Who do you live for vs what do you live for

In our quest for financial freedom, some of you work hard at your jobs and careers while some of you work smart at your businesses and investments. Your hard/smart work allows you to contribute productively to the whole value-chain of human endeavour and at the same time provides you with the money to spend on your lifestyle wants and needs.

Have you ever paused to think if you are living for someone or something?

What vs Who do you live for?
Your motivations drive you both consciously and subconsciously. Your choice of food and drink, your choice of spending or saving, your choice of investing or gambling hinges on your motivations. "What Drives You" by Mercedes Benz is a pertinent question that we need to ask ourselves.

When I first started working, what drove me was to catch up economically and to gain experience after losing 2.5 years of my productive life to the Singapore Armed Forces as a conscript. Hence, I basically worked hard and took little leave and didn't buy myself many luxuries except for mobile phone, pda, personal computer and internet access as well as the occasional vacation. I was saving up to have money to buy a home and to settle down.

When I reached 30, I was settling down, getting married and adapting to married life. This involved a lot of financial responsibility as the housing loan was indeed daunting at the beginning of one's status as a home owner and married person. At the same time, I started to see first hand how fragile corporate job security was! People in their mid to late 30s were getting counselled out even when the company was making profits. It developed in me a deep fear of financial insecurity and has been a key source of what drives me... TO BE FINANCIALLY FREE and not be at the mercy of any employer for my life!

I used to live for financial security
I still see financial freedom as the key goal of my efforts to learn, absorb and apply the principles of living within your means, investing prudently and deferring (as much as practicable) today's wants for tomorrow's needs. However, it doesn't drive me because my main motivator is not SOMETHING, instead, it is SOMEONE.

My daughter will be born in a couple of months time and I realise all my efforts in working hard and working smart is to achieve financial freedom so that I can be a good father to my daughter and a good husband to my wife. Of course, it doesn't sound so noble because when you invest in your family, the dividends reaped are happiness and family harmony. When there is family happiness and harmony, then I have less problems to deal with and can enjoy the journey of life more instead of worrying about them. :-)

What is the purpose of working so hard if you are just going to spend it all on yourself? Overtime, I realised no matter what luxuries I bought myself, I would get bored with them because of the law of diminishing marginal utility. My favourite analogy is how many bowls of sharksfin or abalone can you consume before it becomes meaningless?

I realise happiness derived from using the benefits of financial freedom, i.e. release from pressures of debt, being able to work without worrying about your job and worrying about appeasing your bosses (especially unreasonable ones) is what is meaningful. My time on this earth is limited, so while I am still productive, I want to use my money to touch the lives of my wife and that of my daughter when she is born, so that my time on this earth was well spent and not merely engaged in hedonistic self-gratification in material consumption.

Who do you live for?
As we continue on our journey on this earth and on our journey towards financial freedom. Ask yourself this question, "What Drives You?"

Why do you do the things that help you build up a strong net worth, what makes it so satisfying and is the thing you get up in the morning for?

You decide.

There is no point being so driven in our quest for financial freedom if what drives us turns out to be another THING.

I've decided that what drives me is SOMEONE.

Who is that someone to you? :-)

Be well and prosper!