Money Dials: How to discover the things you LOVE spending on

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Candidate,

Why does everyone feel so comfortable being TRAPPED by money?

Is it normal to fixate on tiny expenses?

Or to turn worry into jokes like, "Well, we'll never retire, so it doesn't really matter!" HaAahAhAa!

NO! That's not normal. To so many of us, money represents "no" — no spending, no joy, never enough.

But what if we flipped that?

What if we had enough time to zoom out and think about how money could represent "yes" to us? YES to traveling, YES to eating out, YES to buying back our time.

It's hard to imagine when we're stuck thinking about rent and student loans and basic necessities. Sometimes, you need a nudge to zoom out and think bigger. That's why you're reading this message right now.

Give me 5 minutes and I promise you'll think about your money differently.

I'll be doing live events around the USA this year. Come join me.

This year, I'm hosting live events around the country for my 2020 Earnable Tour. In this email, I'll show you an exercise I often do when I speak.

Question #1: "What do you LOVE spending money on?"

You already know the answer — it's the one that instantly comes to mind for you. Don't overthink it!

We all intuitively have something we LOVE spending money on. Not "like," but LOVE.

Mine is convenience — I LOVE waking up and knowing my apartment is clean, my food is ready for tomorrow, and my calendar is perfectly organized. I could go blind and I would know exactly where my salt is.

I know. I sound like a serial killer. But it's what I love.

OK, what do you LOVE spending money on?

Pause and answer this in your head now…

Here are some answers from when I asked this on Twitter:

BTW, the 3 most common answers are, in order:

Eating out
Travel
Health/wellness

There are others like convenience, relationships, experience, and on and on.

But don't worry about other people. What's yours?

And now the bigger question:

Question #2: "What if you could QUADRUPLE your spending on that?"

OK, here's where the magic happens. So many people are stuck in the day to day that they're always playing DEFENSE, not OFFENSE. They can't conceive of spending more because they've only been taught to spend less.

You know how I say "spend extravagantly on the things you love, as long as you cut costs mercilessly on the things you don't"? Have you ever wondered what "extravagantly" really means?

Ask yourself: What if you quadrupled your spending on the things you love. What would it look like? What would it feel like?

This is why I call this concept Money Dials. Each of us has something we love spending on — something we can "turn the dial" up, all the way to 10.

When I ask people this question, you can actually see their jaws drop because they've never thought about spending more on the things they love.

Here's one of my favorite memories of asking this question, from a talk I was giving in LA:

Young woman: "I LOVE buying clothes. I love getting the boxes, I love opening them, I even love returning clothes that don't fit."

Me: "I love it!" [Entire crowd is loving her energy.] "Where do you shop?"

Young woman: "Topshop."

Me: "OK, awesome. Now, what if you could quadruple your spending? What would that look like? What would it feel like?"

Young woman: [Silence for 5 full seconds.] "I'd have TONS OF BOXES EVERYWHERE!!!"

[Entire crowd cracks up.]

Me: "Where would you shop?"

Young woman (confused): "Topshop."

Do you see what her answer reveals?

Most people limit themselves to thinking linearly. If they love eating out, they say, "I'd eat out four times a week."

This young woman thought she would shop at the same store — just buy more.

They never realize that as you turn the dial up, you can spend more in ways that completely change your experience.

I challenged her. Would you really still shop at the same store? What about a different store? A different style? Hell, if you really turned your Money Dial all the way up, you could fly to Italy, visit the factory of your favorite Italian brand, and have something custom created for you.

Her eyes lit up.

For the guy in DC who loved eating out and said "I'd eat out 4x/week" (more linear thinking), I pushed him, too. He got quiet, then admitted he has a list of Michelin-starred restaurants he'd love to work his way down.

I asked him, "Who would you take with you?"

"My family," he said.

"Why?"

"Because they've never been able to afford to eat at places like that."

Now that's a Rich Life.

You can see this experiment happening at my talk at Google:

My talk at Google: Skip to the section on Money Dials

The key takeaways:

This is a completely different way to look at spending on the things you love.

You already know your Money Dial. Now, if you imagine spending extravagantly on it, how do you feel? What does it look like?

If you love fitness, you don't just buy organic chicken. You could get a personal trainer and take a week-long yoga trip to India every year.

If you love food, you could sit in the chef's kitchen at your favorite restaurant...anywhere in the world.

If you love travel, you could bring your family with you and create a magical experience you'll remember forever.

In order to actually do this, you have to start doing things differently:

GET SPECIFIC. What do you LOVE?
TURN IT UP. What if you doubled your spending? Quadrupled? 10x'd your time and spending on what you loved? What does your life look and feel like then?

Start here, and you'll have a vision of what's possible.

Do it the usual way, and you'll be stuck worrying about $3 expenses for the rest of your life.

Do this exercise right now! It can change your life.
What if you could quadruple your spending on something you love — traveling, time with your family, dining out, skiing, whatever? What would that look and feel like?

Reply and let me know. I'll be your partner for this activity.