Say you have made your goals, and worked hard for years to finally reach them. Congratulations, you are a high earner that probably doesn’t have to spend too much time making it. Your future happiness is now assured, right?
Having Time AND Money
I’m certainly not trying to put a downer on your goals, but this is something to consider. Can you really handle having loads of time AND money? Very few people have both. Many have one or the other, and some don’t have either.
The thing about not having much time or money is that it can prevent you from getting into bad habits. With lots of time but little money, you can’t afford to drink loads, take drugs and party your life away. With loads of money you still can’t do these things to excess if you just don’t have the time.
The vast majority have time and money constraints on them which can help keep them out of trouble. Most of us, unless we were born in the aristocracy, will only know life within these constraints. Our parents and their parents probably only knew this lifestyle. It is likely that you will never have been passed down any advice from anyone who has experienced complete financial freedom.
Once you have financial independence, it is down to you. This I believe is why so many actors and musicians go off the rails. They have the time and money to do so. They can afford to have a $500 a day drug habit. With all their spare time they can become bored. With little financial constraints, temptations can become overwhelming.
You have the time and money to do whatever you want, of course still within your means. You can party every night if you want. What’s wrong with that? Nothing in the short term, but you can’t sustain this for ever. Eventually your health will decline, and your business may also start to fall apart.
Be The Boss Of Yourself
Instead of being a slave to a boss, you could instead end up being a slave to your bad habits. A slave to your own success. In order to lead a truly independent life, you MUST become your own boss. You must OWN your success. Somebody or something has to be your boss, so make it you.
Set yourself routines and tasks that keep you functioning and healthy. Mine for instance is going to the gym at 9am most days. This forces me not to stay up too late as I don’t want to be tired at the gym, and keeps me within a reasonable body clock routine. I may have the occasional late night, but this is generally the routine I stick to.
I’m quite lucky in that I have a friend who also makes his living from the internet. We go to the gym together, so it further pushes me to not miss a workout. But I would also feel bad if I didn’t go as I know how important it is for me. I can’t just stay caged up in my house all day.
If you like to drink alcohol, then it can be easy to slip into the habit of drinking every night. You don’t need to get up early for work, and you can afford to drink whatever you like. However your long term health cannot afford this, no matter how financially wealthy you are. If you want to drink, then set yourself some definite nights of the week that you won’t drink, and stick to them. Your liver will thank you for this! Also you will enjoy the days more that you do drink as it will be something to look forward to, rather than just part of your daily routine.
Another thing I have changed since becoming financially independent is my focus on food. I go to the supermarket far more often than I used to. This allows me to regularly buy fresher and healthier foods. It also gets me out the house! I put more effort into cooking healthier and more nutritious foods. I buy better quality foods. For example I recently switched to free range eggs. This all helps me to stay healthy and happy, as well as gives me something positive to do.
Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness
Also remember the cliché that money doesn’t buy happiness. Yes it can help you have some fantastic experiences in life that you couldn’t otherwise have. However the things that REALLY matter in your life have always been and always will be your family and friends. You can have all the money in the world, but if you have no one to share it with then life will become stale and boring. Do you really want to go on expensive luxury holidays on your own?
You still need to find time for people in your life, and care for them. That way they will care for you. Who knows what the future brings. The internet might not be running in the same form it is now in 10 years time. You may lose your financial independence. However you don’t have to lose your health and your loved ones too.
Boxer Mike Tyson made around $300 million dollars during his boxing career, yet he filed for bankruptcy in 2003, owing around $27 million. He was very successful in boxing, but was not successful in managing his personal and financial life. His turbulent lifestyle also seemed to impact on his boxing career as well. After all that hard work training for years, he has ended up $27 million poorer than your average homeless person!
If you are making a good living online, then it is a good idea to bear in mind that these earnings may not last forever. Pay yourself a wage that you can live comfortably on and save the rest. This will help constrain you a little financially so that you don’t spend loads of cash on unhealthy things. Also you will have a fund that you can use if something happens to your business, or to invest in other businesses.
Final Thoughts
If you are a successful internet marketer, then it is more important than ever to put the thought and effort into making sure you lead a happy and healthy life. It’s no good being successful with cash, but your life falling to pieces. You simply won’t get your money’s worth of happiness! You get out of life what you put into it. This applies to you personally as well as from a business perspective. Make sure you have a great life, as it might be the only one you will ever have. Live long and prosper!
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7 Responses to Can You Handle Money Success?
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My secret has always been not having time OR money. It allows me to live life free from the pressures of checking on my investments, or wondering what to do next. Instead, it’s just out of bed, and off to work. It’s liberating!
Fair enough Bax, if that works for you then totally go for it! It’s just goes to show how we are all different, and that completely different lifestyles can make different people feel liberated.
Jon,
Excellent post. I think you’ve nailed this down well. Money can’t buy happiness. If you have both money and time, unless you get involved with charitable causes, it’s difficult to fill the emptiness. And, that may be the reason why celebrities get into drug habit.
Thanks Shilpan. A good point you raise is about charitable causes. The celebs that get most involved with this do seem to be the ones that don’t go off the rails. I don’t really get that much involved in charities at the moment, but I do use my time to help my family quite a bit.
My father has always said that he has no interest in retiring, if only because he knows he tends to spend too much money when he has free time.
Handling a money success can sometimes be harder than a lack of money. I will try to save as much as I can, as I have gotten used to a high savings rate before I made the jump.
Great advice, you can have all the money in the world but if you don’t have the time then you don’t have anything.
With most things it is getting the balance right.