Do you find yourself always wishing you had more? Instead of constantly thinking about what you don't have, try focusing on what you do have. You really don't need a lot to be happy and live a better life. You can be rich by being average. So much is in your mindset.
For example, do you know what's amazing? Peace and quiet.
Imagine a restaurant or store owner shutting down their entire venue from the public just for you and your guests because you're a celebrity. That sure would be nice to have the whole place to yourself. But then again, being a celebrity has to be the worst 99% of the other time.
It must be nice to comfortably afford to buy your surrounding rows in first class and leave them empty just so you can get more privacy. Even better is being so rich that spending $10,000 an hour to fly private is no big thing.
Going Off-Peak Makes For A Better Life
I'm neither famous nor rich enough to do any of those things. But, I am average enough to find a work around the system for my family. It's helped make for a better life, less stress, and more happiness. See Exhibit A:
Every Tuesday morning between 8:30am – 9:30am, my family gets the entire California Academy of Arts & Sciences essentially to ourselves. It's a 400,000 square foot compound consisting of a rainforest, aquarium, museum, and children's play center. How? Because everybody else is at work and the time slot is for members only.
The cost of the family membership for three is only $120 a year compared to $80 for two adults and $30 for one child each visit. We have gone over 50 times in the past six months alone for a $5,000+ savings. Not bad. Exhibit B:
When you're a parent to a toddler still learning how to walk, not worrying about big humans bowling him over is comforting. And when you're a toddler who is amazed at anything and everything new, I've got to imagine from all his squeals of joy that he'd rather be at the science museum than at home.
Level Down For A Better Life
You can either level up and try to be super rich and famous to get special treatment. Or you can forsake the never ending chase for more money and prestige to get similar treatment. Although choosing the latter might not massage the ego, you'll have your freedom, which is way more valuable.
Do something different this week, like get into work at 7am in order to leave by 4pm to avoid rush hour traffic. Or maybe get some lunch at 1:30pm instead of fight with every bozo that is willing to queue up at 12noon for a rubber chicken sandwich. Or maybe this week you'll finally start your own website in order to build your brand and your business.
Taking small steps now will help you make giant leaps later on.
Further Reading
- Feeling stretched between Career Or Family? You Only Need To Sacrifice 5 Years At Most
- Check out the Median Net Worth Of Families By Age In America and see how your finances stack up.
- Want a better life? Don't throw your money away! Infomercial Products Are A Waste Of Money
About the Author:Â Sam began investing his own money ever since he opened an online brokerage account in 1995. Sam loved investing so much that he decided to make a career out of investing by spending the next 13 years after college working at two of the leading financial service firms in the world.
During this time, Sam received his MBA from UC Berkeley with a focus on finance and real estate. He also became Series 7 and Series 63 registered. In 2012, Sam was able to retire at the age of 34 largely due to his investments that now generate roughly $200,000 a year in passive income. He spends time playing tennis, hanging out with family, consulting for leading fintech companies and writing online to help others achieve financial freedom.
FinancialSamurai.com was started in 2009 and is one of the most trusted personal finance sites today with over 1.5 million organic pageviews a month. Financial Samurai has been featured in top publications such as the LA Times, The Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal.