Money Matters: The Truth That Few Will Admit
Your gurus have been lying to you
Any entrepreneur who tells you they don’t care about the money is lying.
That’s the truth.
So, while we are being honest, let me tell you the 2 reasons I am an entrepreneur.
The potential to make money
The freedom to work for myself on what interests me
Somewhere along the way, people started feeling it was necessary to hide the fact that at the end of the day, money matters.
The importance of money
Money is a tool used to help you buy things.
Those things could be food for you and your family, a home to live in and a car to get from place to place.
But, those things could also be toys, luxuries and all the other extra “unnecessary” things.
Regardless, money is necessary to survive and there is no point in pretending otherwise.
The next best thing money can buy you is freedom.
Money buys you the freedom to do what you want, when you want and where you want. The more money you have, the more freedom you have (for the most part).
What I’m getting at is money is important and it is okay to have, “to make money” as your main goal.
Things change once you have money
As you earn more money, things start to change. You naturally begin to want new things and your priorities change.
You’ll go from trying to survive to trying to thrive (I hope you like that rhyme).
Many people would like to think that once they have “enough”, they’ll stop working and never have to work again. But, that is unlikely.
Money is what you earn for contributing and building things for society. Once you have money, you may have freedom.
With this newfound freedom though, you’ll still need to find something to work on.
You’d feel borderline useless if you weren’t working. Beaches and rum are only fun for so long. Eventually, you’ll crave something new to focus on.
That new focus is likely to be something that is more passion-focused, instead of money-focused. Now that money isn’t an issue, you can focus on whatever inspires you.
That sounds great, doesn’t it?
Well, without the money, you may have never had that opportunity. You would have never had the freedom or safety net to take risks on that new passion project.
Even after all that though, as you are working on your passion project, eventually, you will still expect money in return for the work you are doing.
That’s because money serves as a confirmation that you are doing a good job and that others value what you are doing.
You want validation.
Don’t worry, that’s okay and perfectly normal.
You’ll only feel guilty if you have trouble admitting that at the end of the day, money matters.
There can be more than one motivation
While money is almost always our number one motivation, there can be more than one.
The reason people are afraid of saying that money matters is because when others hear that, they think money is the ONLY thing that matters to that person.
That doesn’t have to be true.
You can prioritize making money, and still be doing something because you love it and it’s good for the world.
Truth be told, it is better to have more than one motivation. Because otherwise, once you start to make money, you could quit a project too early and fail to fulfill your potential.
That can lead you to tough times.
On top of that, you are way more likely to make money if you are working on something you are passionate about and believe in. You will put more hours into a craft which you love doing and that means you will undoubtedly get better at that than anything else.
So, while money is likely your biggest motivator, it doesn’t have to be your only one.
With money, you can help anyone
Let’s get one last thing straight… Making money does not make you a bad person.
Money amplifies who you already are.
You can do whatever you want with your money. That includes giving it to others or building a super laser to destroy the moon.
The more money you have, the easier it is for you to allocate it to important causes.
Do you feel like the government isn’t doing enough for the homeless population? If you had money, you could do something about it.
Do you wish there would be more research to help those with dementia? If you had money, you could do something about it.
Whether you are a good or bad person, money gives you the power to have a bigger impact.
So, if you are worried about admitting that you want money, just remember that you can make money and then use it to help others.
To wrap it up
If all of us could start admitting that money is one of our (if not the) biggest motivations, then it would be easier for us to talk about how to make money without guilt.
As the money conversation opens, resources to learn how to make money will become more widely available.
And if we all knew how to make money… wouldn’t that dramatically change the world?
Thanks for reading