You Ruined My Life, Barefoot

Scott,

I read your book on a holiday at the age of 18. Now at 22 I have had full-time employment for nearly two years, am earning $45,000 a year, and have saved up $60,000 (a lot of hard work and sacrifice in that). But I feel lost. This money has brought me no happiness, just a burden in the back of my head that has stopped me living my life to the fullest while young. And it’s you who got me into this mess.

Matt

Hi Matt

I got you into this mess?

Well I plead guilty to that charge, Your Honour!

Still, steady up, cobber. You’re talking like you’re a washed-up author with four kids about to get trapped in a Winnebago for months.

Who are you comparing yourself to?

If I popped sixty thousand clams in the pocket of an average 22-year-old, they’d think they’d won the lottery.

Yet I’d argue that you’re actually luckier than any lotto winner. That’s because you’ve spent the last few years developing what I call ‘million dollar habits’. You may dismiss what you’ve achieved, but I won’t: developing a strong work ethic and a savings habit will serve you well for the rest of your very long life.
Yet what’s even more impressive is that, at your tender age, you’ve worked out something that 50-year-old coked-up lawyers haven’t:

Money doesn’t make you happy.

(Though a severe lack of it can make you very unhappy.)

So now — while you’re still just 22 — it’s time to develop a new set of habits:

Having fun!

The best things in your twenties don’t cost much: camping, sport, pashing random people at parties … and reading good books. What really helped me when I was in my twenties was reading about people who’d lived their life and worked out what was important. It’s only by studying the past that you can prepare for the future.

And trust me, Matt, your future is incredibly bright.

Scott.