I promise this isn’t one of those get rich quick schemes. I am not telling you to invest in GameStop or Bitcoin, and I am not trying to sell you my course on how to house hack your way into more debt than anyone should be able to stomach. I am here to tell you that you could be a millionaire today! Or rather live like a millionaire.
Why do we all want to be a millionaire anyway? The reason is the freedom that the money provides. It would allow you to be more confident in asking for time off, because if they say no, who cares, you’ve got a million dollars to fall back on. It would allow you to switch careers into something you are truly passionate about. It allows you to worry less about running into financial troubles and to take that trip to the country you’ve always wanted to see. In short, having a million dollars in the bank lets you live the life that you want.
Why not live like that now?
Why can’t you live like a millionaire right now? Sure, maybe you can’t buy the new car you want (you probably don’t need it), or upgrade to the bigger boat (you definitely don’t need it), but there are small changes that you can put into effect in your life right now. First, however, we need to figure out what our ideal life would look like if we did have that freedom.
Your Ideal Day
Let’s start by outlining, in as much detail as you can, your ideal day. This could be a once in a lifetime day, or could be what you want your average day to day to look like. Pay attention to which one jumps out at you, it likely tells you what your life is missing right now. If the once in a lifetime day catches your attention, you probably want a big change in your life, something new and exciting, don’t just brush this off, it will keep nagging at you until something changes. If you are looking to improve your day to day life, your probably like me (at my current state, but I am always up for an adventure) and are looking for some routine to help with productivity and daily enjoyment.
My ideal day looks something like this:
Wake up at 6:00 am, feed my cats, put in my contacts, and brush my teeth (I’ll save you the details about the rest of my morning bathroom routine). Go outside on the porch for twenty minutes of yoga and a ten minute meditation. Make a simple breakfast, a bagel and banana, and go for an hour long bike ride. Come home, take a cold shower, enjoy some tea and possibly a second breakfast with my girlfriend. Pet the cats (very important) and start my workday. In an ideal world this would be running my own business, something online that can be done from anywhere in the world. Right now however, it is going to work (I can’t complain about my job, I get to be outside all the time, the pay is good, and the work life balance is much better than most). Let’s say that in my ideal day I am a writer (I’ve never been good at writing but it does intrigue me), I work for a few hours on my latest project, researching and writing, then when I hit a roadblock in my work, I go for a walk. Walks always allow me to clear my head and take a step back, often offering new ideas and solutions. After, I come home and sit outside to read or write, thinking about the ideas that came up during the walk. I’ll make some lunch, maybe a turkey sandwich or a salad. Next, I’ll head to the gym or if it’s a nice day, I’ll go for a hike. For me, a hike is even better than a walk around the neighborhood, it really gets the brain juices flowing. Then, I’ll come home, eat dinner with my girlfriend and finish the day off sitting outside or by the fireplace reading before bed.
That sounds pretty good to me, I think I could do that for five days a week, but I don’t currently. Here are some simple steps I can take to fashion my life closer to my ideal day:
- Wake up at 6:00 am every day: Currently, I wake up anywhere between 6:00 to 7:30.
- Go for a bike ride before work: Currently, my bike has a flat tire I have not fixed, so step one: fix the tire.
- Get more serious about starting my own company: Taking steps to start the business rather than sitting and thinking about starting it.
- Be more consistent with the gym: I currently go somewhere between one to three times a week.
- Read more: I spend a lot of my free time reading, but I also get distracted by YouTube. I think YouTube can be a very valuable resource, but I need to cut back on my usage.
Boom, and just like that I have a list of goals that I can take action on to start living like a millionaire. What does your list look like?
Stop What You Are Doing
The better question to ask yourself is, what would I stop doing if I had a million dollars?
Go back to your ideal day, how does it differ from the day you just had? What are some of the things you did today that aren’t in your ideal day? Did you enjoy doing them? If they weren’t in your ideal day then probably not. Would a million dollars allow you to stop doing them?
The biggest thing that would change for me is having to drive to work, and then drive for work. I enjoy my job as I mentioned above, I get to be outside in the woods all the time (I work in forest management), but it requires a lot of driving. Most days driving takes up three hours of my working time (not including the commute to work, another forty minutes). In my ideal day, I drove maybe thirty minutes to go to the gym or on a hike (if it’s too far to ride my bike). If I was a millionaire I would drive a lot less often. How can I avoid this problem without having the money, and start living like my millionaire self today?
I’ve started to ride my bike (until it got a flat tire) more places around town, like the library and my cousins house. I’ve also shifted to working from home one day per week, which has allowed me to take on new responsibilities at work, keeping it interesting and helping to develop my professional skills.
Many of the things we dislike doing throughout the day are optional, even if they don’t seem like it. Replying to emails? Optional. Returning calls? Optional. Attending pointless meetings? You guessed it, optional. Many of these tasks can be pushed aside with clever reframing. Let’s look at how to do that.
People may be upset that you don’t reply right away to their emails. Your boss sends an email at 1:00 pm asking for an update on that project you are working on and you don’t reply until 10:00 am the following morning. They might be upset they didn’t get an update sooner. When they ask why you didn’t reply sooner, explain that you have started to check your email once a day (or however often you feel necessary) to limit the amount of time you spend switching from one task to the next. This has allowed you to focus more effort into that project and produce greater results.
This same method can be used for returning calls or attending meetings. If you explain that you are locked in on this project, working to make it the best it can possibly be, no one will have a problem with you taking a little longer to reply to them, or missing a pointless meeting (other than the people who are envious and wish they had the courage to do what you are doing).
You Are A Millionaire
There you go, now you are a millionaire, or at least living like one. Taking small steps everyday to live closer to the life you want will not only improve your happiness, but will improve your work and might open new doors you never thought possible. Eliminate the things you dislike and add more things that you enjoy into your day.
Live the life you want. Welcome to the Revolution.
