In Pursuit of Money and Meaning

Life’s Tuition Fees, Systems, What Could’ve Been, Energetic Currency, Intentional Money

I.

Life’s Tuition 

Valuable lessons are frequently accompanied by a cost. Each time I extract wisdom from a costly experience, I try to view that cost as a tuition payment. For example:

• We pay our tuition when our poor lifestyle choices lead to hefty medical bills and reduced productivity

• We pay our tuition when we speculate in the stock market with the aim to “get rich quick”

• We pay our tuition when we go through a divorce due to a marriage that never aligned with our gut instinct

• We pay our tuition when we make poor financial investments with questionable business partners

• We pay our tuition when living beyond our means forces us to sell possessions, take on extra work, or face potential bankruptcy

Tuition plays a crucial role in life’s significant lessons. When there’s a cost attached to a lesson, it tends to be taken more seriously. When medical students take out a quarter-million dollars in debt, you can be sure they will approach their education with utmost seriousness. Applying a similar “medical student mindset” to life’s major lessons is prudent to prevent repeated mistakes and consequences. When a big life lesson comes with a cost, see it as if you’re paying your tuition.

II.

Systems

The most costly lesson I’ve learned thus far originated from neglecting my passion and pursuing a career solely for financial security and societal expectations. The tuition I paid manifested as lost wages for over a year. I’ve (hopefully) learned my lesson.

In Quit Your Job, I wrote about the harmful nature of high-paying, soul-crushing careers. It’s easy to become trapped in a job due to its pay, prestige, or security. However, our jobs do not define us; we define our jobs. We each have a dharma – a divine calling or Duty – to fulfill. The only way to discern our purpose in life is by breaking free from the systems that entangle us, whether in the form of a corporate structure, a toxic relationship, or a corrupt mindset.

Not everyone needs to physically extract themselves from a situation—such as an uninspiring job—and bear the tuition that I did. Some may be able to emotionally or mentally distance themselves enough from their system to consciously uncover their calling outside of it.

Systems can serve as distractions from the challenging choices we need to make. If you’re like me, you might have entered a corporate system to avoid the risk of pursuing a creative passion. Or perhaps you entered a toxic relationship to sidestep the risk of dating. You could’ve even entered a cycle of binge eating to avoid confronting your feelings (I’ve been there, too). Any organized group, practice, or procedure—whether positive or negative—can be considered a system.

When we bravely choose to leave the harmful system we’re in, we realize that true fulfillment lies beyond its confines. We don’t need the system, and the system doesn’t need us. 

III.   

What Could’ve Been

It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.

Attributed to Seneca

I used to believe that money would give me purpose. If only I made enough money, then I could dedicate some time towards figuring out what I should do with my life, I thought. Only recently have I come to realize that most people believe this untruth. Many people find themselves stuck in unfulfilling jobs, anticipating retirement as the moment when they can finally explore their true passions. However, by the time retirement arrives, they are worn down. Having ignored their true calling and pursued financial success as a false idol for decades, they lost sight of what lights them up. The excitement they once had about uncovering their “true self” in retirement fades, and they’ve become more interested in leisure and relaxation than embracing new opportunities aligned with an innate purpose.

I don’t blame them; they’re stronger than I am. I couldn’t endure the decades-long grind in the corporate world. I fear I would end up like the colleague who suffered a heart attack at forty-seven, just shy of retirement. While my colleagues would pity me, I know the consequences would result from my own choices. Intuition doesn’t lie.

We all have a choice: Daringly pursue our dreams or focus on amassing wealth. There’s no universally correct answer, and no judgment is passed. The only person we must reconcile with regarding our own decisions is our older self—sitting in a recliner chair, engrossed in Jeopardy! reruns, and contemplating the possibilities that “could’ve been.”

IV.   

Energetic Currency

Money has emotional energy*, therefore, it has power. For example: 

• When you lose money, you feel bad. Accumulating a $340 Costco bill doesn’t always evoke positive feelings, and in such instances, you may find yourself meticulously reviewing the receipt for errors. Because spending that large sum didn’t sit right, you might put off all other purchases for the day.

• When you receive money, you feel good. Witnessing your biweekly paycheck entering your bank account creates a feeling of security and gayety. Because many believe that the only real security is financial security, their fixation on increasing earnings strengthens when they receive money.

Our feelings about money can be viewed as a form of emotional energy. And like all emotions, we can either learn to master them or become slaves to them.

*When I say money has emotional energy, I do not imply that it has physical energy, measurable by the laws of physics. Instead, money has power in the hypothetical “emotional realm,” which we cannot quantify using physical measurement systems. If you know of a better way to describe this phenomenon, please reach out.

V.   

Intentional Money

The true reward of work is not what you get for it, but what you become by doing it.

Unknown (often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi)

Having said all this, I want to emphasize that money is undeniably important. Life becomes significantly more manageable and enjoyable when we’re not burdened with financial worries. However, money is not the ultimate solution to everything. It is a tool, but it’s also so much more than a tool.

Due to money’s profound impact on our emotions, we can use it in ways that bring us a sense of fulfillment. We can assign a purpose to our money—whether it’s contributing to a local animal shelter or food bank, assisting someone in the grocery line who’s unable to buy essentials, or supporting a struggling artist by purchasing their work. You don’t need to give away substantial amounts to experience money’s boundless emotional energy.

Understanding that money doesn’t inherently give you purpose, but rather, you assign it purpose, liberates you from its confines. In a perfect world, money should not make your decisions for you. Your intuition, your inner wisdom, should.