Day 308: On Not Having Money

“If only I had more money” is the easiest way to postpone the intense self-examination and decision-making necessary to create a life of enjoyment — now and not later.

—Tim Ferriss 308

It’s easy to say that you don’t have money and consider it the ultimate excuse as to why you aren’t working on your goals.

I don’t have money, so I won’t start exercising because I can’t afford fitness equipment.

I don’t have money, so I won’t start saving money because how can I save money if I don’t have it?

I don’t have money, so I won’t start eating more healthily because healthy food is too expensive.

Is it really true that nobody has ever become fit without having loads of money? The marketing techniques of the fitness industry lead you to think that expensive gear is needed to get fit, but many do without it (often as their own choice), and are more than fine.

Are you really unable to save even one dollar a day, just to establish a new positive habit? Are you saying that your every single purchase is necessary and can’t be reduced even by a small fraction?

Is healthy food really more expensive than junk food? Ask any person taking hypertension or diabetes medication — caused by their own bad dietary choices — whether they think that eating junk food was a more economical choice. You don’t need to eat all organic or shop in expensive stores to eat healthily .

Using money as an excuse is taking the easy way out, defaulting to mental laziness rather than seeking a solution. True, it helps you avoid some effort and hard thinking today, but costs you future improvements in your life and leads to a victim mentality.