A Radical Approach to Personal Worth

Personal Worth Statement

·         My main squeeze = 350

·         My loved ones = 300

·         My life’s work = 250

·         My stuff = 100

Total = 1000 groovy points

According to this statement, my main squeeze is 350% more important that my stuff.  So, if I’m spending 70% of my time working on my stuff and 30% of my time with my squeeze, I don’t understand how to interpret my worth statement in a way that contributes to my happiness. 

Yeah, I know we all have to work for a living.  Times are tough.  Jobs are hard to find and hard to keep.

But a little time management goes a long way in lessening the pervasiveness of one’s job.  And, as the old saying goes, no deathbed confession has yet been ‘I wish I’d spent more time at the office.’  

What if you’re not happy?  Then spread your groovy points among the categories that do make you happy, and start spending your time more accordingly.  No excuses.  This is your life.  

You only get one.

Rich

Having been a financial planner, lots of people told me their goal was to be “rich.” 

What does rich mean?  

·         Do you want to be Bill Gates? 

·         Donald Trump? 

·         Have $50 million? 

·         $5 million? 

·         $1 million? 

Assume for a moment that you already have that amount, whatever it is.  What would you do with it?  Once you buy all the stuff that you want, then what?  

There’s the part of the worth statement most people forget about, because while they’re saving up for whatever it is they want, they forget to pay attention to what really makes them happy.   I have personally seen people work long hours and neglect loved ones saving for a financial goal that will allow them to do whatever they want, only to die shortly after retiring, leaving their neglected loved ones lots of money.   

Couldn’t these people have strived toward more than one goal at the same time? 

Of course they could.  But, how they lived their lives could teach us a valuable lesson.  All we have to do is transcend from the confines of thinking strictly in financial terms, and think in terms of things that bring us happiness.

So, go ahead.  Make yourself a worth statement, and even in these troubled times, give value to the things that make you happy.

You may be richer than you think.