Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. Ecclesiastes 5:10
As you start your adult life, you should know the pursuit of money should not be a top priority.
Financial stability, yes.
Financial freedom, most definitely.
But letting money become the focus of your efforts is dangerous. Money can make life easier, no doubt about that, but don’t hold it responsible for your happiness because having money won’t make you happy. Period. Don’t believe me…just read what these people have to say about it.
Money should only be the fuel to drive more important goals you have to live a life of wealth and fulfillment. Only having the desire to be rich clouds all your decisions with the pursuit of financial gain. It will cause you to pursue careers you have no passion for, do things you don’t believe in and make choices you’ll end up regretting. While youth is an advantage you naturally possess, avoid wasting your time and your life by pursuing these things FIRST:
Passion
Most successful entrepreneurs are driven by passion. Passion to add value, change the world or fill a need drives them toward success. They fervently believe in what they’re doing and their work adds value to their life and the life of others. What are you passionate about? Forget for a minute whether your passion will earn you a lot of money. Think about what drives you and figure out where your passions meet your gifts and talents and pursue that.
Purpose
Why did God put you on this earth? God’s work is very intricate, detailed and deliberate; that includes you. You are his handy work and he has an assignment that only you can carry out. Pursuing your purpose will ensure you aren’t left empty, unused and unfulfilled.
Good character
If discipline, hard work, integrity and persistence aren’t top priority in your life, any money you manage to chase down will be squandered anyway creating an endless and miserable cycle of wasting and chasing money. Believe me…it’s a miserable cycle.
It takes discipline to focus on your goals when everyone else around you seems to be moving light years ahead of you.
It will take sacrifice and patience to deny some good money making opportunities for great life opportunities that will produce more than money.
Integrity will allow you to stay within your moral boundaries regardless of the payoff even when no one is looking. Integrity allows you peaceful sleep at night because you pass up the many opportunities available to be deceptive for financial gain.
Instead of waiting for opportunity to knock, plain old hard work and persistence keeps you pursuing and taking advantage of opportunities God has already put in place for you. Pursuing good character brings peaceful sleep and success without burdensome worry and anxiety.
Financial freedom
Each financial choice you make will have a cumulative effect on every area of your life. Understand that financial freedom means creating freedom in other areas of your life like what job you have, where you live, things you get to enjoy.
I’m convinced midlife crisis’ happen because people look up and realize their financial decisions have caused them to become trapped in their circumstances and they don’t have the freedom to live as they desire because at that point they are a slave to the many lenders (i.e, the mortgage company) that keep them in a demanding job and away from their families, passions and purpose.
Pursuing financial freedom means you stay clear of; debt, living above your means and spending needlessly. Pursue financial freedom and you’ll quickly realize peace of mind and the freedom to live as you desire without burden is so much more valuable than all the money in the world.
Christ
Last but definitely not least!! When it’s all said and done, pursuing Christ guarantees you complete the assignment he’s given you and experience the opportunities he’s created just for you. Pursuit of Christ means you desire so much more than money, you desire His will above everything else.
Warning: Don’t be like the rich young ruler who couldn’t leave his riches for Christ. He didn’t realize who was calling him. If he had known Christ owned it all and he would be an heir to everything Christ owned, he would have seen his own riches as nothing and followed the one who could give him infinitely more.
Pursuing Christ means you automatically pursue everything else on this list. Realize Gods plans for you are good, he wants to prosper and NOT harm you so even though God may lead you down a path that seems miles away from your idea of financial freedom, know that he wants more for you than you could ever want for yourself!
Learn Early, Live Wealthy Principles:
-Treat debt like cancer and eradicate it fast!
-Don’t spend today without first considering tomorrow
-Earn to increase your giving more than your living
Learn Early, Live Wealthy 