-Jonathan Swift

I once read somewhere that having more money makes you more of the person you already are. So if you are generous, you will be generous when you have more money. And if you are selfish, you just end up being more selfish.

I think I believe this to be true.

After all, how many million and billionaires spend every waking moment trying to get more millions and billions? Not all, but plenty.

At what point does enough become enough?

The idea of having billions of dollars and still spending every waking second working to make more, has always perplexed me. I mean, sure, if you love what you do, then that makes sense, but plenty still neglect their health, friends and family even after they have more money than they’ll ever need. To me, that’s absurd.

Whatever.

You and I probably can’t relate to the million/billionaire, but we can definite relate to the getting of money. I also bet that plenty of us have misconceptions, bad habits, and unanalyzed desires relating to money.

You don’t have to be a billionaire to pursue money in an unhealthy way. There are plenty of people that make far less than millions that trade their health, neglect their friends and family, and otherwise have a severe lack of priority when it comes to money and the answer to the question, “What’s the point of life?”

I’ve been plenty guilty of this myself. But I’m aware of it, and I’ve made it a habit to always set aside time to be social. Also, I’ve always made health (specifically, sleep and nutrition) my upmost priority. If my body isn’t right, my mind hasn’t a chance in hell. This is why (plus the fact that I want to live a long time) I take a health-first approach to life. (Further, I get way more done when I make my health numero uno. I’m happier, more productive and get more done in less time than when I’m feeling like shit.)

This is a suggestion to do some introspection into your beliefs, habits and lifestyle pertaining to money. As I’ve written about before, “Knowing Thyself” is paramount to living a good life. And part of knowing thyself is having a healthy agreement with your work and money.