Money & Mindfulness by Lisa Messenger

Author:Lisa Messenger [Messenger, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Personal Growth - Success
ISBN: 9780994310958
Publisher: The Messenger Group
Published: 2015-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

OOPS, DID I BUY THAT?

A few months after launching The Collective, when we moved back into our new, shiny headquarters after renovation, I decided to buy a treadmill to keep in the office. I’m an exercise fiend and I thought being able to do a workout while holding meetings sounded like a great idea. I also thought it was a great idea to spend AU$1600 on a super-duper, high-tech, bells-and-whistles model, even though at that point I was using a laptop nicknamed “the tank” because I insisted I couldn’t afford an upgrade.

But, the treadmill was an investment, right? I kept repeating this as the delivery man put it together on the office balcony, right in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass window of the marketing department. Who doesn’t want their boss running on a treadmill right in front of them as they’re trying to work? Yet, they needn’t have worried because as I type this two years later, the treadmill has never been turned on. Not once. Not ever. However, it has been rained on incessantly, so is now ruined to the point that we can’t even sell it. And it’s so heavy that none of my team would be capable of lifting it, which means that I’ll have to pay someone to dismantle and remove it (unless any of you would like to volunteer?).

Why am I telling you this? Because it’s an example of the trap many of us fall into if we don’t constantly check in with our ‘why’ when it comes to earning, spending, splurging, saving and scrimping. I’m glad in a sense that the treadmill is almost impossible to move because it serves as a personal reminder of how not to throw away money. I’m not saying a treadmill is a bad purchase, in fact, it would be a perfect personal investment for some people. But for me it was totally irrelevant to my ‘why’. I bought it in a moment of excitement because I was determined to jump-start a revamped fitness regime, even though it was totally at odds with my true self (for a nature lover like me running on a treadmill is not all that enjoyable, as I’d far rather be outside feeling the grass under my feet).

I love the quote from American author James W Frick who says, “Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what they are.” I truly believe that money can make people happy if people learn to both earn it and spend it in line with their true purpose, values and ethos. On the flip side, money can trigger huge unhappiness if the income and outgoings of their revenue streams are out of alignment with who they really are.

There are multiple studies that show spending money on experiences brings more immediate and enduring happiness than purchasing an inanimate object. I’m not going to tell you what your ‘why’ should be – you know it deep down, when you

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