Search for Meaning

The key to success with personal finance

I became very interested in personal finance in 2008, when I lost my job. It was a huge shock, it was extremely stressful, but it put me on the path to financial freedom.

And for some reason, I never found saving and investing difficult. There was no sense of deprivation, and it wasn’t hard to be consistent.

But why?

In my opinion, learning a language or getting in physical shape/losing weight are very similar to personal finance, but I do struggle with those two in a way I didn’t with money.

I think I figured out the reason.

Man’s Search for Meaning

I’m reading Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning at the moment. It’s a wonderful, life-changing book and I am not sure why I haven’t read it before.

Frankl writes about his experiences in concentration camps and as a psychiatrist.

My main take away from the book is that it is vital for people to feel their life has meaning, that there is some purpose they are here to accomplish. If someone has a meaning, they can bear and experience almost anything. If someone has no meaning they will be unable to carry on.

The reason so many people seem to be unhappy in developed countries is because they don’t feel there is any meaning to their lives. In that state, no matter how comfortable or luxurious your life is there will be no joy or satisfaction.

My Purpose

The reason I found it so easy to save and get my finances in order is because I had a good enough reason. I didn’t want to feel the fear, the stress, the helpnessness of being in financial difficulties ever again.

Those feeling motivated me enough to save more than half our income for over a decade.

Because I had a good enough reason, it never felt like a sacrifice, but rather that I was working towards my goal. I wasn’t even saving, I was buying financial security and freedom.

What’s Your Purpose

So if you want to change your life, in financial or health or work or relationship terms, it might be worth thinking about why that is important to you before you start.

Getting really clear on your reasons, finding your meaning, might be the key to actually succeeding.

Change is hard, and not something you can achieve without a considerable effort.

Find your why and you will certainly achieve the what.

How about you? Are you working on anything at the moment? Thinking about making any changes in your life? Do you have a good enough reason?