Secure tomorrow to enjoy today
The sooner we invest in our future, the more we enjoy the present.
Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving.
Warren Buffett
Every pursuit is a battle between enjoying the present and securing our future.
Every action has a trade-off. Some are difficult now but pay dividends later and others pay dividends now but make things difficult later.
If we approach worthwhile pursuits without a clear order of operations, we’ll never feel confident we’re doing enough. We’ll be worried we’re not focused on the future and guilty when we enjoy the present moment.
Save first, spend later
Managing our finances is a canonical example of the tension between now and later.
When we treat saving and investing the same way as spending, it creates anxiety. Every dollar we spend we can’t save and every dollar we save we can’t spend.
We feel guilty for spending because it’s damaging our future and we feel resentful for saving because it limits what we can spend now.
This is not an enjoyable or sustainable way to live our lives.
If we define an order of operations for our financial life, then we can guarantee financial stability and enjoy spending our money.
When we save and invest first, we know we’ve already taken care of the future so we can spend whatever is left over without worrying we won’t have enough later.
This shift turns spending from an anxious tug-of-war between now and later into a calculated path to becoming better. We can apply this approach to every worthwhile pursuit.
Order of operations
There will always be tension between now and later, but if we focus on the future first, we get the best of both worlds.
If we exercise in the morning, we can enjoy the rest of the day knowing we already accomplished one of the most important things for our future. If we go in the evening, the weight of investing in our health hangs over us all day.
If we know we’re going out to dinner on Sunday evening, we should prepare for Monday morning before we leave. Otherwise, our anxiety about the future will ruin our enjoyment of the present.
The sooner we invest in our future, the more we will enjoy the present.
There will always be tension between what we want now and what we want for the future. Without a plan, our future will ruin the present and the present will ruin the future.
If we stick to the right order of operations and focus on the future first, then we can enjoy today with the confidence that we’ve set ourselves up for success tomorrow.
Prompts
What are the pillars of your life that will undeniably set you up with a foundation of success the same way saving and investing create a foundation of financial stability?
What do you need to do every day to make sure you’re taking care of your future? How can you get those things done as early in the day as possible?
What part of your future are you most anxious about? What does it look like to put your future first in this area of life?
Deep Dive
I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi
One of the bestselling personal finance books of all time.
Thanks for reading! I’ll see you next Sunday.
Kevin