“Build a life you NEVER want to retire from!” – Marshy 

 

In my early twenties, I was wandering aimlessly through life. 

 

There were things that were important to me. 

 

– Playing footy 

– Going to the gym 

– Attending music festivals 

 

But overall, I felt lost and directionless. I was living life by default. I was in a career I knew wasn’t for me. I didn’t feel excited about life. The only thing that excited me was escaping my life on the weekends. 

 

In 2015, Mum gave me a copy of ‘The Barefoot Investor’ to read. I devoured it. This book unlocked something within me. For the first time I felt like I had direction. I knew learning about money and investing were key ingredients to help me escape the life I was living.  

 

What I had learned could not be unlearned. This book ignited an obsession within me that is still strong ten years later. This was my ‘call to adventure’. The beginning of my mission. 

 

When I teach Money Mastery, there are three pillars I talk about:

 

 

In today’s newsletter I want to unpack the first pillar – Mission.

 

 

If you want to master your money (and your life) – then you need a mission. 

 

Your mission is interchangeable with your vision or your WHY. Your mission is what gets you out of bed in the morning with a spring in your step instead of hitting the snooze button. It’s knowing you have something meaningful you’re working towards. Something that energises you. 

 

More money IS NOT the mission… 

 

Money is simply a tool to help you live the life you want, a tool to help you fulfil your mission. 

 

Your mission is not set in stone. It will grow and evolve over time as you grow. You may not know what your mission is yet. And that’s okay. It will be revealed to you in time if you follow the clues. 

 

My mission started off as, 

 

‘Becoming financially free so I could quit my engineering career and not have to work’. 

 

It’s evolved immensely since then. But that was the first idea I fell in love with ten years ago. It was the direction I needed to change my life. It was the stepping stone that led me to where I am today. It gave me the emotional buy-in to do all the work that was (and is yet) to come. 

 

 

The late Earl Nightingale, who is best known for his audio program “The Strangest Secret” defined success as follows: 

 

“Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” 

 

I’m yet to find a better definition of success. 

 

Worthy ideal = your mission

Progressive realization = making progress towards your mission 

 

Living a happy and successful life is about choosing your direction (your mission) and making progress towards it each day. 

 

The moment you define what your mission is and start working towards it, is the minute you start living a successful and fulfilling life. 

 

This visual helps bring the pillar of Mission to life. 

 

 

Point 1 (you standing on the mountain top) represents the person you want to become.  

 

Point 2 (the peak of the mountain) represents your destination. Your vision. The lifestyle you want to live. 

 

Point 3 (the edges of the road) represent your values. The things that are important to you. They are your guiding principles. The lines you will not cross on your journey. 

 

Point 4 (the horizontal lines on the road) represent your most important goals. These are the mini-missions that help you become more than you are as you move closer towards your final destination.  

 

Point 5 (your vehicle) represents how you will provide service to others. 

 

The service you provide will produce your income (your fuel) for the journey. This might start out as a job, but it could turn into a career – or ideally, a calling.  

 

The vehicle you choose is important. Because not only will it provide the fuel (income) for your journey, it will also bring fulfilment and meaning to your life through the contribution of your gifts. 

 

Sometimes we can get confused thinking the vehicle (what you do) is the mission, or the end-goal. But the vehicle is a tool to help you grow, and to help you live the lifestyle you want to live. 

 

Your vehicle will change throughout your journey. You don’t need to marry a vehicle. As you grow you will often outgrow your vehicle. And sometimes you may realise the vehicle you thought you wanted wasn’t quite right for you. 

 

a) What would you want the people at your funeral to say about you and how you lived your life?

b) What character attributes would you want to be known for?

a) What does your ideal day or week look like?

b) How can you start living that on a small scale right now?

a) What’s important to you?

b) How do you spend your time, energy and money?

a) Why are these important to you?

b) Are these in alignment with who you want to become, how you want to live and what you value?

a) What do people come to you for help with?

b) What feels like play to you but hard work for others?

c) What unique gifts have you been blessed with that can serve others?

If you found this framework useful, reply to this newsletter and let me know. 

Have a great day,