Do you ever stop to ask yourself if you’re actually chasing the right things? 

Whether that be with your money or how you spend your time or what you’re doing in your career, it’s often really helpful to do an audit of the way you’re living your life to make sure you’re still headed in a way that suits you. 

When it comes to money, I like to think of your income as an abundant resource, even though it often doesn’t feel like it. 

But you can always make more money. Throughout your career, you can work to earn more, or you can pick up a side job to earn more. You also have all of the money you’ve yet to earn. 

The money you have on hand today, however, is a finite resource. Once it’s gone, it’s gone, and for the most part, you aren’t able to get it back. 

So even though we can rest in the knowledge that we always have the ability to earn more in the future, it’s so important for us to be wisely spending the money we have today in ways that are aligned with the wishes we have for our life.

Is the way you spend your money today in alignment with your idea of your best life? It’s time to take a closer look.  

What would you do if you were rich?

Every few years, it seems like the Mega Millions jackpot reaches a new high where the payout has never been bigger and everyone rushes out to buy a lotto ticket. I know that we’ve done the same even though I know deep down that there’s no practical reason to believe that we would win. 

But it’s always fun to dream about what life could be like if you were that rich. 

The truth is, your version of rich is probably a lot closer than you think. 

Maybe you dream of being able to travel any time you want to extravagant places. 

Or maybe your version of rich means that you own a lake house or cabin in the mountains. 

Maybe for you, being rich simply means that you don’t have any debt or payments to speak of. Can you imagine what you could do with your money each month if you didn’t have any payments?

Maybe it’s having a dream house or dream car.

Personally, I feel like dreams of being rich are probably a lot closer than you think. And I think that it would cost a lot less money than we’d think to feel like we’re rich. 

Having the right experiences, and choosing the right material possessions are more achievable than you think. 

Because if you think about it, your wants and dreams are probably way simpler than you think.

You don’t need to own a second home on the lake to feel rich. You can create the same experience and the same great memories renting a place on Airbnb or Vrbo. 

The truth is that even if you had a second place, if you’re in the middle of the grind like I am, where you’re working and you’ve got family and commitments, you’d only be spending a couple of weekends there a year anyway. 

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that most of us wouldn’t even actually want a Lamborghini if we could afford one. Sure, having a car that exotic would be super cool. But truthfully, I feel just as great getting a car that’s in my price range. 

If traveling is important to you, try to make that a priority now. You don’t have to go all out, and the truth is that you can see the world on a much smaller budget than you may think. It doesn’t have to be big or extravagant to create a memorable trip. 

You can also create your own little oasis at your own place. There’s nothing I love more than sitting on my back porch drinking coffee. If that’s you too, create your back porch to be everything that brings true happiness to you.

Put your money where your mouth is.

If the money we have now is a finite resource and it would be way easier and cheaper to create a rich life for ourselves than we thought, then we need to be putting our money where our mouth is.

It’s time to close the gap between the life we want to be living and the one that we are. 

It’s time to start living with the intention that will help us get there.

So what do we need to do to act on the realization that we aren’t headed towards our true priorities?

First, if you aren’t dreaming of the future you want to create for yourself and your family, it’s time to get on that. You may not be able to afford everything, but you can afford the right things. 

I’m talking about setting financial goals that you want to hit with your money. 

Second, it’s time to start living with intention. And the way you do that is by creating a budget and following it throughout the month. The money you have today is a finite resource. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. So get to deciding how that money needs to be spent and create a plan for following through with it.

In the end, you’ll have actually created a rich life for yourself. One that has the most important things for a happy life. 

Jared