Do not make getting rich the primary goal in your life. Money should not be the goal in itself but rather the biproduct of a goal or the tool used for reaching that goal. A life based on only earning money will not bring happiness. Career choices, love and lifestyle should not be solely based on whatever brings in the most money. Maintaining a balance should be the priority. Do you wish getting rich of a job that makes you unhappy? Be together with someone you have no feelings for just because they have money? Or perhaps get rich by sacrificing your health which makes you sick, gives you bad life quality and may shorten your lifespan?
Choosing a goal in life can be hard, and in contrast it is easy to say that your goal is to become rich. What is a good goal and what do it mean that money is nothing but a byproduct of your goal? Let us examine a typical example of a career driven goal.
If you choose to dedicate your time to technology and specialize on discipline within computing, you will after a time become an expert. You will change jobs to find new challenges, become an attractive consultant in you field and make good money on whatever you like to do. You can then demand a higher payroll and climb the corporate ladder. The consequence of this is that you only work for your payroll and only do what you must do. While the real rich people in the world is the people that does not work on a payroll, they do what they love and they would event do it for free. Their goal is not a high payroll, the money they earn are just a consequence of the work they do.
Instead of your goal in life is economic freedom, to escape the workplace, to be your own boss. In this case the money is just a tool to get to freedom but it is not the final goal. You will have to think past the money and know how to create cashflows, how to employ money and get it to work for you. How can you create your own work? How do you become an investor or an Entrepreneur ?
Lay your thoughts about becoming rich aside, instead let becoming a millionaire just be a consequence of your goals and concentrate on what you want to do in your life. If you are walking on the wrong path do not turn around immediately, in many cases it is only necessary to take two steps back to do some correction and find a side road that will lead you to a new goal.
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Blog: Above average - Millionaire Shortcuts
I've always used my own happiness as a gauge to how much time and focus I should put into making money. I'm not rich yet, but I have learned some valuable lessons. Whenever I try too hard it all comes crashing down. Lately I just do what makes me happy and allows me to survive :-)