I spend a lot of time talking about value in one form or another, and I think there are a couple reasons as to why it is such an important part of my life. This goes beyond the daily needs and personal desires I think though, and it dives into something larger perhaps. Or perhaps not.
For me at least, a few of the reasons it is such an important topic are:
- I grew up relatively poor and have a scarcity mindset
- My parents gave the constant sense of not having enough
- They were also terrible with the money they had
- I have worked in some way since I was twelve
- I do not feel comfortable speaking about money
- I have an adequate understanding of economics
- I understand how vital it is in today's world
- I believe it is necessary to improve our financial knowledge
- If we don't understand economic and financial basics, we are trapped
It provides a purpose.
This last one might sound strange, because I don't think that we should focus on money as a reason to live, but for me at least, I have been struggling for a long time with having a sense of purpose in my life. There are some broad guidelines I aspire to, like doing as little harm as possible and improving where I believe I can help, so as to leave the world a little better for having me in it, but that isn't concrete.
However, "making money" is something that can be tracked, counted, the progress and results are all feedback points that help understand our behaviors and ascribe it some kind of "success" rate. And, because money is a vital component of the modern world, since almost none of us can live completely self-sufficient, it is something that impacts on us at fundamental levels, even if differently depending on where we live.
Money buys opportunity.
In some places, enough money means having the opportunity for food and medicine. In another place it provides for a better education, or the chance to travel and experience what isn't available locally. With enough, it also gives opportunity to buy desires, and even help people out with accomplishing their dreams too. As I keep saying (for many years now), money is just a tool - how we use it is what makes the difference in outcome.
But, in order to use it, we have to have access to it in the first place. That means we have to learn how to make it, or acquire it on debt. For those who know how to make it, debt is a strategic risk, as it can be taken to finance a business or an investment into a generative portfolio of some kind. For those who don't know how to make enough of it, debt becomes a tool of enslavement by the lender, because the lender knows a way to make it.
For me, I don't have a lot of purpose in my life these days, and for the most part, I go through the motions of living a life, in the hope I can recapture something worth working for. Yes, I have my family, my wife and daughter to support in various ways, but that is not a personal purpose, it is external. And, even in the case of being there for them, "money" is likely one of the major factors, because it buys them opportunity. And "value" is something that I can provide, even if I am not here to do the work for it, as long as I have made some while I was, and invested it in a way that it is able to keep working in my place.
I think that this view of investing is something that people should visualize better, because many still think about it in terms of generating a "passive income", even though it is not. Yes, once the capital is invested and generating, it might be set and forget, however I see it as an extension of the work.
For example, I might spend a couple hours writing a post, and another hour commenting, and it will earn a total of 12 dollars worth of tokens, 6 HBD and 6 dollars worth of HIVE (about 20 HIVE today). In my neck of the woods, that is not very much. However, the monetary value of the work I do now depends on when I see the HIVE or HBD I earn. This is going to depend on the value of it at the time of selling, and what I did with it between. Curating will increase the token volume I hold, so that when price goes up, the value of what I hold is worth more. This is an investment with risks, because I could just sell all I get continuously, to ensure I get something for my troubles.
The dream would be that HIVE goes 20x or 50x, which supercharges the earnings now (if held), where a 12 dollar post today (assuming converted HBD to HIVE, would be worth between 250 - 1250 in the future. 20x is 6 dollar HIVE - which is very achievable given a decent crypto market run. 50x is 15 dollar HIVE - which is outlandish - but this is crypto after all - so technically possible.
You see? Things are countable. There is a solidity and security in working with numbers, that makes "purpose" easier to convey, as generating the tool can then be applied to all the other points of importance in our lives, whether known or unknown. Some people work and earn to pay a mortgage, get a car, buy medicine, or go on holiday - but a lot of what we end up using money for might be more unexpected. And, a lot of it goes toward development of ourselves and those we love in some way.
I am acutely aware that there might only be a short period of time where I am able to build for the provision of monetary support for my wife and daughter, so that gives me a sense of purpose to learn, earn and invest. It might not seem like this is where I should be spending my time, but the chance at some financial security for my family is valuable for me. Even if it is just a chance, and a slim one at that. I see purpose in understanding and trying to build some wealth, because it is a tool of opportunity.
If I do end up finding my purpose in life, the chances that having some money is more a help than a hinderance, is likely - even if the purpose is just to give it all away. But, if the purpose is to help build something, having tools that can buy goods and services to facilitate the process, is valuable too.
One question I might ask people is,
could you accomplish more toward your purpose in life, if you had more money?
I don't know what your purpose is, but could you better achieve it if you had less money?
I think these things are interesting to consider and discuss, because at least for the majority of us, we are looking for some kind of meaning in life and we are tied to the economy, and try as we might, it is very hard to have them live completely separate from each other.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
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