Quick, fill in the blanks:"If I only had more money, I'd be able to ____________.""If I only had more time, then I could really ____________."What would YOU do if you only had more time and/or money?Upgrade your wardrobe?Read more books?Go back to school?Start a business?Pay off your credit card?Write your book?Visit your out-of-state family and friends more often?If you're like me, you can probably be think of 1,001 things you do if you had just a little bit more cushion in your schedule and your bank account.However, if you're like me, you'll also can probably admit that you tend to feel like you don't have enough regardless of how much time and money you have.When I was in college, I used to complain all the time that if I didn't have all these papers and stupid homework assignments to work on, and if I could just make and extra $20 or $30 a week at my part-time job, then I could do what I really wanted to do.But now that I'm out of college and I have a regular 9-5 job with a pretty good salary (and no term papers to write!), I STILL find myself saying "If I only had more money..." or "If I only had more time..."If I were a millionaire who worked for herself and could afford the personal chef, housekeeper, and all the other time-saving luxuries I (frequently) fantasize about deep down, I know I'd probably still be complaining about not having "enough".Well, I would have still been a complainer had I not discovered this time/money management secret I share with you in today's podcast. Check it out:
Podcast Summary
A few months ago I was rereading one of my favorite books ever, The Richest Man in Babylon. I like this book because even though I'm familiar with the principles, I always learn something new every time I read it. Written as a parable set in the ancient middle east, it is a personal finance book whose principles are cleverly weaved in the story of a young man seeking advice from...well, the richest man in Babylon.Everyday, this young man as well as other men from across the land come to sit before the richest man in Babylon and "pick his brain" on how to cure a "lean purse" (i.e. low bank account). The richest man in Babylon then shares with them 7 different "cures" to their financial woes over the course of several days.During this past re-reading, the second "cure" shared by the richest man in Babylon jumped out at me as the key to having both more money AND time.
The Secret to More Money AND Time
In the story, the richest man in Babylon talks about the virtues of a budget and how it's crucial for managing your money well. One of the men listening to this rich man scoffs at the advice, exclaiming that basically, he's a grown man, he deserves to enjoy the things he wants in life because he works hard, and he refuses to be restrained or limited by something as silly as a budget.The richest man in Babylon responds to him with this:
"The purpose of a budget is to help thy purse to fatten. It is to assist thee to have thy necessities and, insofar as attainable, thy other desires. It is to enable thee to realize thy most cherished desires by defending them from thy casual wishes. Like a bright light in a dark cave thy budget shows up the leaks from thy purse and enables thee to stop them and control thy expenditures for definite and gratifying purposes."
The part I bolded, "It is to enable thee to realize thy most cherished desires by defending them from thy casual wishes" is the part that hit me like a ton of bricks.For one, it doesn't matter how much money you have, you will ALWAYS want more than what's in your reach. If you were a millionaire and could afford a big sprawling mansion, you'd start saying to yourself that if you just had a few more million, then you could buy a second sprawling mansion in your dream location and "do what you really wanted to do."It's human nature. We always have our eyes on what we cannot yet attain. Case in point: you probably make more money now than you did 10 years ago, but you still feel as you did 10 years ago that how much you're making now is not enough.So how do we solve this? And what the heck does this have to do with having more time? Again, reread what "the richest man in Babylon" is telling us:
"Realize your most cherished desires by DEFENDING them from your casual wishes."
Do you understand the profoundness of the above advice? It does not matter HOW MUCH money (or time) you have -- you will ALWAYS want more than what you're bank account (or schedule) will reasonably allow. This is human nature.The key to having "enough" then, is not to run out and try and get more money and more time to cover everything you want, but to reign in everything you wantin DEFENSE of what you want MOST.
How to Have Enough
I 100% believe this is the underlying problem when most people complain about not having enough time or money. Like the man in the book who complained with the richest man in Babylon told him to get on a budget, we believe that we are entitled to have everything we want as soon as we want it.Now I'm not saying you shouldn't strive to get what you want (I did write a book teaching you how to do just that) but I'm trying to get you to realize that everything you want is not really "what you want." Most of the stuff we invest our time and money into are just CASUAL WISHES. Spur of the moment "wants". Fleeting desires. Then we look up and wonder why we don't have enough left over for what we want MOST.We've got it backwards. If you want more time and money, you need to start DEFENDING what you DO HAVE against all those casual, fleeting desires that, if constantly gratified, will STEAL your dreams.Do you want to go to brunch every weekend with your girlfriends or do you want to invest in your business?Do you want to stay decked out in full-priced, designer clothes or do you want to be a homeowner?Do you want to keep hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock or do you want to finally finish writing your book?
Getting What You Want
Sometimes I feel like a broken record because I keep saying this but it really all boils down to "what is it that you want???"We're all at the beginning of our journeys. Which means that as much as we'd like have enough time and money for every luxury in life AND the ability to cover our basic responsibilities, we are not yet at that point. We are not yet "ballin" in time or money right now.So with that in mind, it is crucial that you determine what you really want (not just what you "kinda" want) and organize your time and money around that.You want to start a business so that eventually, you can earn more money and have more time? Great - organize your MONEY and TIME around that and DEFEND that dream again anything that will get in the way.So when your girls call and ask you to join them on an expensive weekend getaway? Defend your dream.When your crazy aunt calls and wants you to sit on the phone with her for 2 hours so she can lament about her (ongoing) life drama? Defend your dream.When you're alarm clock goes off at 5:30am and you really want to sleep for another hour because you went to bed late the night before? DEFEND YOUR DREAM!If you get in the habit of, as the Richest Man in Babylon says, defending your most cherished desires against your casual wants and wishes, you will have enough time and money.How can I say that confidently? Because the more you invest your time and money in the right things, the more your time and money grows.For the full audio, please check out the podcast on iTunes and Soundcloud.[podcast]
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Want more help on making the most of your money and time? Check out these other posts:
How to Stop Wasting Money on Stuff You Don't Really Want
The 5 Step Guide to Facing Your Financial Fears
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