What house would you live in? What car would you drive (or would you have a chauffer drive you)?
Where would you take your next holiday?
What are your wildest dreams? Think about it.
You see, we don’t actually want more money—what we want is the freedom that money can buy.
In this chapter, I’m going to talk about how you can live like a rockstar even if you’re not famous. Hell, you can do with it without even being a millionaire.
The trick is to know the difference between what’s supposed to bring you pleasure and what actually brings you pleasure. It’s about what you really want, not the ideas the media has sold you on what you should want. Let me give you a quick example.
A friend of mine who is a very successful entrepreneur owns eight sports cars: two Ferraris, one Aston Martin, two Porsches, one Mercedes, a Dodge Viper... and a motor-cycle to boot. So, of course, he had to build a garage just to fit all his toys.
The thing is, he’s so busy that most of his “toys” have less than 3,000 miles on them. I’m not kidding. It’s ridiculous. To make matters worse, all he can talk about is the next car he’s going to buy! He’s working harder and harder just to buy more toys that he won’t use.
Sheeesh. Now don’t get me wrong—I like cars. I have a sports car and a luxury car. That’s all I need. Besides, since I work from home, I really don’t drive that much anyway. And when I do go out, it’s mostly for fun. It’s funny—as much as I enjoy cruising around town in my sport car, I probably get more satisfaction and fulfillment from having a good conversation with a friend.
One costs money, one is free. But again, that’s just me.
Now, you may be tempted to think, “Dan, if you prefer free stuff, like having good conversations with a friend, then why do you need all that money?” Good question. And the answer is that it’s the money that affords me the opportunity to have those conversations whenever, wherever, and however often or for as long as I choose.
Most people are obligated to fill their days by working 9-5, 5-7 a week for someone else. To have a good conversation with a friend, they are forced to do it on evenings or weekends (or risk doing it during business hours and getting caught by the boss). I don’t have to put up with that bullshit! I can call a friend any time during any given week and say, “How about we do lunch tomorrow, and then go hang out at the beach for a while (or throw a party, go jet skiing, fly a plane... whatever)?” That’s freedom.
Since I’ve made my F.U. Money, I don’t answer to anyone. I’m the boss. That’s the difference. I figure what exactly it is that brings me the greatest pleasure, and then determine how much pleasure it offers and what I am willing to pay for it. It all goes back to understanding what makes you tick. I’ve discovered that when you’ve made your F.U. Money, you can spend most of your time paying attention to things that bring you the greatest pleasure like reading a book, traveling, or having a good conversation with a friend. Plus, you can afford to pay almost any price for anything (however, after a certain price point, you’re just paying for prestige rather than quality).
You can live very well, enjoy all the luxuries you can ever imagine, and still have so much money left over that you don’t know what to do with it all. The best things in life are affordable, but they’re not cheap. Quality is never cheap, but if you buy quality items selectively and use with care, you can enjoy a life as materially rich as a Hollywood movie star. Have you ever really sat down and thought about what you will do with the money once you make your F.U. Money?
