Money as a Tool for Success and Happiness
The truth is, before stumbling upon this podcast, my daily commute to and from work consisted of listening to music. On every business trip I took (which happened every other week), I had either TV shows or movies downloaded, ready to binge-watch during my flights. At night, I’d settle down and mindlessly watch TV.
Then one day, I felt a nudge to try something new – listen to a podcast. A few people had recommended it to me before.
I thought, “Why not give it a shot?” So, I did a quick search, read a few reviews, and stumbled upon “Born To Impact.”
But let’s get back to that airport scene.
As I boarded the plane, I plugged in my headphones to drown out the noise of other passengers and hit play. I even took out my notebook to start taking notes – that’s how impactful this podcast was for me. I ended up jotting down pages and pages of notes.
As I listened, something they said struck me like a ton of bricks: “Money is just a tool!”
My initial reaction was, “Easy for you to say; you have lots of it.” But they went on to explain their perspective.
They emphasized that money comes and goes, and you can always make more of it. While having money is nice, it isn’t necessary for happiness.
I paused the podcast to let that sink in. Then, as I often do, I distilled their message into a simpler, relatable idea: “Money is just a vehicle. Some people drive Ford Pintos, while others fly in private jets.”
All these vehicles can get you where you want to go. The key differences lie in how fast you get there, the comfort of the journey, and how others perceive you when you arrive.
More money can help you reach your destination faster, but faster isn’t always better. Some of my fondest memories involve long road trips with Jenna and the family.
When I embarked on my entrepreneurial journey, it was never about money. It might sound crazy or hard to grasp, but for me…
Money is merely a tool and one way to measure business growth. Notice that I didn’t say “success.” Success has different metrics. Money might be one aspect, but it doesn’t define success entirely.
Have you ever watched “Shark Tank”? When the sharks show keen interest in a business, they dive into the numbers: production costs, selling prices, revenue over the last year, and customer retention rates. They want to know the hard data.
But there’s always one Shark who asks about customer loyalty or the cost to acquire a customer because they understand that money is just a tool.
When they truly like a business, it’s about branding the entrepreneurs themselves. You often hear them say, “I’m looking for a company where I can supercharge growth with my capital and expertise.”
They know money’s just a tool.
It’s not how we measure happiness. As I reflected on that entire podcast, I didn’t agree with them at the time. It almost put me off their podcast, and I hope it doesn’t do the same for you.
However, what I ultimately realized was that they were right.
Money is just a tool.
We all have a choice in how we use our tools. We can either hoard them (save every penny and never spend any) or invest them to acquire more tools, helping us do different jobs more efficiently (investing those pennies in tools that fuel our growth).
The choice is ours.
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