“Why Are You So Obsessed With Money?”
… asked a friend of mine when I told her about this project. My answer was, “Huh?”
I don’t get the way some people treat money. Especially her, considering that her Dad is a business tycoon. I would’ve expected somebody growing in an opulent household like her to have a more positive attitude towards money, no?
After all, if my project were not “5 Million Dollars in 10 Years”, but “Run Marathon in 2 Years”, I don’t think people would ask “Why are you so obsessed with running?”
If my project were “Eat healthy and exercise every day”, I don’t think people would ask “Why are you so obsessed with health?”
If my project were “Get a girlfriend by next Valentine” (hypothetical project, I’m married!), I don’t think people would ask “Why are you so obsessed with women?”
Strange, huh? Insert “money” somewhere within your objective, and people start thinking of you as obsessed, greedy, materialistic,and a lot of other evil stuff. Start discussing a rich man with your friends, an invariably, what’s the first thing that comes up?
“Just because he’s rich doesn’t mean he’s happy.”
Geez.
It’s like the moment we see a rich guy we have to dream up an imaginary excuse just to make us feel better about ourselves. He may not be happy. He may not have a life outside work. He may not save all those money so his net worth is actually very small–if he loses his income today he’ll be very poor soon, and all other gazillion reasons to convince ourselves that while he kicks our ass in terms of wealth, we still kick his ass in SOMETHING.
Not surprisingly people who do this won’t become rich anytime soon. They associate so many negative things with money! What do you think will happen when these people suddenly have a lot of money on their laps?
Well, in that case we’ll see lottery winners who squander everything in months and end up poorer than before.
What do you think will happen when these people suddenly have an opportunity to generate a lot more money than what they earn?
I see these people all the time.
“Nahhh, I want to have a life.”
“Not yet lah, I’m still fixing my life…”
And gazillion other reasons.
Promises, promises
I promise to myself 3 things today.
- I won’t forget things that matter in my quest for 5 million dollars. Like Suze Orman says: “People first, then money, then things.”
- I will work to eliminate any negative associations I have with money, if any.
- I will look at a rich person with the attitude to learn, and figure out how they get there. I will not cook up stupid imaginary reasons on why he may not be happy, or that his life must be imperfect in some ways, etc., etc.