Time Spent Worrying About Money

Just about every month, I get pitched some cool, new investment opportunity, whether it’s my brother-in-law wanting to buy real estate or a friend starting a legitimate business.

I used to go down these financial rabbit holes…

WEEKS OF MY TIME.

TALKING ABOUT IT.

RESEARCHING IT.

CONSIDERING IT. 

But one day, in an act of frustration, I paused and asked myself some pretty basic questions.

Why am I doing this? What does money mean to me?

I grabbed a Sharpie and wrote the answer on a piece of card stock: TIME WITH MY FAMILY, MAINLY OUTSIDE, AND SERVING IN MY COMMUNITY AND MY CHURCH.

Now, every time a new opportunity comes up, I don’t have to spend so much time thinking about it. I’ll just glance up at that card and ask: Can I be sure this investment opportunity gets me closer to those goals?

When I’m honest with myself, the answer is almost always, “No.”

I started calling that card my one-page plan. But you can call yours whatever you want—a statement, a touchstone, a reminder of what you said was important to you when you were thinking clearly.

Even if it’s just a sticky note on your laptop, that’s better than having no plan, and it will save you hundreds of hours each year.