What does enjoying your moment mean to you? Is it going for a vacation to your dream location? Or getting yourself a new gadget? Or treating yourself to a weekend at a resort to escape from the busy world. The good news is that whatever enjoyment means to you, you can experience it alongside building wealth for your future.
Yes, you heard me right! You can have both at the same time. You don’t have to give up one for the other. I find it very amusing when some people think that in order to build wealth, they need to sacrifice all fun and enjoyment. While financial literacy encourages delayed gratification, it also helps you achieve both enjoying your present and building wealth for your future.
So, how can one achieve this balance? Today, I will be sharing three tips to help you enjoy your moment without sacrificing your future wealth.
It starts with planning- This point is very important. You need to plan and plan adequately. The first thing is to identify the enjoyment you wish to experience and make it a goal. For example, if it’s travelling for a vacation, your goal becomes, “To travel to Dubai in August 2023”. From my example, you can see the clarity in terms of destination and time.
The next thing is to find out how much it would cost to achieve this. After doing this, you have to split this amount across your income over the months. This process depends on your monthly income and how much you can save out of it towards this goal. I don’t advise you to choke up your monthly income by trying to save so much within few months. Either you start planning/saving on time or you move the specified time to a later date. If you have to save for up to six months, take your time, and do not pressure yourself. This is where delayed gratification comes in, by giving yourself some time while you save and achieve your desired goal.
Experience enjoyment one goal after the other- This is one mistake with our generation, people want to achieve so many things at the same time, even when their income cannot accommodate it. My advice is to prioritize what enjoyment means to you and the order by which you want to enjoy it. Back to our example, let’s also assume that you also desire to buy a recent model of a brand of phone. Unless, your income can accommodate saving for both goals at the same time, you may have to prioritize which should come first, then you move on to the second goal after the first has been met. The reason why some of your desires seem impossible is because you want to achieve so much in a short time.
Do not divert your monthly investments for your enjoyment- I always advise people to invest a portion of their income monthly (at least 10-20%) towards investment for future wealth. Even though enjoyment seems like an investment towards your happiness, these are two different types of investments and shouldn’t be mixed up. Ensure you save for differently for your enjoyment goal without compromising your investment goals. This is why I advise that you take your time to save up for your enjoyment. This way, you wouldn’t be sacrificing your future wealth for your present enjoyment.
I hope these three tips prove helpful in helping you enjoy your moment without your compromising your future wealth.
To your financial independence and freedom!
