Adjust your aim, optimize your life for this
the north star of money leaves a sour taste in the mouths of people who reach it, lets talk about something better (maybe)
Go for freedom.
Freedom allows you to control what you work on.
If you control what you work on then you can work on what you love.
If you love it you will do it for a long time.
If you do it for a long time you will get really good at it.
Money will come as a result.” - Sam Zell
Freedom: A better life’s north star
growing up the north star to living a "good life" is by default set to money.
although money can bring you things that are worthwhile more stability in your life etc
I think there is a better north star for life, & it's the one I'll be optimizing for.
Freedom.
Optimize for FREEDOM.
Money grants a certain level of freedom: yes, this is absolutely true.
But… As a north star: Optimizing for freedom is better than money
& it will bring you more money in the long run & more notably: a better overall life. (who wouldn't want that)
Coming back to this quote by Sam Zell (if you’re wondering what I mean by optimizing for freedom
Freedom allows you to control what you work on.
If you control what you work on then you can work on what you love.
If you love it you will do it for a long time.
If you do it for a long time you will get really good at it.
Money will come as a result.
-Sam Zell
Something that’s helped me a lot while aiming for freedom in my life is planning my next day the night before
If you want to plan your day too, you can use my daily planner template here, or read about how this changed my life here
Does freedom bring more happiness?
It only takes anyone 2 minutes of watching the Kardashians to realize how money does not = happiness.
often times it actually means more drudgery: When you're sad people look at you & think "How could you be sad? look at all the nice things you have!"
If money is earned through doing work one enjoys, work that comes from optimizing for freedom, then money is not the end all be all, it is a byproduct of someone's freedom.
On top of all of this optimizing for freedom offers more benefits too than you may think:
If you optimize for freedom you usually need less money too. Time moves slower. Paying for convenience everywhere doesn’t make sense. You can DIY things. You cultivate cheap habits (like reading). Less misery spending on entertainment
Different people will optimize for different things: money is the auto start most are put onto
But realizing you can pick up your boots (or socks, or sandals (or both)) & choose to optimize your life around something more important to YOU than money, this is a very surreal feeling.
A feeling that quite possibly has a higher chance to bring more happiness to your life than large sums of money ever will.
Do you want to live a better life?
When someone creates something beautiful it often comes from this place of optimizing for not only money, but something greater than that
People exercise creativity for the sake of it, making new discoveries about the world & themselves,
Practically too: someone optimizing to live a better & more free life, is also more likely to achieve it than someone focused, head down at making more money at all costs
Freedom optimizers also tend to have more time & energy in relationships & friendships (they know what they want)
At the end of the day having a north star that is really just what YOU want out of life is probably the most important.
& Deeming freedom that thing is a great start to answer the deep dark questions most won't bother to ask all their lives.
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To wrap this all up: If you’re reading this you may or may not know that…
Im 23, and I live in my mom's basement, & guess what?
life is going by even when I ask it to pause for a second
& your life is passing by each day too, so optimizing it for something in line with what you want out is probably not a bad idea.
Let me know if you think otherwise, or if you agree, reply to this email 🙂
That’s all for today, writing has been fun for me lately, writing is awesome, thanks for reading my writing, you’re awesome.
Sincerely, your friend
- jack ♠