• “He might be rich, but he may not be happy.”
• “What’s the use of having a lot of money if you have no life?”
• “I have to backstab and play politics, which I don’t like, but I have to do this for my career and wealth.”
• “She may be rich and powerful but no man would want her!”
• “I value my health. I won’t destroy it just for money.”
• … and gazillion other examples.

Oh well geez. Set a higher standard for yourself, will ya? How about aiming to become rich AND happy? How about aiming to have lots of money AND lots of life? Let’s see, Donald Trump. Richard Branson. Heck, Hugh Hefner! Just 3 guys who have more money than 99.999% of the Internet users (including me), and have more “happening” lives than 99.9999999% of the Internet users (definitely including me). How about becoming rich AND healthy? 

It’s weird. People have no problem imagining happy AND healthy. People have no problem imagining “having a life” (whatever that means), AND keeping one’s health. People have no problem imagining being a super backstabber in the office AND being a loving mother at home. 

But throw MONEY into the equation, and suddenly everything is flipped from “AND” to “EITHER/OR”. Suddenly you can’t have money AND be healthy. You can’t have money AND have a life. You can only pick one! Something is really screwed up with our social programming, I think.

I say that setting our expectation on “either/or” is really shortchanging ourselves.

Imagine what will happen if a guy has the belief that to become rich, one MUST be a mean backstabbing machine? In the end either we’ll get (a) a guy who’s rich but hated by everybody because he backstabs his way to the top, or (b) a nice guy who never becomes rich because he doesn’t want to be a backstabber. I have to admit that as long as the guy is not me, I prefer option (b). But he’s really shortchanging himself, don’t you think?  

IMHO, it’s really important to start with the right mindset. Wealth? Happiness? Heck. Go for both!

(Image courtesy of That Guy Who’s Going Places @ flickr)

“Some 21 percent of those with salaries of $100,000 or more say they are living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent survey conducted by CareerBuilder.com.”

Amazing isn’t it? I still remember when I broke the S$100k p.a. for the first time. I was super ecstatic. I know, it’s in Singapore dollars, so it’s less than US$100k, but hey, S$100k is a lot of money in Singapore as well! My savings actually jumped quite significantly when it happened. No doubt that the rising prices add to the pressure and reduce the general savings rate, but one will be in red if she has nothing to save in the first place!

“The amount of money Americans save has been declining for decades. Most recently, the personal savings rate was 1.2 percent of after-tax income, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. A couple years ago, the rate was actually negative, meaning consumers were dipping into savings to cover expenses.”

Time to tighten the belt!

I wish I had found this site before I wrote this post and this page, which, in retrospect, aren’t really accurate. After including my mortgage, my net worth isn’t really that big actually… it’s even negative! :-S I’m gonna update the net worth page tomorrow to point to my Networth IQ page instead.

(UPDATE: Wrong. My net worth is not negative. It’s actually way positive, because I didn’t include in the calculation the house I currently live in.)

It’s really inspiring to see how people in my age group and income bracket can have such high net worth. I’m hoping to learn a thing or two from them! 

And if you’re going there, please drop by and say hi! Here’s my public profile: http://www.networthiq.com/people/5m10y

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.

1. I won’t forget things that matter in my quest for 5 million dollars. Like Suze Orman says: “People first, then money, then things.”
2. I will work to eliminate any negative associations I have with money, if any.
3. 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.

Specific: I want to build a net worth of 5 million dollars, within a decade.

Measurable: The objective is achieved when I have built a net worth of 5 million dollars. That translates to about USD3.5 million with the current exchange rate.

Achievable: Achievable as in people have done it, yes. Achievable as in I know how to get there, not yet But this is the whole point of this project.

Realistic: Sure. A lot of people have done it. Those investment bankers, getting paid a million a year, they’ll break through this goal like it’s nothing. Others have done it too using a different way.

Time-bound: 10 years.

Exciting: You bet it is!

Relevant for me: Definitely. There are so many reasons why I want to do this.