How to Create a Rich Life (without a lot of money in the bank)

A rich life doesn’t mean a lot of money in the bank.

For me, a rich life means the following:

1 - Planning bucket lists and vacations

2 - Picking the hill you want to climb/ helping others

3 - Seeing friends on a consistent basis (and making new ones)

4 - Reduced anxiety and drama

5 - Build wealth effortlessly

6 - Developing personal connections

7 - Simplicity and joy in everyday routines

And for the most part, I’m now living it.

Here’s how I did it:

1/ I created a separate savings account and called it my ‘vacation’ account. Every month I have money auto deposited in this account. And when the time comes to plan a vacation, I’m not concerned about the cost as I have a budget for it already.

2/ For me I get fulfillment from setting goals. Whether it’s joining a Toastmasters club or launching a non-profit. Doing something that is challenging and allows me to use my creativity gives my life meaning. Currently I’m focused on developing a fun podcast for European startups called #InnovatorsCanLaugh.

3/ Every year I organize a trip with my close friends. We’ll do something adventurous like drive dune buggies in the desert or go white water rafting. And on the weekends, I like visiting with friends and planning social activities. 🍻✈️🪂

4/ Reduced anxiety and drama. This one is a little tricky because you have to think about what gives you stress. In my past, I had a lot of stress mostly from the work environment. Not really the job itself, but people I worked with. I also found that driving for long periods in traffic really annoyed me. So now, when it comes to work, the people and culture are the main things I consider when taking on a role. As for commuting, well, we moved to Europe where I rarely drive at all except when going on long weekend getaways. Plus we’ve greatly reduced our expenses which has also reduced anxiety.

5/ Building wealth effortlessly. I’m not wealthy by any means, but I like having an asset(s) that grows in value over time. For me its real estate. Being able to rent out two properties we've acquired while living abroad is fantastic.

6/ Building connections has opened up my social circle as well as new opportunities. For example, recently Alessandra Colaci offered to review my resume. I took her up on that offer and she sent me back a video on recommended changes I should make! And Laura Erdem shared a post on LinkedIn about me being open to other opportunities that led to interests from others. Other wonderful people I've developed connections with online and through my podcast have been a tremendous help as well. 💙

7/ Joy in everyday routines. This one was the toughest to tackle because it required moving to a new place, but it was well worth it. An everyday routine for me is taking my kids to school, to the park, going out to eat. So in 2020, we moved to a city where we can walk our kids to school, to a nearby park, and lots of restaurants. This has brought me a lot of joy in my everyday routine. 😀

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