A friend of mine asked me a few weeks ago, What do you want out of life? What do you strive for? What is ultimately your goal in life? And no its not money though as my mom puts it “happiness is not in money, its in the quantity of money you have”. To me it’s not even success or fame, call me old fashioned but to me its family. However, by that one encompassing word, family, I mean quite a few things, both from the past and the present…
My parents have done a lot in their lives to give me a chance to succeed, the best example: as they put it, they moved to the United States for me. So it is no surprise - I want my parents to be proud. Inevitably that ties to my monetary well-being and success, simply put – my parents would love for me to be a millionaire. If anything money is just a very easy way to “measure” success, or at least compare it. “Oh your son is a doctor, thats great, my son is a millionaire…” for better or for worse my parents do think this way.
What about the future element? I want to continue the family name, keep the genepool alive so to speak, I want to raise kids who reflect the values of myself and my wife, and I want them to be happy. Almost selfishly though, because I hear – when your kids are happy, so are you. But how can I provide a good life for them – ah yes those darn greenbacks come back again. Money makes life easier – you can buy things, afford the best vacation, afford to show the world to your kids, show them opera and ballet, show them what humans from all over the world have built for us, and what they have to build upon. But family is not just kids its also your better half. What about the wife? Well you want her to be smart, beautiful and someone that has similar values to you. In my case that would mean she would always strive to be more than the average, to strive for the best and not to stress out too much, always enjoy the life we have. Sounds like I want someone very coveted, what does she want? I am too lazy to look for the research right now, but I am pretty sure women are biologically programmed to want someone who can take care of them. That means being strong both emotionally and physically, but again being able to provide for them and in this world that means provide financially ( in the good old times it meant being a good hunter) – ahh money again. So is the ultimate goal in life Money? Absolutely not. It does help move things along and while building a business/startup is exciting in itself for me – I would be lying to you if money had nothing to do with it. Whats the morale of this story? My goal in life (and I suppose yours should be as well) is not to stay in the familiar and move on, take risks, make the money, make the world better but always remember the people that helped you get there and the little people you are trying to influence while on your path to world domination. Enjoy your memorial day.
