Why Do You Want to Be Rich
Don’t fall into this trap
Coming out of school I was eager to make a name for myself and start making money. I was tired of being a broke college student and eager to prove that I could be somebody.
Once I found a job and settled in, I almost immediately started to look for ways to make money on the side. I became obsessed. I looked up ways to make money blogging, freelancing, investing in the stock market as many things as I could think of.
Money in my mind has always equaled freedom. If you're rich you can go wherever you want to go, see whatever you want to see, buy whatever you want to buy. It seemed like the answer to all my problems.
Wake Up Call
All I was worried about was making money. I didn’t see a problem with it until I got a serious reality check.
I recently watched Uncut Gems starring Adam Sandler. The movie does a great job of demonstrating the consequences of extreme greed and addiction. The gist of the movie is that Sandler’s character was destroying his life to feed his money and gambling addiction.
What really made me feel uneasy about the film was the main character of the movie already had a nice house, a family, and a successful business. On the surface, it seemed like he was already living the good life. As the movie continued it was clear that he didn’t appreciate the important things like his family. Instead, his greed, fueled by his gambling addiction destroyed all of the good things in his life.
After the movie, I did some reflecting.
I asked myself, “Why do you want to be rich?” I certainly didn’t want to end up like Adam Sandler’s character and just chase wealth for the sake of having a lot of money.
When money becomes your only motivation you will never be satisfied with the amount you have.
I needed to know my reason for wanting to be rich. I don’t want to become a greedy person who’s only love in life is money. So I created a list explicitly stating my reasons.
Why I want to Be Rich
That night I sat down and did some thinking and I came up with my reasons. This way I wouldn’t end up blindly chasing money. Here is what I came up with.
- Provide for the people I care about: I’m the oldest brother and have always felt the responsibility to take care of my younger brothers and eventually my parents when they get old enough.
- Be on my own time: I want the freedom to use my time as I see fit. Time is the most valuable resource we have and I’d rather spend my time doing what I love. Not having to worry about money certainly helps with that.
- Donate to Organizations with a good cause: There are tons of great organizations out there making a difference in the world and I’d love to support them. I know any amount of money helps, but if I was wealthy then I’d be able to make a bigger difference and reinforce more positive change.
- I want to be able to spoil myself from time to time. I’m not going to be superficial and act like I don’t want to buy nice things. We all want nice things in some shape or form. The other reasons definitely take precedent over this one, but hey I’d love to buy an expensive gaming PC and a bunch of brand new guitars whenever I pleased.
Rich is Subjective
Listing out my goals like this really gave me a different perspective. It gave me a why. An actual goal to work towards other than just making money to make money.
You might find that you don’t actually need to be wealthy to accomplish your goals. I made the mistake of thinking money would solve all my problems. I stopped living in the moment because I was so focused on becoming wealthy in the future.
I’m not saying it’s not okay to want a better life for yourself and work hard to get there. Just remember that money is the vehicle to reach your goals. It’s not the end destination itself.
Don’t lose sight of the reasons why you want to be successful and focus solely on making money. If you do, then the money will become the shackles keeping you from the goals you desire to achieve.
