We are all told, explicitly or implicitly, that we should make money first and then live that lifestyle that we forever dreamed of.

On its surface it makes sense, we need money to live that lifestyle otherwise it's simply financially irresponsible. But with this mantra we end up slaving away our lives and never living that lifestyle, or even worse we retire early and have no idea what to do next.

Let's start with breaking down Money and Lifestyle:

💰 Why Make More Money?

“Money is numbers and numbers never end. If it takes money to be happy, your search for happiness will never end.” — Bob Marley.

We usually just want more money without thinking about what we really want money to do for us. At the end, money is a resource that enables things. It's an enabler. Also, money is a measure of time. We trade our time for money. We invest according to Time Value of Money. The question really is:

👉 What do we want to enable from our limited time?

🕺 Living That Lifestyle!

We confuse "lifestyle" with a luxurious lifestyle (thanks Instagram). A lifestyle need not always require a ton of money. We can scale down the luxuries and still enjoy a lifestyle. Living in a monastery is a lifestyle; suburban 9 to 5 is a lifestyle; van life is a lifestyle; nomadic is a lifestyle. Not just that it can be based on identity, sexual orientation, music, health, sports, etc. Of course, for an individual they merge and create a unique lifestyle.

Thanks to the options provided by open markets, any of these lifestyles can be explored/lived irrespective of the amount of money. Don't forget using social capital is also an option.

✨ Live that lifestyle first and then make money to make it better ✨

Step #1: Rethink your current lifestyle. Is it keeping you content?

Step #2: Figure out what different lifestyles you'd like to test.

Step #3: Use (or make) a minimum amount of money to test a few lifestyles that you're excited about.

Step #4: Creatively use that lifestyle to make money to permanently enable that minimum lifestyle.

Step #5: Keep creating within that lifestyle for a better one.

For example: If you want that farm life, start with working on a farm, then maybe write or teach about farming. The trick is that when we are using that lifestyle to make money it is organically motivating. The hope is the result is a more fulfilled life.