I grabbed smoothies with a new friend today.
She’s a true international – born in Romania, raised in Portugal, lived in Dubai for 10 years – who told me about how she came to buy the investment properties she owns.
“You can’t do it just for the money,” she said. “We wanted to buy in a place we love, so we’d want to be there. The money would be a nice bonus.”
So they bought properties in Madeira and a gorgeous resort here in the Algarve.
It got me thinking about the things I do in my business that aren’t just for the money.
One of them is conversations.
Every day I invite people to talk with me. (My new local friend is one such person.) If I get the nudge, I follow it with something like:
“Hey, you seem cool! I’d love to know more about what you’re up to. Wanna chat?”
It’s rarely an invitation to try out my coaching or even a networking connection. It’s just genuine curiosity.
While these conversations have become a source of new clients over time, they’re not the most direct or efficient strategy. It even costs me money, if you consider that I could be selling or serving clients during that time.
So why do I do it?
Because building a business just for the money is a shit idea, in the long-term.
If you’re only doing it for the money, you don’t find it interesting, meaningful or fun. Without those things, it’s not sustainable. You’ll stop showing up. Or you come to resent it.
I happen to enjoy connecting with people. It’s fun! It’s a consistent source of insight, surprise and inspiration. I’m learning new things and gaining new perspectives, not to mention, making friends.
And as a happy bonus, it also builds my business.
The insights from our Love Money course keep coming for me, and one of them is this:
The short-cut to more money is enjoyment. It is both the purpose of your money desires and the way to achieve them.
What people want (and think money can give them) is a more enjoyable life.
But money can’t give you a feeling. It’s good for buying smoothies, cars, cruise tickets and for paying bills.
Enjoying this moment, on the other hand, naturally puts you in a creative, receptive state. It opens your money channels, the connections that allow for service and value exchange.
Enjoying what you have fulfills your true desire to feel good…which also actually helps you create money.
So that’s why I choose to do things in business just because I like them. Even though they don’t generate money in the moment, they’re part of enjoying my life, and that’s what actually creates wealth
It’s a virtuous cycle of enjoyment, service and money. Yum, yum, yum.
What do you do that isn’t just for the money?
What if that enjoyment is creating more than you know?
Yours in love and play,
Steph
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