Which would you choose purpose versus money? Everyone thinks that money will change their circumstances, it will, of course, but not as much as purpose does. Money comes and goes and it’s well known that lottery winners will often find themselves completely broke a couple of years after their win! Strangely, winning a lot of money doesn’t help you if you can’t manage and organise it!
So most people will assume, (wrongly) that they have an inexhaustible supply of money after a lottery win.
Money easily won is money easily lost. But purpose can last a lifetime and give you so much more. I’ve often found myself thinking about money, and dreaming that if only I could “get the money”, all my problems would be over. I’ve had a few good “wins” with money.
But the ebb and flow of money into and out of life never ceases. Even movie stars who earn millions of dollars will find themselves broke, like Nicholas Cage, for example. Or worse still, not be able to afford your taxes and go to jail, like Wesley Snipes did! Or maybe he just didn’t pay!
Purpose Versus Money – Shifting Your Mindset
With purpose, it doesn’t matter whether you have money or not – you’re motivated and directed. I’ve been broke with purpose and much happier than when when I’ve had money and no purpose. Purpose gives you meaning and direction in life and there’s nothing worse than feeling purposeless and directionless if you need some meaning to carry on in life.
So how do you find your purpose? This is something I’ve struggled with for years. Ultimately I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s how you want to spend your time, while making money and enjoying your life simultaneously.
With a “dead end” job, for example, life can feel unfulfilling and you can easily lack purpose and drive. A goal or a plan, even a little one, can give you the purpose that a job, a career, a relationship or a hobby can’t.
Purpose Versus Money – Shifting Your Mindset
Earl Nightingale said “success is the progressive realisation of a worthy goal”. So ask yourself if you could attain anything, in life, what goal would you set for yourself?
A good way to align yourself with a purposeful goal is to look at your values. How do you want to live? What do you represent in the way you manage yourself and your relationships? If you can find a common thread in what you do, that could be the answer. For example, do you like working with people, or alone? Are you more introverted or more extroverted in your approach to life?
Ikigai is a Japanese word which roughly translates as “reason for being”. Your ikigai can help you find purpose which lines up with what you love to do, how you can serve others and how you can earn from it. (See image above).
Summary
If you had all the money you would ever need in life, what would you do? Once you have travelled the world, bought all the material stuff you could ever dream of, and lived the life of a millionaire, what would you do then, after you have had enough of consuming? Because even millionaires kill themselves because they simply aren’t happy.
Purpose on the other hand gives you energy, ambition and focus. Once you find purpose, there’s nothing that will stop you from attaining your goals. So it is purpose which we truly need, rather than the money we attribute to happiness. A purposeful life can never be lost, but money always can be! Find a purpose behind they way you make money (which aligns with your values) and you’ll find a meaningful way to live.
