What’s your biggest flex?

I see a lot of “dream life” talk these days on the socials. Everyone (it seems) is talking the talk. But, I’m wondering how many are walking the walk.

I’d ask, what’s your biggest flex?

• Is it that you fly private, that car?
• Is it a six-digit price tag or is it true time freedom?
• How often do you travel?
• How great are your friendships?
• How connected are you to your spouse?
• What do you do for FUN that isn’t related in ANYWAY to your business?
• How happy are you REALLY?

In the world of social media, splashing the car, the watch, the hell-expensive is one thing, MARKETING.

But here’s the think no one is telling you… the stuff you want (or think you want) has TWO price tags. One is called MONEY and the other is called TIME.

The $300,000 car will require a substantial time investment.

When you ask yourself can I afford this? Also ask yourself, do I want to do the work it takes to EARN this (and then the work to MAINTAIN it).

If yes, the follow up question is… WHAT will this additional work take my TIME and ATTENTION away from?

In other words, which area of my life will suffer to take on the extra clients, the extra business travel, the late nights, the extra Zoom calls etc…

• Your health: Gym time, healthy eating routine. Will that get impacted?
• Your well-being: How much additional stress will this bring? Will you still have time for your mediation and journaling?
• Your relationship. How will this effect my life with my partner? Date nights? Non-business trips? Will conversations solely revolve around business?
• Your family. How will this effect my spare time to play catch, go to school events, be home for nightly dinner, see Saturday soccer games?
• Your friendships. How often do I see my NON-business REAL friends vs. my DEAL friends… or are the lines blurring between the two?
• Your FUN! How often are you traveling and doing things purely for FUN and not related to business? Will that suffer?

THE LIE WE TELL OURSELVES

As you’re reading this, you may have said to yourself… “Yeah, but when I hit X goal, then I’ll pull back and be happy… I just need to hit $X first!”

This my friend, is a LIE.

Studies show that whatever you are making, you next financial goal is to 3X it.

I remember getting out of college and wanting to just make ANYTHING better than minimum wage. I began my first job and earned $30,000/ year. Woohoo!!! Success!

Nope. That $30k jumped to a goal of $100k. Holy shit, that’s more money than I’ll ever need! When I hit 6-figures… I’ll be happy.

Rang the bell and made $100k for the first time! Yes! Ok, now let’s go to $300k! That’s the ultimate!

Done. $300k. Happy yet?

I’m getting there… but what about a crazy goal -> proceeds to write fake check for $1,000,000 and staple to Vision Board.

Do you see the problem?

The constant upping of the $$ never ends. And, the reason is because most people spend to the limit of what they make. So, they always feel pinched. The house is never big enough, the car is never shiny enough, the purse is never cool enough.

Peeps, this is a slippery slope. The only way to stop sliding down this spiral is ONE THING.

CRYSTAL CLARITY ON WHAT YOU WANT & WHY

When you sit down and truly think through what you’d LOVE your life to look like, the thing that pops up is typically TIME FREEDOM over a Ferrari. Sure, you might want both. This is why we urge you to not only list what you want, but think about WHY you want these things.

A little radical honesty goes a long way. If you want the Ferrari because it’s always been a dream, ask yourself WHY. Was it your dream? Or was it someone else’s dream that sounded good? Is it something that you think would make you feel successful? Or are you obsessed with the craftsmanship?

Often, when you push back against yourself and uncover your true reason for wanting something, often, you’ll find out that it wasn’t a true goal or desire. And why would you grind-away working towards something that isn’t actually going to fulfill you in the end?

If you decide you do still want the Ferrari, and you understand the WHY behind it, then it’s time to price it. How much money AND time will this expense cost you? What’s the upfront cost, the upkeep cost and are you willing to pay the price in BOTH time and money to attain it?

If yes, chances are, you really do want it and you should go for it! If the answer is a no, then you just saved yourself a helluva lot of aggravation and energy.

Getting this type of CRYSTAL CLARITY is the most overlooked component of lifestyle design. Don’t stop at the surface of what you want, dig deep, figure out why and make a list that ACTUALLY will motivate and excite you!

RECAP:

1. Figure our what YOU REALLY WANT.

2. Figure out WHY you want it.

3. Find the cost in both MONEY & TIME

You deserve this level of clarity on your goals. Not just some arbitrary b.s. goals to boost your ego.

OUR TRUTH

Look, we like nice things too – custom clothing, tons of travel, a killer terrace.

We just also value our TIME at a very high level. We want a great marriage, long lunches with friends, family time every night and plenty of time off to travel.

We have massive clarity on what it looks like, and when WORK begins to encroach on the things that are important to us, it’s just not worth the trade off. We want minimal obligations and maximum freedom.

TIME is our biggest flex.