The Problem with Money

Stated simply, the problem with money is how we perceive its role in our lives. Most of us are obsessed with it, but none of us really wants or needs money. We just want what we get from it. Money gives you the ability to make choices relative to your needs and desires. We spend most of our lives either working to get it or thinking about how to get more of it, but how much do we really need?

The amount of money needed is defined by how we set up our own needs hierarchy. This slide shows a spin on Mazlow's Needs Hierarchy. On the left, is the traditional Mazlow's Hierarchy of Needs from basic survival needs to safety and security to love and belonging to self-esteem and ultimately to self actualization. On the right, is how we use money to meet these needs, and I'm calling them surviving, securing, thriving, growing and progressing in society.

However, everyone's definition of needs is a bit different. People around the world live very full lives with a lot less than we have in the US. The average annual income in the US in 2017 was approximately $60,000. To put this in perspective, the average annual income in the world in 2017 was approximately $15,000. However, 1 in 10 people on Earth survive on only $2 a day. So, the end result is that an annual income of only $32,000 puts you in the top 1% of income earners in the world! I suspect that most of the consumers of this blog are global one percenters when it comes to annual income. So what's your relationship with needs and money?

Money is also a measure of value. So, if you want more of it to help you at the highest level of needs and advancing society, stop obsessing over it and focus on creating more value.

Value is defined by society. What are you willing to pay to have someone make you a taco, cut your hair, or whatever? Even in these examples, the people who deliver these products and services are always looking for ways to add value in exchange for more money and why not? So, if you don't like the amount of money that's flowing through your life, then look at the value you're creating, not how you perceive value, but how the society in which you live perceives value.

It doesn't matter how much you've spent on your education or how many years you've been developing skills in your chosen area. If society no longer values what you've been spending your life doing, then you need to transition to something else. If you want more money to continue to flow in your direction, don't waste your time justifying why society should pay you what you think you're worth. That path just leads to pain and frustration. There are millions of ways to create value in the world and there are new ways emerging every day. So, what are you going to do to create value and contribute to progress in your society and the world?