I recently finished the book “How to Get Rich” by Felix Dennis. Felix is the founder of Maxim Magazine and by most definitions, assuming I take what he’s said in his book as truth, very wealthy. Felix made some interesting points. He smacks you in the face right from the beginning with his definition of wealth. He shows a chart that outlines what his experience has taught him it means to be wealthy. On this chart he considers $100,000-$400,000 in liquid cash to be “the Comfortable Poor”. And you cannot reach the level of “Comfortably Rich” until you have $100 million-$300 million in cash-in-hand money.
For the record, I’m not “Comfortably Rich”. Further, I’m not sure I’m driven by a number to have in the bank any longer. There are throngs of people in my past life who would be very surprised by the previous statement I made. But here’s the thing, the more I read about the super-rich, the more I spend time with those who have A LOT by definition, the more I discover they are often not very happy people. Yes, money can buy you a lot more happiness than poverty. And to be clear, I’m not professing poverty here. I’m a fan of what money can do and I truly enjoy using it as a scoreboard and a tool to achieve my goals. What I’ve come to believe is more and more is that success is found in the journey towards your goal.
Felix is at his most vulnerable and honest point with his readers about the true price to be paid for attempting to become rich. In that chapter he quotes Homer: “And Achilles replied, “Do not speak soothingly to me of death, glorious Odysseus. I would rather live on earth as a bondsman to the meanest peasant, than to be king of the shadows.”
Homer got it right. My grandfather always told me we should get to retire first, then go to work, Amen! I’ve spent so much time on the hunt for money and that time cannot be returned to me. At 44, I’m so very blessed. I love my God, I love my life, my family and my business and most importantly I love in that order. I’ve found that the wisdom I have learned from Dave Ramsey about wealth to be prudent. I own none of this stuff. It’s all temporal. I’m but a manager of the things God entrusts to me.
Get clarity on your goals, work like an S.O.B. to determine the best way to achieve them. Then go to work and enjoy this day. Trust in God and find ways to enjoy the journey. If you have been struggling to gain traction, I can help. Schedule a free strategy session today to learn how you CAN have the law firm you want without giving up your life to get it.
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