Photo: Galina Nelyubova
You can’t be the light of the world if you can’t pay your own light bill. – Michael Beckwith
Money matters. There’s no doubt about it.
Enough money in the bank and the ability to have what you want when you want it is extremely valuable. I have four kids that span a very wide age range. My first two children were raised with very different financial circumstances than my younger children. No one can deny the benefits of privilege afforded to my younger children. Less stress. More opportunities.
But the joy, peace, and satisfaction that human beings are deeply longing for will never come from money or external accomplishment. It’s a hamster wheel. The booby prize. It just doesn’t deliver as much value as we may think.
For many years, I led a community where I spoke and taught before thousands of people in small and large group settings multiple times a week. The beauty of that work was it attracted a spectrum of people from very different backgrounds.
After nearly a decade of teaching human beings the tools of transformation I can tell you unequivocally, no matter how much money you have, you still suffer from the same internal fears and insecurities as someone with much less.
As we have all heard before, money doesn’t buy happiness. Neither does accomplishment.
What school did you graduate from? What firm did you work for out of college? What organizations are you affiliated with? Where are you traveling next? What awards have you received? And on and on.
We are constantly measuring ourselves and one another based on external markers. We’re trained to see what we accumulate as the proverbial mountaintop. Imagine training for decades to get to the top of that mountain. You get there. You finally do it. And once you arrive you realize you’ve run out of water.
What really sustains you isn’t money, accomplishment, or notoriety. What sustains you is a deep satisfaction that comes from an intimate relationship with a greater sense of purpose, meaning, and belonging. And that doesn’t have to involve global impact; it may, but it doesn’t have to.
This is your life. Your parents are no longer in charge. It’s you. You get to design your life as you desire it to be.
Here are a handful of questions to consider asking yourself to determine what really matters to you:
- When do I feel the most lonely? Who am I with when I feel lonely? And is it at a specific time of day?
- What do I wish was different in my life right now?
- What do I believe will solve the discomfort I am currently experiencing?
- What am I doing when I experience the greatest joy, when I feel the most alive?
- Who do I enjoy spending time with the most? And what about that time really satisfies me?
- What are three gifts I bring to any project, group, or interaction that have me stand out and feel like a contribution?
Remain in regular relationship with the questions above. They serve as an incredible litmus test for satisfaction. The answers will indicate what needs to be tweaked or modified in your life. There is not a final destination. Life is iterative in nature. The human curriculum is designed to have you wake up to the joy, freedom, and love that is within you and always available to you.
If you’re an accomplished and successful human being that is ready to dig in more deeply then consider me your ally. If you’re ready to work with someone that will supercharge your sense of satisfaction, schedule a call with me so we can get you more of what you really want.
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