Managing Your 3 Resource Systems – MONEY

NOTE: The prologue of this post (in orange text) is the same in all three posts under the general title “Managing Your 3 Resource Systems.” Topic-specific content is below that.

A lot of people are looking for the magic key that will open a door to the meaning and joy of life. Unhappy people are convinced they will find this key one day, which is why happiness eludes them. It’s not actually something you can find, and there is no magic key or secret door. Looking for happiness assumes that you do not presently know where it is, when in fact it’s not anywhere at all.

Happiness arises as you learn how to master the three resource systems of your life: Time, Money, and Health. Again, you won’t find happiness some day in the future, and neither can it be purchased or achieved. When we talk about mastering these three resource systems, don’t make the mistake of thinking that this, finally! is your magic key.

Happiness is a measure of the flow, quality, and connection of your life to what really matters. It’s not that getting rich will make you happy, but it is true that happy people are better at mastering the flow of wealth in their lives. It’s not that being in perfect health will make you happy, but it is true that happy people are better at mastering the quality of health known as vigor, which enables them to enjoy more of what life has to offer.

And it’s not that you need more time to get happy – and believing so is a sure-fire setup for disappointment, but it is true that happy people are better at mastering the connections over time to what supports the life they really want.

After we take a look at the separate elements in the mastery of each of the three resource systems of Time, Money, and Health we will step up a level to talk about the meta-skill of managing your life across all three. Mentallurgy LifeChange teaches that Time, Money, and Health are really just different transformations of the energy known as consciousness. By managing your balance across the three systems, you will be cultivating the conditions that allow happiness to arise.

Money

Unhappy people frequently complain about not having enough money. They complain about what they have to do to get it, how hard it is to hang on to it, and how fast it seems to leak away – usually before the month is up and bills are coming due!

What they don’t understand is that the problem they’re complaining about – always falling short on money – is really only a symptom of the REAL issue. And what is that? They don’t understand that money is something that flows (as currency). They’re trying to “get” something and “hang on” to something that is essentially immaterial – a little like filling a bucket with river water and thinking you can walk off with the river itself.

When you think of money, don’t reduce it to dollars and cents, to how much you have or lack. Think of it rather as a stream of energy – a transformation of consciousness – that flows very much like a river of water. There are four principal actions related to this energy stream called money, and if you can manage them together as a system, money will flow to your values and dreams instead of eroding your happiness and peace of mind.

When you earn money, its currency flows toward you. Don’t grasp at it; just let it come. Most people earn money by working in a job or professional career, and a lot of them make the mistake of seeing their work as just a means to get money: work = paycheck. No higher purpose, no deeper passion; just the paycheck. As you might guess, they don’t really enjoy their work and try to get by doing as little as they have to in order to stay employed.

In Mentallurgy LifeChange, work without purpose is one of the “Three Hells.” Love without freedom and life without meaning are the other two.

But let’s stay focused on the flow of money for now. When you earn it, money flows toward you. Then what? Well, one subsequent action might be that you spend it, which is when money flows away from you in exchange for things you need or want. It is common sense that you can’t spend money you don’t already have, but our credit economy has made it possible for people to do just that. Spending more than you earn is how you create the drain of debt, which will pull down the quality of your life faster than you expect.

Another action in the resource system of Money is to put it aside for later. This is when you save money, typically with the objective of having a reservoir available for emergencies (repairing and replacing things; unplanned out-of-pocket expenses) or for something you really want in the future.

By the way, all the financial gurus out there will advise that you keep an “emergency fund” stocked and protected for things you can’t plan for or predict. Not having one is another reason unhappy people often find themselves drowning in debt.

Let’s pause to say something quickly about debt, since you’ll sometimes hear a distinction made between “good” and “bad” debt. Examples of the first (good) type of debt are a home mortgage or education loans – but you need to be careful! These are regarded “good” because owning a home and getting a degree are also investments, where taking on debt makes it possible for you to increase your net worth or earning potential over time. But even these can take you down the drain if you don’t manage them well.

“Bad” debt goes by the name of consumer debt and includes things like credit cards and emergency (e.g., “payday”) loans. If you’re not paying off a credit card at the end of the month, the compounding monthly interest will soon enough make you a slave to the creditor.

Responsibly managing a credit card does have the benefit of building your credit score over time, but all the benefits and bonuses they attach to becoming a credit slave need to be seen as the lures they are. One impulsive “bite” will have you hooked.

So, in its flow as currency money comes to you as you earn it, goes away from you as you spend it, and is channeled into a protected reservoir when you save it. A fourth and final action inside the resource system of Money is that you can also invest it.

Investing money is similar to saving it, in that it is set aside and at least temporarily out of your pocket. But whereas saving money could be simply sticking it a sock drawer, investing your money is a way it can earn more money for you, in the form of interest or dividends, for example. When you invest money, you willingly accept a level of risk associated with that particular investment vehicle. A bank account pays very little interest because it’s more secure; a venture fund will pay you much more – but there’s also a greater risk of losing money in the deal.

The balance of actions inside the resource system of Money – earning it, spending it, saving it, and investing it – needs (first of all) to keep you out of debt, since that’s a drain on your wealth, freedom, and joy in life. You really don’t want to be spending your money on servicing debt!

But exactly how these four actions are balanced will be determined by your short- and long-term goals. (Click here for more about these and other actions inside the resource system of Time.)

What do you need today? What will you need in three months? Where do you want to be in five years? How about ten years from now? Are you planning NOW for retirement?

How can you increase your earning power? Where can you control or cut back on spending? What do you need to start saving so that you can make progress into the life you really want? Some of what you save might be invested in order to grow your wealth even faster, which could then be used to invest in the lives of others as well.