Inspirational quotes for the start of the year: Part 2 of 3

Last week, we looked at why it’s important to set goals for the future instead of being stuck in the past:

Whatever happens over the next ten years, if history is any guide at all, the year we just finished will be mostly a faded memory. What will matter more than what just happened is what we decide to do with where we are.

We also looked at the importance of choosing goals that make sense for you:

It’s almost always better to be working for something you care about, even if it’s harder, than to drift through something that just leaves your days feeling empty. The key is to make changes with some financial responsibility and intelligent long-term plans.

For many people, the number one goal is to improve their finances:

Get in control of your finances. Spend less than you earn, have a healthy emergency fund, and know that your world won’t fall apart if you were to lose your job.

The first step is to cut back on your spending:

Try to identify patterns in your impulsiveness. If you can see particular circumstances that cause you to engage in the worst excesses of your impulsive behavior, strive to cut those circumstances out of your life or at least reduce their frequency. 

This requires you to stop caring about what other people think:

The more agnostic you are about the true inner character of other people, the less uptight you’ll be about how you’re being perceived. Great virtues and great faults co-exist in the same people, and every one of us, if we look inward, can see the proof. 

Indeed, it’s good to realise that external signs of success can be misleading:

Wealth, in fact, is what you don’t see. It’s the cars not purchased, the diamonds not bought, the renovations postponed, the clothes forgone, and the first-class upgrade declined. It’s assets in the bank that haven’t yet been converted into the stuff you see.

Understanding this allows you to stop spending for today and start saving for tomorrow:

No matter what, it’s a good idea to save for the future, because you’ll always have big things you want to achieve. It’s just a good idea to not lock down those future plans unless those big goals are inevitable.

This means finding valuable things to do that don’t cost money:

You don’t have to spend money to fulfill short term wants – all they’ll give you is a little burst of happiness, and you can find those happiness bursts for free.

It’s also about doing what will benefit you in the long term:

Find things to fill your day that you enjoy right now that also have a long-term benefit or lead to a long term result that you actually want. Start analysing your day through that lens constantly, and you’ll find that before long it starts to become natural.

So, instead of always wanting more, learn to be happy with your life as it is:

The best way to achieve your financial goals is to have a life you’re happy with right now that simultaneously points you toward your goals. 

Fact is, who you are doesn’t depend on what you own:

You do not have to be frugal to be a good person, nor does a good person have to be frugal. However, being frugal tends to encourage values that are considered “good” in our society, and the natural overlap of values that people consider virtuous tends to nudge people toward frugal living.

Also, happiness doesn’t come from external things:

Happiness isn’t something we chase or achieve but rather something we manufacture. In other words, you don’t find happiness — you make it.

This means that you are enough as you are and already have everything you need:

Happiness doesn’t come from merely imitating what other people have. Happiness comes from having an internal definition of what we need to live and what we need to be happy, and having insatiable desires is guaranteed to detract from that.