Of pies and bakeries
It occurred to me recently that I view money as being like a pie. If I have a pie with 6 pieces, and I give one of them to Fred, then Wilma can’t have that particular piece. And once all the pieces are gone, they’re gone. In other words, if I want to go on vacation, I can’t contribute as much to savings. If I choose to buy clothes, maybe I’d better put off my $125 haircut. If I want to both save and go on vacation, and both buy clothes and get my haircut, I won’t be able to do any of those things as frequently as if I only did one of them.
While this kind of thinking is logical and effective if you want to stay out of debt and reach your goals (you must decide how you want to allocate the money you have this month), maybe ONLY viewing money as pie is self-defeating in the long term. After all, it’s negative and by definition limiting.
But money is not necessarily a limited resource. After all, it multiplies. (Think of the power of compound interest.) And one person having money does not preclude another person having money as well. (My money earning interest does not prevent your money from earning interest.)
Is it possible to think about the same thing (money) in two completely different ways at the same time? Immediate-term = one pie that I get to choose when, where, and how I want the pieces. Long term = bake lots of pies. Having enough. Being open to the idea of lots of money.
It’s another case of change your mind, change your life.
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October 25th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
I like the analogy, but I’m too curious not to ask: Do you really get $125 haircuts?
October 25th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Yeah, I do. (Cut & color, with tip.) I finally found someone that can make my hair look nice (after 25 years of searching :P) so I’ve gone from the $12 haircuts twice a year to this…
October 25th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
Should one dream of baking pies or owning the bakery?
October 25th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
There’s no “should” in dreaming ;)