In addition to time, there is another resource that is critical to an adventurer's success, money. Now, let’s debunk the myth that you need wealth to take an adventure. Think of all of those that explored the United State’s Western frontier in the 18th and 19th centuries. Their reasons were personal, but there is a common thread of adventure that binds them.
The explorers that completed their journeys either started with a surplus of money, found a way to make money, or prior to their journey used their money effectively to prepare for their trip West.
Money is a tool, and how we best use it depends on our circumstances, right? Nevertheless, if you want to use it to finance an adventure, then you must be mindful of how you’re using your money in your everyday life. It’s vitally important that you leave ‘financial space’; financial space allows you to treat money like an effective tool for problem solving. If you’re using it masterfully then you can deploy it during moments of opportunity and benefit.
Here’s how we’ve created financial space in our lives: intentional spending, deliberate saving, investing, and only carrying limited debt. All of these things are more easily accomplished if you remember to honor the adventure.
Spending
Spending is the characteristic that can most jeopardize your chance at adventure, it’s just so easy to do! They say, ‘it isn’t how much you make, it’s how much you spend.’ Well, it isn’t how much you spend either. It’s how much you want. Convenient subscriptions and ‘one time’ splurges add up. The conundrum around spending is this: you aren’t just exchanging cash for things. You’re creating a complex contract between your present and your future. Are you willing to exchange your adventure for a superfluous purchase?
Saving
It’s so much easier to save if there’s something inspiring you to collect and reserve some of your income. Let your adventure, whatever that may be, be your inspiration. Once again, you’re revisiting that contract between your present and your future. It isn’t a sacrifice when you make a decision to honor what you truly want. How bad do you want the adventure?
Investing
Saving is great, and you can save and invest if you find an account with an interest rate greater than zero. Have you heard the adage, ‘many hands make light work’? Think of investing as your teammate in your approach to prepare for your adventure. When your money is making money, it’s an extra set of hands working with you to accomplish a shared dream.
Debt
Remember how spending can jeopardize your adventure? Well, the wrong kind of debt will cancel it. There are specific times in life when carrying a debt can be beneficial. However, debt due to excess removes options and restricts opportunities for adventure. Bad debt is an anchor that drags you through a trapdoor. The time it takes you to escape is directly negated from the time you have to adventure.
Money isn’t everything, but there’s plenty you can’t do without it.
Question Corner:
How detailed is your knowledge of your spending habits? Do you need more clarity?
Is there anything inspiring you and motivating you to save money right now?
Are you prepared to say no now, to something you like? So that you can say yes later, to something you really want?