IF YOU DON’T FIGURE OUT YOUR PRIORITIES NOW, YOU’LL HATE YOURSELF LATER

by Paul Kindzia in Happiness, Health, Personal Finance

April 2, 2021

When we don’t know our inner priorities and most authentic desires, we end up wasting our most precious resource which is our limited time on earth.  Self-reflection and personal insight is a necessary requirement to live an authentic and fulfilling life.  When we let our dreams die by the wayside, letting the time tick off the clock, we can only look back and realize the poor choices we made when we had the chance to do something about it.  If you are an aspiring or practicing wealth builder and you let the time run off the clock without pursuing your most authentic dreams, you’ll hate yourself later.

 “One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.” – Shannon L. Alder

We all wonder whether we are living our lives the right way.  There’s so many options to choose from.  I wonder that myself.  Do I take ye’ old, “Carpe Diem” approach and live for the day with reckless abandon or do I hunker down and focus on goals that are more long term in nature?

If you are a wealth builder, you’ll catch yourself wondering these same things.  Isn’t it easy to wonder if you are doing things right when you look over at your neighbor who always has a new car, or just got back from some fancy vacation?  We all want the prizes in life.  I know I do.

If you are an authentic wealth builder, you are part of a small niche of the human race.  The small percentage isn’t indicative of the people that want the prizes that come with wealth.  The vast majority want the rewards of being wealthy.  Rewards of the wealthy include

• Financial peace
• The financial resources to buy nice things.
• Control over your time to pursue things that are meaningful or that you have a passion for.
• The opportunity to have experiences that are difficult or impossible to obtain without the money associated with that experience.

The fact is, goods and services cost money.  You can’t climb Mount Everest without money.  You can’t catch the fish of a lifetime out in the deep blue sea without money.  You can’t travel the historical buildings of Europe without money.  Nor could you ski the slopes of Colorado during the winter holidays without money.

It’s important to not get frustrated during the long journey of wealth building.  You will have thoughts and experiences that every wealth builder goes through on the journey.  You will have to deal with the following;

1. People – Not everybody in your life will understand. They may call you cheap, frugal, a work-a-holic, crazy, boring, dull, an outcast or any host of things.  You must pursue your own authentic goals.
2. Bad Investments – When we try and build wealth, we need to invest in things along the way. We may make investments in stocks, or real estate, or education, or relationships.  Nobody on earth has an unblemished investment record – NOBODY!  You will lose time and money on many of your investments.  We often don’t know which ones until after time elapses.
3. Self-Doubt – Not every day is sunshine not matter how hard you work or how much you have your crap together. Set-backs are part of the process.  Set-backs will rattle our confidence and test our resolve.  This will provide ample opportunities to experience self-doubt.  If you are serious enough about your goals, dreams, and ambitions, you will overcome the periods of self-doubt.
4. The Paradox Of The Grind – When you have big goals, big dreams and big ambitions they take time to accomplish. We aren’t talking about weeks or months either.  We are talking about years of focused efforts to achieve excellence in whatever it is we want to accomplish.  You don’t become a piano virtuoso in 2 years.  You don’t learn to be an Olympic athlete in 3 years.  Nor will you become a wealth builder in weeks and months.  When things take years, it means years of good habits, behaviors and routines.  These can often feel comfortable because it takes out some of the uncertainty in life and humans don’t like uncertainty.  But it also can feel like a grind (and not in a good way).  You must persevere and if you want it bad enough, you will.

Nobody knows what your deepest priorities are except you.  It’s up to you to live a life that is in alignment with those personal and authentic priorities.  If you let time slip on by, which is very easy to do, you will end up at some point with a life of regret.  You wasted the chance that was given to you to do your thing.

How serious are you about wealth building and are you doing what it takes to accomplish your priorities in life?

Good habits lead to good behaviors.  Good behaviors lead to good decisions.  Good decisions lead to a good life.  Live by principles and choose wisely.