One thing for sure, I have a lot more money now than on the occassions I looked back on! And besides, money was never a factor in that walk down memory lane.

    I remembered the feelings.

    The good feelings of times spent with children, friends, family, clients and associates. Some no longer with us.

    I choose to always remember the good times and as the line in the song, “The Way We Were” says: What’s too painful to remember, we simply choose to forget.

    In this way, I have conditioned myself to only remember the good!

    Thank you for writing and posting this beautiful piece!

  • http://tecthought.wordpress.com Scott

    Just remember…you heard it here first :)

  • http://yinvsyang.com PJ_Normz

    Without all the drama the news media creates, how could they possibly sell papers? The economy is bad, but the media would have you believe there was a food shortage or something. A quick trip to some other countries around the globe may give some of these media types an idea of what it means to really have nothing.

    Btw…great post :)

  • http://www.themillionairesecrets.net/ Shawn Lim

    Thanks for the great sharing.
    True enough, it doesn’t matter how long we live, what
    matter is how we live it.

    So live your life to the fullest while you can.
    In out lives, if you want to play the game and win, then
    you must play it full out. If you’re not putting
    100% into it, you’ll never feel satisfy about it.

    This is my first time here.
    And I’m coming back for more.

    Thanks again.
    Shawn
    Success Strategies:
    http://www.TheMillionaireSecrets.net/

  • http://www.themasterssecretkey.com candace

    Great post. There is a reason I stay away from the news.

  • http://www.mypoweroffocus.com Jennifer

    Hear Hear!
    Haven’t we had enough fear mongering yet?
    Just how afraid can we get before we shout “enough!” This is *my* life and I’m going to live it – not live in fear of it!
    And all those news reporters doing the chicken-little thing seem to have forgotten something – we’re all in the same boat.
    It could be one heck of a levelling, something none of us would necessarily choose for ourselves, but we’re all in this together.
    Let’s stick together and make the best of it!

  • http://abetterperson.com/abetterperson/2008/06/personal-core-values-your-key-to-success-and-happiness/ Personal Core Values: Your Key to Success and Happiness | A Better Person

    [...] Your Money Or Your Life [...]

  • http://www.powerofmortality.com/your-money-or-your-life » Your Money Or Your Life?

    [...] and self improvement website Pick The Brain.  You can read the article, which I titled “Your Money Or Your Life?“. Since I received such a strong reaction to the piece, I thought I would record an audio [...]

  • http://www.2knowmyself.com farouk

    i strongly agree, people become depressed when they associate their moods with their money and bank accounts

  • Ligykumar

    Nice patrick.You have shown the different perspective about the crisis and oppurtunity. Instead of worrying above the crisis better to concentrate on the solutions.

  • http://download-free-book.blogspot.com/ كتب تنمية بشرية مجانية

    thank you so much and cool job