When we hear about financial goals, we get the sense that we will be happy when ….

• I pay off my debts

• I have a net worth of $1 million

• I retire at 55

Yet, unless you are happy now with whom we are, you will never achieve your goals. The question to think about on your financial goals is what will these goals provide me? It is not the money that will make us happy; it is what we believe the money will provide us that will make us happy. For example,

• When I pay off our debts then I have less stress and thus have more happiness

• When I have a net worth of $1 million then I have more security (and less stress)

• When I retire at 55 then I can do what I want and thus I will be happier

Yet, if we are always striving towards a goal, we will never fully live in the present to enjoy what we have achieved. I was recently listening to one of our “financial gurus” and was shocked to hear this adviser say something to effect of “I enjoy speaking in Las Vegas because I do not have to pay local taxes”. If one of our top financial adviser needs to be concerned about paying taxes, then how much is enough? Yet, this is relatively common of wanting more and more. If you ask a person with $100,000 what it would take him to feel prosperous, he may say $1 million. If you ask a person with $1 million what it would take him to feel prosperous, he may say $5 million. This is because we seldom enjoy where we are because we believe if we had a little bit more than we would be happier.

The key is to be grateful with where you are now. Gratitude is what Sheryl Crowe sings about “It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got.” It may be easy to say this when you have what Sheryl Crowe has. Yet, if we really think about it, we all have what we need. How many of you have not had enough food, shelter or clothing to live on during your life? Before you answer that you have not, you are still here aren’t you? There are several reasons why this is important:

• If you are striving for a goal (to retire at 55), you may have a heart attack on your 55th birthday.

• If you are trying to secure your future by becoming a millionaire, you may lose it all with an unfortunate turn of the markets.

• If you are dreaming of a Hawaiian vacation to bring you peace, you are missing the peace of a nearby vacation to the lake you can have right now for a fraction of the price.

The key is to enjoy life now because you never know how long you have to enjoy life. If we keep on waiting, it may never come. In addition, the universe provides us what we have not what we want. So if you want to be happy, it will be elusive unless you can be happy in the present.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 25th, 2006 at 6:25 am and is filed under Prosperity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.