Lifestyle/Workstyle and Time/Money

I spend a lot of time in my professional life talking to people about “wealth.” It all boils down to healthy versus unhealthy relationships with both time and money. 

And then Ash Ambirge showed up with a Selfish Forever email in my inbox. Unsurprisingly, she put a few things about time vs. money, wealthy vs. poor, and happy vs. unhappy in such perfect words, I had to put them in my notes here. 

My comments below her quotes:

If you want to create a different lifestyle, you’ve got to create a different workstyle. 

40 hours a week with nights and weekends off, plus paid vacation, is a thing. If it works for you, great. If it doesn’t, OR if the boss calls it that but it’s really 60 hours a week, plus nights and weekends, plus emails on vacation, you don’t have a lifestyle problem – you have a workstyle problem. And it can be fixed (!). I love separating the two. 

Optimize both $USD and $T. 

I have visions of putting a time balance sheet next to a financial balance sheet now. That’s because…

If your financial health is high, but your time health is poor, then you are poor. If your time health is high, but your financial health is poor, then you are poor. 

I’ve worked with fabulously wealthy people who are dying inside while they keep everything running. I’ve talked to starving artists who are happy to do their art but frustrated they don’t have money. Both are poor. 

Everyone’s situation is unique, but the variables are all the same. The words we use to talk about the variables, or the visuals we use to explain them, can make all of the difference.