The Writer’s Coin

The purpose of this post is to look at the two scenarios I laid out earlier (winning a million dollars and being filthy rich), and analyzing how my choices in those two scenarios differ and what I can learn about this whole exercise.

First of all, one big difference was how specific my thinking was in the first situation. I had a set amount of money and as I began allocating it I became worried about running out or being irresponsible. I wanted to make sure I didn’t blow this incredible opportunity. When I pretended I was wealthy I was much less specific. I just pushed it as far as my imagination could take me. When there is no worrying about money, what else limits you? I didn’t even allocate amounts to what I was spending on. It’s “whatever it costs.”

I also had more plans with the wealth, which makes sense.

I think the most important thing that I encountered while doing this was the feeling I got while writing down things like “Quit my job” and “Write more,” “Work on the portfolio.”

It hit me that these are things I can do now, even without the money. I can also plan a trip to one of the places on my list and work hard to earn the money to get it. It’s on a different scale, but the possibility is still there.

One last thing: with the million-dollar scenario I actually felt stressed. It was like an episode of Deal or no Deal. Here was a great opportunity and I didn’t want to blow it. With the wealth scenario I just threw money around like it didn’t matter because it didn’t matter. It reminded me of Britney Spears and her infamous spending habits (around $700,000 a month in salary, of which she spent EVERY PENNY). You know what, I can see why. Why would she be worried about retirement when she has all the money in the world? Why concern yourself about those “little things” when you’re getting a monthly check for $700,000?

Why?

Well, us PF folks know exactly why, but having that kind of money at your disposal changes your mentality. Why be frugal? Why try to save money here and there when you won’t have enough years to spend a single percent of it?

Anyway, I’d be really interested to see if anyone else out there did this exercise and what they noticed afterwards. I found it to be incredible insightful. I learned about myself, things I should do right now despite any money concerns, and I have an idea of the kind of rich person I would be.

If I was.

Tags: money, wealthy