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If You Didn't Need Money, What Would You Do?
permaculture had this simple but philosophical query to run by you all, today: "I was once asked this question: 'If you didn't have to work for money, what would you do with your time?' I've put that question to many people since I first heard it, and got a lot of different answers. It seems to me that the answer to this question is what you should be aiming for even though you do have to spend most of your time earning a crust."
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If I had functionally endless money, I'd do the following:
I'd give lots and lots to charity -- I don't want to leave any money to my kids -- they need to earn whatever they get in the world
I'd buy a farm -- 1000 acres or more, build a sweet house, build barns and outbuildings, raise horses, and grow and harvest my own hay.
Yeah, that's about it.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Peter Gibbons: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
Lawrence: I'll tell you what I'd do, man, two chicks at the same time, man.
Peter Gibbons: That's it? If you had a million dollars, you'd do two chicks at the same time?
Lawrence: Damn straight. I always wanted to do that, man. And I think if I had a million dollars I could hook that up, cause chicks dig a dude with money.
Peter Gibbons: Well, not all chicks.
Lawrence: Well the kind of chicks that'd double up on me do.
Peter Gibbons: Good point.
Lawrence: What about you, what would you do?
Peter Gibbons: Besides two chicks at the same time?
Lawrence: Well yeah.
Peter Gibbons: Nothing.
Lawrence: Nothing, huh?
Peter Gibbons: I'd relax, sit on my ass all day, I would do nothing.
Lawrence: Well you don't need a million dollars to do nothing, man. Just take a look at my cousin, he's broke, don't do shit.
We should rephrase the question a tad bit.
The question is not (or at least, should not be), what would you do with infinite money? Rather, it's, if you could earn your current salary doing anything at all, what would it be? What would you rather be doing from 9 to 5 (or before, or after)?
In my mind, that's a very important distinction. I don't care if you'd buy a Beowulf cluster of Xserves. I don't care if you'd buy enough food to feed the world. I don't care if you'd buy Australia. All I care about is, if you received the same amount of money you do now, but you didn't have to work for it, what would you do?
I'd go and take classes in whatever interested me. Possibly become a doctor of something. Then dedicate my life to helping others*.
(Note: Getting revenge on those that bother me, such as religous fundies, classifies under "helping others".)
I'd do a lot of open source software. Work isn't really good unless it's fun.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
Last I recall, two musicians and a fisherman.
... and so tend to gravitate towards a culture of success in sport being good and in class being bad, almost social death. Not good. If I could help turn that around for just a few kids...
Speaking personally, I love performing. I love jamming music, I love writing music, I love listening to music. I even enjoy the physical act of playing (I'm a trumpeter). The idea of being able to dedicate myself to that properly is immensely tempting. Heck, when writing music I've got many challenges similar to writing software.
I'll probably always write a little software for personal amusement but it's not exactly a relaxing discipline, as I'm showing by posting this from the office in the UK and I've been here at or around this time for most of the last week.
If I wasn't a musician, I'd teach. Infant or lower primary, so probably the under 8-9s. I do a bit of voluntary work with that age group in my spare time and it's immensely rewarding, but quite frustrating in that you just don't get to see that much of the kids' development.
Equally, I know that there's a strong theory going round in the UK now that says part of the reason we have significantly lower educational attainment in boys than girls is that most primary school teachers are female. The girls have teachers to look up to - the boys have footballers, TV presenters, parents (who, statistically speaking, aren't likely to be models of educational attainment)
(Yes, I know teaching's hard work and it wouldn't be an easy ride after software!)
Greg
(Inside a nuclear plant)
Aaaarrrggh! Run! The canary has mutated!
You may not (probably will not) be able to do those things when you retire. If your body isn't shot by then, you'll be among the lucky few. I bet you could get a very serious start on all of those items, except for maybe the first item.
If you wait to do these things, you may never get to do them. Besides, when you retire, do you think you'll still be interested in those things?
We're all here for a very limited period of time, so chop chop!
Oh, and stop stressing out about death. You don't remember the time before you were born do you? I didn't think so. So don't sweat it. What will be, will be.
So just be.
Please mod this post only if you think others should/n't read this. I have enough ego^H^H^Hkarma. Thanks!
If I didn't have to show up at work, and I still got paid, I would do the following
Why are you asking? Are you looking for the best answer and then giving that person a stipend to quite their job? If you are...I can come up with fifty other things I'd rather do.
-Turkey
But, the number one reason I enjoy it so much: I get to play with Lego's every day!
that is too easy. buy an R1, and big chunk of land in a semi-hilly region, build a F1 spec race course, and ride ride ride. then, when i get bored, promote as many races as possible, of all types (car, truck, bike, go-cart, tank, snowmobile, lawnmower etc), on that very track.
likelihood: zero
*sigh*
Here is what I want...
I'd start another business.
Somehow people got this idea that working was dirty and only necessary for money. But if I had a million bucks (About twice the amount necessary to retire and never work again) I'd start a business.
Sure, I'd spend a couple years travelling the world, but that would be the early, formative years where I was working out the idea, methods and execution of the business plan. There's nothing, for getting creative juices flowing that I've found better than being in an extremely remote place, chile, north of the arctic circle in alaska,
Working isn't what we have to do rather than what we really want to do-- that's the recipe for an unhappy life and its no suprise so many are unhappy. Working is the expression of our highest human self. The most noble and heroic thing any person can do is start a business. Not only is it the most fun, but it brings to your core the challenges, self realization and self understanding necessary.
I know there are lots of people who will say self indulgent things like "I'd go feed poor people" or "two chicks at once" --- hey if that's all your life is worth, fine. (BTW, two chicks at once is a lot of fun, I do recommend it.) But these things will only entertain you for awhile.
Eventually, you'll be at a crossroads and you'll have to choose between two courses- on one hand you can be a lazy person just doing nothing but spending money (this goes for both the "feed the poor" and the "party every night" types) and on the other hand you can pursue a challenge that brings out the best in you.
Challenge isn't hardship-- its opportunity to excel. Butsiness isn't about money, its about personal expression. Sure, money is involved.. but if you're only interested in money you won't get much of it and you won't be happy. If, instead, you're pursuing your personal best, both money and happiness are easy to come by.
Its unfortunate, though, that there are so many who tell you that you don't have a right to be happy, and they give you the recipe for unhappiness to insure it. Don't fall for it.
Since many people will probably post in response to this that they'll do something that involves sacrificing their lives so that others can be better, I've got a little quote for you. I'll leave out for now the proof that this activity actually damages the people you try to help, more often than not... but I provide rebuttal for the many voices insisting that EVERYONE should be sacrificing themselves:
"...just listen to anyprophet and if you hear him speak of sacrifice-- run. Run faster than from the plague. It stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting sacrificial offerings. Where' there's service, there's someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master. But if ever you hear a man telling you that you must be happy, that its your natural right, that your first duty is to yourself-- that will be the man who's not after your soul. That will be the man who has nothing to gain from you. But let him come and you'll scream your empty heads off, howling that he's a selfish monster. So the racket is safe for many, many centuries."
I know some people who are amazon wealthy, and do a person they are not out challenging themselves. They are being lazy, pointless people. And they are not happy.
If you find yourself in this position-- rise to your highest, most noble calling. Start a company, or pursue an invention. Create.
Yeah, and you guys panned the ipod too: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23
Aquire a Sail boat
:-)
IF you live near water, I say, start now. I've gone down this path. This is my retirement dream.
You can get a small old sailboat for $2,000 to learn on and get used to sailing, and then get a bigger better one when you retire.
The years of sailing on the weekends will come in handy when you're island hopping and will make you happier in the interim than you would be otherwise.
Sailing isn't somethign you stop work one day and go do the next... so start early.
There are those who say "if your dream is to sail around the world, just do it. You don't need money, you don't need nothing. I did it, I get by on odd jobs". And they are right. I'm not "just doing it" in part because I want more sailing experience and to get my lovers up to speed so that they can sail well too... but if you want to sail around, mostly hitting third world countries to dock (Say the pacific, the carribian, south america, etc.) you can do it very cheaply.
Say, $5,000 a year. And a little work getting a skill can make it free-- one couple knows how to repair sails and goes to antigua for regatta week-- spends the whole week repairing blown out sails working 24x7 and then has enough money to fund the rest of their year!
Don't dream it, be it.
Yeah, and you guys panned the ipod too: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23
It was a jump to conclusions mat. See, one would stand at one end, and there would be conclusions writen all over it. You would then jump, and land on a conclusion. Get it?
Thats what I'd do if I didn't have to worry about money.
I live in a giant bucket.
I might. Or I might wander through the wilderness in quiet contemplation. Or analyze great tomes of philosophy in the Library. Journey across the world. Talk to interesting people. I
It strikes me as sad that so many (perhaps not yourself) wouldn't be able to find something to do without asking some company or government for a job...