The following is a guest post on Money Q&A. Would you like to write the next one? If you would like to write an article for Money Q&A, please visit our Guest Posting Guidelines page. Mark Aardsma is an entrepreneur, investor, and the author of Investing With Purpose: Capitalize on the Time and Money You Have to Create the Tomorrow You Desire.
Investing With Purpose by Mark Aardsma
Life and work, they ask a lot of you. There’s a lot to be done, and some of it is really hard. Projects stretch your skills, packed days stretch your energy, and difficult people stretch your sanity. Some weeks (most weeks?) feel like marathons with a series of embedded sprints. You get tired, and you have to stop to catch your breath sometimes.
Not to worry though, you are no stranger to hard work. You’re driven, even when it gets tough. You focus your smarts on each problem, and most of the time you work out a solution.
You do your best to manage your money, save for the future, and invest well to grow it. The enthusiasm and perseverance you bring to life and work is admirable, it really is. You have your ups and downs, of course, but you put your heart into it, and engage each day in an earnest pursuit of… well, hmm.
It’s for success right? Financial security, that is important. Maybe it’s about earning respect, and a sense of accomplishment? Being able to go to bed at night feeling like things are going ok, people see you and treat you well, and life is just kinda, working?
Ok, so life gets a little murky, even for us driven types. It’s hard to discover and remember why we are doing all of this in the first place.
What’s more, life changes and unfolds in surprising ways. We find out we have interests, strengths, potential we didn’t know about before. Windows of opportunity close (sometimes slam quite rudely) and others crack open. What we want changes. A clear sense of direction doesn’t come easily in the first place, let alone update itself automatically.
You can navigate life with direction and purpose. It’s possible, and it’s essential. A crystal ball of insight into the future is not required.
Courage, that is the thing. Courage to open up big questions and let them bother you with their annoying tendency to hover around unanswered. Courage to spend time in the part of you where you keep your dreams.