3618: What Would You Do If You Had All The Money In The World by Margo Aaron of That Seems Important

[00:00:01] [SPEAKER_03] Wenn jemand Charles und Melanie gesagt hätte, dass sie nach ihrem Tinder-Match gemeinsam einen Channel mit crazy Aufgaben starten, also wirklich crazy, fünf Tage auf einer einsamen Insel verbringen, eine Zipline an einem Gurt runterrasen, eine Million Views knacken, eine Wand mit Saugnöpfen hochklettern und Falschirm springen in Ägypten? Das hätten die beiden niemals geglaubt. Aber das ist das Ding mit Tinder. Es führt dich an Orte, die du nie erwartet hättest. Wohin es dich auch führt. It starts with a swipe. Tinder.

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_01] Kennt ihr auch diesen einen Freund, der morgens einfach so ruckzuck aus dem Bett und danach aus dem Grinsen gar nicht mehr rauskommt? Der sogar noch vor dem ersten Kaffee unverschämt gut gelaunt ist und mit der Morgensonne um die Wette strahlt? Furchtbar. Ekelhaft. Wie kann man nur so...

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_02] Ausgeruht sein? Ganz einfach. Trainiere deinen Schlaf und werde auch du zum Morgenmenschen. Mit der Galaxy Watch 7 oder dem Galaxy Ring und der Samsung Health App.

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_00] Das ist Optimal Living Daily. Was würde ich dir, wenn du all die Geld in der Welt hast? By Margot Aaron of ThatSeemsImportant.com Und ich bin your narrator, Justin Malek, reading you blogs every single day of the year to help you live a more meaningful life. I cover personal development or self-help, minimalism, productivity, and more. But for now, let's get right to the post as we optimize your life. What would you do if you had all the money in the world?

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00] By Margot Aaron of ThatSeemsImportant.com There's a question they ask in self-help groups that drives me crazy. The question is, what would you do with your time if you had $10 million in cash? The first problem with this question is it assumes the people who struggle with what they're doing in their lives don't have $10 million in cash, which is wrong. The second problem is it assumes that $10 million is enough to free you of your financial burdens, which is also wrong.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_00] Because financial burdens, after a certain point, are psychological burdens. And there is no amount of money that can rid you of psychological burdens. You have to actually do the work. The third problem is, is this $10 million pre- or post-tax? And lastly, this question sucks because the answer is not helpful. Assuming you can get your mind to a place where you can entertain not having a financial burden, then the question triggers the paradox of choice problem,

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_00] which is basically that we collapse under the weight of limitless possibility. The too-long-didn't-read version? More is not better when it comes to decision-making. Read Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. The question is supposed to help you identify your true desire. Like, if I had all the money in the world, I'd paint every day. So it uncovers your not-so-secret desire to paint, and then you can reverse-engineer your life to include more painting time or something.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_00] Most humans, however, don't have a clear-cut passion like painting. We're a bit more complicated and interesting. And this question is a bit too simplistic. But moreover, the answer confuses, or rather equates, enjoyment and fulfillment, which are not the same. I enjoy a full-bodied, earthy cabernet, but it doesn't fulfill me. Writing fulfills me, and I almost never enjoy it. That's not entirely true, but like I'd hardly call this fun.

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_00] I'd call it hard f***ing work that I wouldn't trade for the world. Anyway, a recent interaction has me re-evaluating my stance on this aforementioned garbage question. Contrary to what cancel culture will have you think, we humans can, in fact, change our minds. Okay, that was a little snarky. What I mean to say is that the gift of being human is changing your mind, expanding your worldview, and updating your opinions based on new evidence or information. Which is what happened to me when I met Cal.

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_00] Cal's a friend who I got to know shortly after he'd gotten laid off, and became a default stay-at-home dad. Cal cowered in shame as he told me that he'd recently realized that if he had all the money in the world, he'd drink beer, watch reality TV, and spend time with his kids. He was embarrassed. He was embarrassed because he believed his true desires revealed that he was an unambitious sack of f***. He even started going to therapy to try and understand what was wrong with him. Why wasn't he ambitious?

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_00] Why didn't he try harder? Why was he such a lazy sack of f***? I started asking Cal some questions, and what I discovered was pretty mundane, which is going to be annoying for you as the reader, wondering where this story is going. He's a regular dude who enjoyed his life. That's it. That was what the world told him was a problem. He was a regular dude who enjoyed life. That's it. That is what we think is a problem. We equals his friends, family, me, probably you.

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_00] Even his therapist entertained this for a bit. Bad therapist, bad. No treats for you. His problem was he wasn't striving for anything. He was, wait for it, content. He was happy. He loved time with his kids, even when he was exhausted and annoyed. He liked being a dad. He enjoyed beer and reading books and watching TV and going out with his friends. He simply enjoyed his life. And while he agreed more money would be nice,

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_00] he wasn't feeling like his life or his kids' lives were wanting. This blew my mind. I didn't know anyone like Cal. The people I knew who lived like Cal got there by settling, aka submitting to circumstances they were deeply unhappy with. Marriages they hated. Children they resented. Jobs they felt bitter about. Lest we forget, also, an addiction to the acquisition of stuff. I thought Cal was one of those. I thought he was a settler who had a secret ambition to do more with his life

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00] when he first shared this with me. I agreed with what the world told him. Try harder. Hustle. Be more. But he was actually a pioneer in feeling fulfilled. The things most of us are chasing, we can't find outside of ourselves. Which, yes, eye roll. It's a nice bumper sticker, but it isn't going to pay for your kid's college. I get it. Trust me. Living in a world that rewards your sense of not-enoughness is why we have an epidemic of internalized shame in this country.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_00] We live in a world where the most subversive thing you can do is be satisfied with who you are and what you want. So, what would you do if you had all the money in the world? Same thing you should do now. Love and accept yourself. I dare you to believe you are enough. Double dare you. You just listened to the post titled, What Would You Do If You Had All The Money In The World? by Margot Aaron of ThatSeemsImportant.com.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00] And I'll be right back with my commentary. If you've shopped online, chances are you've bought from a business powered by Shopify. You know that purple shop pay button you see at checkout? The one that makes buying so incredibly easy? That's Shopify. And there's a reason so many businesses sell with it. Because Shopify makes it incredibly easy to start and run your business. Shopify is the commerce platform behind 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S.,

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[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_00] Just one stick and 16 ounces of water hydrates better than water alone. Give yourself the power of extraordinary hydration from Liquid IV. Get 20% off your first order of Liquid IV when you go to liquidiv.com and use code OLD at checkout. That's 20% off your first order with code OLD at liquidiv.com. Thank you to Margo. She reminds me of those self-help authors who are sort of anti-self-help,

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_00] like Mark Manson, which always provides a different perspective. Because for me, I've always enjoyed that question of what would you do with X dollars, maybe not 10 million, but 20 or 100. She said that the answer isn't helpful because we usually don't have a clear-cut passion, and it equates enjoyment with fulfillment, which is a fair point. But that's where I'd say to look deeper. If your answer was, I'd paint. Well, that's not going to take up all your time, and if you did it for 12 hours a day, every day you'd probably lose your mind and get really sick of it.

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_00] So I'd argue, you should think about both. What would you do for enjoyment, and what actually fulfills you? What would it take for you to be content in life, like Cal and Margo's story? Can you simply live now and love and accept yourself, and is that enough? All things to think over whether or not you don't like the 10 million dollar question. So I'll leave you with those questions. Have a great day, great weekend if you're listening in real time, and I'll see you tomorrow for Minimalist Monday, where your optimal life awaits.