Income & Expenses.
Years ago, a successful business owner told me “what’s important in life is not how much money you make, but rather how much you keep”. Being in my twenties and just getting started in life, I thought to myself “that is easy for you to say”. Thirty years later, my perception has completely shifted to one that is more appreciative of the truth that supports his comment.
Based on the concept of the “law of attraction”, we tend to attract that which we focus on. So if this concept is correct, then clearly if we tend to turn a blind eye to how much money is coming in and how much is going out, we may never experience the freedom of managing our time as we see fit. Because after all, isn’t our time and energy our most valuable resource?
The Catch-22 for many of us is that as our careers advance along with our household income, the less important it becomes, so it appears, to pay attention to our income and expenses. Furthermore, the temptation becomes even more compelling to be drawn into the “more is it” or “the best is it” syndrome. Emotionally speaking, there is just something about getting a new car, a larger home, a first-rate home theater system, or that Disney world vacation that just makes it all seem worthwhile.
However based on my personal experience, I typically find that when I purchase something new, it’s almost similar to when I was single and met someone for the first time. We were excited to see each other, looked forward to spending hours together, and were busy learning each other’s likes and dislikes. But then over a period of time, the newness wears off and you decide that this just isn’t a good fit any longer.
Another contributing factor is our own personal philosophy based, in part, to our environment. The influence from our family, friends, peer group, and the cultural surroundings of our communities plays a role in our attitudes towards how we manage our money. Or as I like to think of it, “the math of life.”
The law of polarity states that nothing is one sided. Up versus down, left versus right, north versus south, and positive versus negative. Sir Isaac Newton revealed that any action has an equal and opposite reaction. The consequences of turning a blind eye to your income and expenses can come with a high cost – emotional distress, substance abuse, low self-esteem, physical and emotional abuse, divorce, and in the most severe cases, suicide.
Have you ever procrastinated doing something because of the apprehension of the task? But once you made the commitment to push through and get it done, you looked back and thought that it really wasn’t so bad and questioned why you didn’t do it a long time ago? Procrastination could be defined as living in the past, avoiding today, thus screwing up tomorrow.
Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., a leading gerontologist and psychologist who is the foremost expert on aging, has defined four categories for those living in the fourth quarter of life – the sick and tired, the live for todays, the comfortably contents, and the ageless explorers. You may find it beneficial to invest some time and energy into creating some clarity around how you want your fourth quarter of life to look.
