“I want a big house, a nice car, lots of money, and a wonderful spouse!” This statement is typically what a person decides will make them happy—this is their version of happiness.
If everyone dreams of this amazing life, then why do so many fall short? Well, happiness isn’t free. Happiness is a combination of choosing what will make you happy and working towards that goal.
My wife and I began our financial independence journey a little over two years ago. Over this small timeframe, we paid off all of our debt and invested $170,000 into our dividend portfolio. I have also created an income stream from writing and releasing books.
Do What You Love or Love What You Do?
I envision our life together as a straightforward affair. We are on a white sand beach with our kids and grandkids, and we are filthy rich. A simple life indeed. I understand that today, at age 40, that I have to build these income streams to happiness now.
Nobody is coming to save me. No one is going to airdrop me a crate with $1 million. If I want to have passive income from retirement income, business, real estate, crypto, and investments, I must learn, create, and execute my plan today.
However, most people (97%) will never understand that they control their destiny. As a 40-year-old, I see my peers going on expensive trips and buying nice things. They are living their dream life now. We are thrilled now, but we are preparing ourselves to be even happier in the future.
You see, we are postponing (or delaying) a lot of our gratification. I would love to go back to Turkey with my wife next year. However, then we would both have to rush back and return to work. If we wait five years, we will both be fully retired, and we can stay for as long as we want.
For some reason, people want to work until they are 65-70 years old. I can see no other explanation for spending so much money in their 40s. Maybe I see the world in a different light.
“Happiness isn’t free” is an expression that means we have to sacrifice something to be truly happy. My wife and I met in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, in 2006. She spoke no English when we met. She now works a great job from home and manages our rentals. She is an amazing woman, and I love her more than anything in this world X10.
Become the CEO of Your Life
So many people I meet want to have the perfect spouse out of the box. They want their spouse to be educated, making good money, have no kids, be sexy as hell, etc. They don’t want to sacrifice anything to meet the perfect person—the perfect person for them.
So many people want to have vast streams of passive income, where they can stay home and have money falling from the sky. But passive income takes active work, at least upfront. The way to build up these income streams is to learn about them and then create them. There is no other option.
There is no easy answer. When I started my blog, it wasn’t good at all. I created artwork for my articles, and it was terrible—like using stick figures. But I had to start somewhere. I knew that I wanted to have passive income from royalties. I didn’t want to do YouTube, art, or music, so I chose writing.
I didn’t choose writing because of some deep passion or self-desire to write; I chose it because my future on the beach requires it. Now, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore writing and the creative process. I would have never guessed I would feel this way. But I jumped in headfirst.
Minimalism: 7 Ways it Leads to Financial Freedom
And that is the difference between you (hopefully not you in particular) and me. I want something extraordinary, passive income and being with the love of my life, so I am going for it. I understand that my wife and I cannot be on the beach without money. I can be on the beach on Saturdays and Sundays and continue to work, or I can live on the beach my whole life if I set up passive income streams. I know which one I choose.
Now, what is your rich life? How does love come into play? How does money factor into your future? If you and your spouse love working and will continue to do so forever, then that’s a great life as well. Every single person is different.
But if you see my wife and me chilling on the beach for three months straight when we are 48 years old, don’t be mad at us. We understood that being happy on the beach wasn’t free. We sacrificed our time, energy, and efforts to create income streams to allow us to be on the beach. What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve your dreams?
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Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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