Chase Value, Not Money

Money makes the world go around. We are all focused on making money. It helps us live a comfortable life. Most people, most of the time think about making money. They also think that money is the path to happiness.

Now I am not here to tell you that you should become a monk and meditate all the time. There is nothing wrong with being rich. One should live a comfortable life because through work and labor, they have earned money and they have every right to live a life of comfort and luxury.

If you want to make more money, then instead of thinking about money all the time, think about creating value. Because money is just a representation of how much value you have created for other people in the world. There is a certain level of happiness and satisfaction that you will derive from helping other people live a better quality of life.

Think deeply about it. If you have a billion dollars, but there is no one else to provide any products and services, you will be poor. No one will cook for you, help with house cleaning, build a house for you, or build a car for you. If you are the only person on planet Earth, all the money in the world will not be enough for you to live a luxurious life.

The luxury and comfort are provided by the effort and hard work of other people around us. So having a large population is not a bad thing as most people think. Having a large population means that you have more people around you who are making products and services for you to make your life better. Everything that you see around you is made by others.

So even if you have money, it is your moral responsibility to create something of value for others. Whatever you want to do, you can do, but it should help others live a better life. It's only fair because they are helping you live a better life. Money is just a medium of exchange and a unit of account. Money itself doesn't help you live a better life.

I have saved enough money that I can continue my life at the current standard of living for the rest of my life. But I still work (like writing this article). Why? Because it gives me happiness and satisfaction to help other people (like you).

That's why I am not a fan of people who make money through inheritance, illegal means, or through bribes and corruption. I am also not a fan of people who call themselves "full-time traders" on the stock market. They might be buying and selling all the time and if they are smart enough, they will make money, but what they have created or produced to improve the lives of other people. If all the people in the world just buy and sell assets, and speculate on the price movements, who will run the companies, build the buildings, clean the floors, and run it?

I feel very fortunate to be born at a time when I can create value for other people by sharing my thoughts with them. There was no way to create such value 1000 years back. Even if language was being used, there was no way to send emails or publish blogs. But people still did it, such as writing on scrolls or tree bark.

Buddha's teachings have been transferred through his disciples across 25 centuries. But we still do not know if that's what Buddha said. That's the claim. Buddha did not have a way to publish blog posts and add signatures on the blockchain to prove that he was the one who wrote what he said.

Many successful people I know are not writers like me. They create value through other means, such as designing a landing page, making YouTube videos, or creating and managing performance ad campaigns for other people. These examples are just from the digital marketing space. There are plenty of other examples. You just need to look around you. Someone made the chair that you are sitting on. Someone made the screen you are reading this on. Someone made the internet through which this web page or email opens. Someone invented the electricity which powers the internet and your computer. The list goes on and on.

So don't just focus on making money. Focus on creating value for other people. The money will come to you if you add value to other people. Calculate how much wealth and value you are adding to the world, not to yourself. Some people donot have much personal wealth, but their work has added so much wealth to the world. They just didn't choose to monetize it. Monetizing your work is optional. However, creating value for others is not optional.

People who make money through illegal means, live on inheritance, or just laze away their days with some savings they have do not last long. The money in the family usually doesn't last more than 3 generations. The first generation makes money through some corrupt means, the second generation saves it but doesn't add to it and the third generation ends up spending it all because from the beginning they had the idea that they were born into a rich family. It's a predictable cycle.

That's why if you have kids, do not give them money. Instead, give them this mindset of adding value to the world. The money will come but the idea of money and value should be differentiated. Your bloodline will last for 100s of generations. That's true wealth.