3652: [Part 2] Hierarchy of Financial Needs (and the Meaning of Life) by The Mad Fientist on Money and Happiness

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[00:01:00] This is Optimal Finance Daily, Hierarchy of Financial Needs, Man the Meaning of Life, Part 2 by The Mad Fientist of Mad Fientist.com and I'm Justin Malek. Welcome back or welcome for the first time if you're new here. This is where I read to you like a big ongoing audiobook from many different authors. But today is a continuation from yesterday, so I'd recommend listening to yesterday's episode first. But if you're all caught up, let's get right to Part 2 and continue optimizing your life.

[00:01:34] Hierarchy of Financial Needs and the Meaning of Life, Part 2 by The Mad Fientist of Mad Fientist.com. What is the meaning of life? Before we can figure out how to best use our money for our life's purpose, we have to figure out what that is first. So, what is the meaning of life? That's the big question and I'm still not exactly sure, but I have a few theories. Immortality.

[00:02:04] At first, I thought the point was to achieve some sort of immortality. If you're immediately forgotten after dying, isn't that like you were never here in the first place? And isn't that pretty meaningless? To achieve immortality, or at least lengthen your impact on the world, I thought there were a few options. Having kids. Having kids seems to be the default option. Of course your kids are going to remember you.

[00:02:32] And then you have the added bonus of passing on some of your DNA to future generations. Kids don't guarantee immortality though. Do you know anything about your great-great-great-great-grandmother? No, me neither. Doing something to be remembered. What if you instead do something memorable? Einstein has been dead for over 60 years, but he still lives on due to the things he accomplished when he was alive.

[00:03:02] I thought this was the answer for a long time because it seemed like the best way to achieve something close to immortality. But even that plan isn't great either. Memories fade. Civilizations die out. Planets are consumed by their sons. Does it really matter being remembered for slightly longer than the average person? Probably not. When you realize how insignificant we are in the universe, and how short our species has actually existed,

[00:03:31] can one little human actually make a noticeable dent in the grand scheme of things anyway? Ignorance is bliss. So if immortality isn't the point, what is? I'm not sure, but I know one thing. These are very heavy things to think about. I hate to admit this, but at times during the past year, I've actually been jealous of people still in the daily grind

[00:03:58] because they're too busy and preoccupied with normal life to think about stuff like this. Every time I think that though, I remind myself that it's actually an incredible privilege to face these big questions, while I still have so many years, hopefully, to make adjustments and change course if necessary. Because I think everyone faces these questions eventually, but unfortunately, many people face them on their deathbeds when they are out of time and options.

[00:04:28] There is no point. The conclusion that I eventually arrived at was that there may not be a point. It's likely our existence is just a happy accident, so the only point is to enjoy it as much as possible and help others enjoy it too. That's it. If I was religious, maybe I'd think there's a higher purpose or more to come after this life on earth. But I'm not, so I don't.

[00:04:57] At first, this conclusion may seem sad or anticlimactic, but it's actually very freeing. No pursuit is more noble than any other. So when you achieve financial independence and have the power to do whatever you want, you can just try to live the life that makes you happiest, assuming it doesn't infringe on the happiness of others. Any external pressures that have influenced your life in the past

[00:05:23] can all be ignored because no lifestyle is better than any other. So just live the life you want to live. What life do you want to live? Figuring out what that life is, though, is also very tricky. Just like people don't know what makes them happier, they also don't know what they want out of their lives. For example, I thought I wanted to travel all the time after leaving my job, but I tried it for a bit

[00:05:53] and realized that long-term travel isn't as fulfilling as I expected. What I've now realized is that the reason traveling didn't make me happier is because it didn't align with my own personal purpose. What's your purpose? So how do you figure out your purpose? My buddy J.D. Roth from Get Rich Slowly suggests you try to craft a personal mission statement.

[00:06:20] Can you boil down what you want your life to be in just one sentence? After a lot of thought, I was able to come up with a sentence, and here it is. I want to learn and improve my skills so that I can create things that have a positive impact on my life and as many other people's lives as possible. Looking back at my past and reflecting on some of the best and most rewarding things I've done, they all seem to fit that one sentence.

[00:06:51] This is why traveling wasn't as fun and fulfilling as I thought it would be. Sure, I had a great time experiencing new cultures, eating new food, and seeing interesting sites, but I wasn't improving my skills, besides maybe my travel hacking skills. I wasn't really creating anything, and I wasn't doing anything that positively impacted a lot of other people. The mad scientist, on the other hand, does tick all those boxes,

[00:07:19] and that's why I still work so hard on it and get so much pleasure from it six years after I started it. I'm constantly trying to improve my writing, interview skills, and so on. I frequently create new articles, podcast episodes, web applications, et cetera, and all those things hopefully help millions of other people improve the quality of their lives. Asking why. If the personal mission statement approach doesn't work for you,

[00:07:48] another way to figure out your purpose is to identify something you've done in the past that was particularly fulfilling, and then ask yourself why it was fulfilling, and then keep asking yourself, why is that fulfilling? Until you can't answer the question anymore. Thanks to Vicki Robin for sharing this tactic with me when we were together in England last year. Here's how it works. As I mentioned, the mad scientist has been incredibly rewarding, so I'll choose that,

[00:08:18] since you're all obviously familiar with that project as well. Why has the mad scientist been fulfilling? Because it has allowed me to develop my writing skills, interview skills, and programming skills, while helping myself and thousands of others reach financial independence sooner. Why is that fulfilling? Because it's allowed me to learn new things, improve my skills, and help myself and others start living lives that are more enjoyable and purposeful.

[00:08:49] Why is that fulfilling? Because it's allowed me to learn new things and improve my skills, while also making my life and the lives of many other people better. There it is. Asking why eventually got me to that mission statement. Future projects. Once you have a defined purpose, you can judge future plans against that purpose and figure out if what you plan to do

[00:09:16] has a high probability of improving your life or not. I've actually been working for the past year on a secret project that fits my purpose, so that's why I know it's worth the effort and will likely be more rewarding than simply doing something fun, like traveling around the world. Moving to the next level. So that's where my head's been lately. I definitely don't have everything figured out, and as I continue moving up to the next level of the pyramid,

[00:09:44] I'm sure there'll be new challenges to face and interesting questions to try to answer. As always, I'll share what I learn along the way. And don't worry, I still love numbers, so expect plenty more of those in the future as well. You just listened to part two of the post titled Hierarchy of Financial Needs and the Meaning of Life by TheMadfiantist of madfiantist.com And I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:10:15] Queen Carvania stood haloed by the morning sun. An army hung on her every word. My champions, I have sold my chariot on Carvana. It was a lovely SUV, an inexplicably queenly offer. They're even coming to the castle to collect it. Tonight, we feast! An offer you can feast on. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pick up fees, mail by.

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[00:11:41] That's 50% off your first year at Monarch.com with code OPTIMAL. Thank you to the Mad Scientist again. This second half switched from money into the meaning of life, which we usually wouldn't expect from a finance blog, but I thought it was great. The part I found most useful was the tool for finding your purpose, asking why. It reminds me of an article I narrated by Steve Pavlina over on Optimal Finance Daily.

[00:12:10] You take something that felt truly fulfilling, and you ask why it was, and then why that is, over and over, until you pretty much can't do it anymore. Or what Steve said in his article, until you cry. This is important because what we think will make us happy, and what actually does, can be completely different things. The Mad Scientist thought endless travel was the dream, tried it,

[00:12:39] and realized it didn't fit his real purpose. Financial independence just buys you the freedom to answer these questions, and they're definitely worth considering. So maybe something to try today? Take one thing you've done that felt deeply satisfying, and ask yourself, why, a few times. You might be surprised where it leads. So a great one from the Mad Scientist to consider. Please do consider it, and I'll do the same. Have a great day,

[00:13:08] and I'll be back tomorrow as usual, where your optimal life awaits.