Despite finally having the luxury of retirement, I still find it difficult to spend money on things I don’t really need. A big part of building wealth has always been perseverance. The more we can handle the long hours, delayed gratification, and occasional financial shocks – the more we’ll get rich in the long run.
On the other hand, if we always choose the easy way, life tends to become difficult in the long run. And if we have children, they may end up experiencing the consequences of our inactivity.
Since my first full-time job in 1999, I’ve had a mindset of fire baked into my psyche. Even today, at 48, I can’t help but wake up before 5:30 in the morning after going to bed at midnight. My body still craves the hardships endured at work, almost like an addiction. In NYC, I worked from 5:30 am to 7:30 pm; in San Francisco, from 6 am to 5:30 pm, I usually check my phone until 10 pm
If I don’t get up in the morning and do something productive before my family, I feel absent. Inside me Provider clock you end up hitting hard, don’t let me rest.
This tension between the need to provide and the desire to enjoy freedom is the battle I longed for after leaving the workforce. After years of discipline to reach the fire, it is very difficult to change habits.
Suffering is relative
If you live in a developed country like the United States, your version of suffering is likely to be waiting in traffic for an hour while you cool down on double cheese and a diet coke. Sure, you might get eaten first in the next zombie apocalypse because you can’t run the eight-minute mile, but at least you’re eating well. Now, they will.
If you live in Roman Cambodia, however, suffering can mean not being able to feed your family every day. Your children are malnourished, walking several kilometers to school in the summer heat. It is surprising that we may have survived that same zombie apocalypse because they are used to hardship.
So when we find ourselves living in a developed world with all the modern things, it is natural to grow up soft.
Not willing to suffer to get better
The reason most of us don’t have flat abs and a toned chest is because working out requires a lot of suffering. Who has the time or energy after juggling work and family responsibilities? We all know that regular exercise helps us live a healthier and longer life, but crack it! Too much work.
The reason we don’t master our favorite instrument now is because the emphasis is on practicing the same scales, chords, and fingering until our brain grows. It’s easy to let our guitar collect dust and play some pandora instead.
Perhaps the reason we don’t have better relationships with our children is because taking care of children takes a lot of patience and hard work. It is very easy to release our responsibilities to Day Chishetes, Nannies, AU pairs and schools.
Or maybe we will be the same again in our jobs because networks and flattering people we don’t like its way of suffering. We will not bring our prices up to increase or increase.
Life suffers. The sooner we accept that truth, the greater, and perhaps the richer, we become.
How To Suffer Harder And Grow Stronger
The key to accepting suffering is endurance for someone else’s benefit. If you can do that, you can withstand anything.
Recently, I faced a problem: Pay $ 1,448 for first class in Honolulu or $ 448 for economy – a difference of $ 1,000. The flight was a Boeing 777-300er, my favorite plane for this class. First class seats are single pods, pod-flat pods with no neighbors. It’s comfortable.
After 30 years of saving and investing, I can afford it. My portfolio has lost 100 times that little in a day several times this year alone.
But I struggled with the decision because first class doesn’t get faster than economy. Spending money to save time makes sense; Spending money just for comfort is tricky.
Turning Suffering into Purpose for Family
When I checked United’s site, the $448 economy seat turned up Teaser Faeaser. To choose a window seat, I would need to pay another $59 each way. Sitting in the middle seat for five hours isn’t torture, but it’s not fun either.
If the flight is delayed or I am married between two passengers plus they spend in my space, this trip can be sad. Add in heavy cologne or perhaps some egregious bo, and suffering is sure. After 200+ career flights, I’ve had my share of those. At this stage, I might as well pay for the comfort.
But as I was arguing, I looked at my investment accounts with my children and saw the daughter’s account was $ 1,600 back when my son was his age. Three years younger, and about 17% of his account is in Amazon, which has outperformed the S & P 500 and Nasdaq since 2020.
Immediately, the provider for me took over. I needed it pour This is not equal.
Steps to suffer for my daughter
First step: Punish me for picking the wrong stock by staying in economy for 10 hours of cyclical trading. He trusted me to make good financial decisions, and I failed.
Step two: Redirect $1,000 in first class cash to his investment account.
Step three: Find a way to save and suffer more! Instead of saving $1,000 by booking economy, I booked Basic Economics To save another $ 100, bringing the total to $ 1,100, which I have invested.
I then transferred $1,100 to him and his brother Fundrise Venture capital Account instead of S & P 500. $1,100 down, another $98,900 in contributions to both children.
After a week, I was very upset that his part of the account was $500 short, so I went ahead and contributed another $500 until it came out. Now it’s up to me to find ways to save that $500 by cutting back on a few claims.
For those who love them, Basic Economics It probably means a middle seat as you are assigned a last minute seat at the gate, one small carry-on bag, and no options to change flights or stay with friends or family.
Related: Use drop marks to help make your kids rich
It’s easy to do something for someone else
Most of us would do anything for the people we love. So if you want to get rich, dedicate your effort – and yes, your suffering – to them. You will push hard, take sharp risks, and persevere unhappily when the goal is to give your family a better life.
If you don’t have children, channel that same car to people or important causes – your parents who despise you, or your friends who always pray, or even a faithful animal depending on you. Or maybe it’s a charity mission that gives us deep saving and investing.
When you attach purpose to your financial journey, discipline becomes easier, and wealth creation feels more greedy and grateful.
Sure, I’d like to stretch out and sleep soundly in first class on my next flight to Hawaii. But my daughter’s financial security is more important. Besides, just being able to fly to Hawaii Midweek is a privilege, given I have no work commitments. Visual stories.
An easy way to suffer regularly and build more appreciation
One of the easiest ways to remind ourselves how lucky we are is to fast. Since food is a daily meal, voluntarily cutting back on food is a powerful reminder not to take it for granted.
An estimated 750 million people in the world face hunger, and about 2.4 billion experience food insecurity. Once you really understand this and see it for yourself, you are less likely to waste food or overspend.
Fasting is humble humility, sharpens gratitude, saves money, and improves health. Not a bad combination, especially when food prices are high or crash relief programs are in place.
In a world where excess is easy, choosing to hold back is a peaceful act of strength, and a reminder of how lucky we are.
Readers, what kind of suffering have you willingly gone through to increase your wealth? What mental games or mental shifts help you accept more discomfort to strengthen your health, relationships, and sense of fulfillment?
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