This video changed the way I think about money.
In it, Casey Neistat responds to the question: Can money solve your problems?
In short, he sums up his position with: “For most people who are broke, money will literally solve your problems…It’s hard to worry about how fulfilled you are when you can’t pay your rent or buy food.”
For years, I saw the pursuit of wealth as a greedy and icky game. I was living a contradiction—obsessing over personal finance books and YouTubers, while telling myself that more money wouldn’t make me happier.
It sounds stupidly simple, but this video showed me that it’s okay to want more money. It just depends on why we want it.
Increasing our income in the hopes of status or happiness is surely a dead end. Money doesn’t make us more fulfilled. But with good financial habits, it can allow us to do more things that fulfill us.
Since getting my business to a stable and profitable place, money has allowed me to:
Pay off debt—loans, programs, credit card.
Not stress about paying bills for months.
Buy food without counting every dollar.
Upgrade tech and essentials.
Hire people (my personal favorite).
In the past few months, I’ve hired a new life coach, a chess tutor, a designer for my book, and I plan to hire an editor and producer for the podcast I’m doing with one of my besties (stay tuned).
All that’s to say, more revenue has definitely made me happier. Not the money itself…but what it has allowed me to do.
So let me ask you: Do you want more money? Why? What would you do with it?
As always, I’d love to hear your answers.