Back in my days of owning SLCentral.com, there were a few bigger sites out there that did similar content. One of those went by the name of SysOpt.com, and was run by Scott Wainner. I had communicated with Scott a couple of times while he was an owner of the site (not sure [...]
Back in my days of owning SLCentral.com, there were a few bigger sites out there that did similar content. One of those went by the name of SysOpt.com, and was run by Scott Wainner. I had communicated with Scott a couple of times while he was an owner of the site (not sure if he remembers me). His site ended up being bought out, and he made a good amount of money in the process. Now Scott still works in the web business, and he recently launched a blog where he discusses making money online.
He recently made a post entitled “Don’t Strive To Be Rich” that made some good points about the type of goals you should really have to be successful. At the time of writing this, pretty much all of the comments to the article were in agreeance with Scott, and I am surprised that I am one of the only ones that didn’t quite see eye-to-eye. I got to writing a comment on the blog, but it started getting a bit long, and I thought it would be a great topic to discuss here on my blog instead.
Scott basically talks about the average vision people see when it comes to making money online…big houses, fast cars, etc. He found himself doing the same thing, after selling his sites to EarthWeb, Inc he did things like moving from his $700/month apartment to a $5,000/month rental house on teach bay. Then the dot com crash came, and he lost a lot of what he had made, which also gave him a much better understanding of how money should be spent and what is really important to him.
He felt that the payout he received for SysOpt was “just nuts and disproportional to what he had built”, but now feels that the internet businesses he has are solid companies that that deserve to make what they make. He feels that this life lesson allowed him to “feel sad” for people striving to be rich, striving for big houses, striving for fast cars, etc because ultimately these things will not make them feel happy. Part of that reasoning was because people always strive to get something better than what they have…buy a 3-series, you’ll want a 5-series, buy a 2,000 sq/ft house, you’ll want a 3,000 sq/ft house. This is a natural mindset that we will always want more.
That part of the article was the part where I was thinking to myself that I don’t exactly agree with Scott. I agree that spending money that is out of proportion to what you have and what you make is not smart. I don’t agree that you shouldn’t have goals of “material” things like expensive cars and bigger houses. Many times the action of striving for the next step up is one of the sole things that can help you “succeed” that much faster. You could manage to live in a cheaper apartment, or drive a crappier car, but I’m sure you chose something more manageable but still nice to you. If that level meets your personal goals of happiness, that’s great, but I think we’re all different in that aspect.
I can tell you from personal experience, if I can proportionately afford to have a Lamborghini in my garage, I would be happier. But I am also a huge car fanatic. I also do agree with the statement about always wanting the next level up, and never really being truly satisfied, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with having goals of better things than what you have, as long as you are smart about “upgrading”.
I think there should be two types of goals. Your main life goals, for example being able to work from home and spending more time with your family, and then a perk goal, for example driving that 5-series instead of the 3. Both types of goals are important to have as they are the main reasons why people work hard for themselves and try to be successful.
What are your opinions about having material things as a priority goal? Do you tend to agree with Scott, or do you think that material things will make you happy?
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Manufacturer and reseller of aftermarket car parts
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My name is David Pitlyuk and I’m an entrepreneur. I’m always on the lookout for the next big opportunity. This blog hits topics of interest for entrepreneurs, as well as my miscellaneous ramblings.
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Derek
10/22/2007 6:23 pmI wouldn’t say that I have material things as my primary goal but I do know of a few that I think would make me happy.
For instance, I am happy in our house and have told my wife that our house is more than enough space to stay in until our kids are through college. I’d love to finish the basement and have a large LCD TV to watch my favorite sports.
I’ve got a 2002 Harley and would love to get to the point where I could have a nice custom bike. The custom bike would make me happier than just having my current bike.
So while I may not have these material items as my primary goals, I do think there are certain things that would bring me more happiness/enjoyment.
Scott W.
10/23/2007 1:38 amI’m not saying that you shouldn’t have goals and I agree that coveting the next big thing can be motivating and it can keep a person from becoming complacent. But to say something like “I can tell you from personal experience, if I can proportionately afford to have a Lamborghini in my garage, I would be happier”, just shows that you haven’t “been there done that” because your predicted “happiness” over owning a Lamborghini would soon fade once you obtained it, and you would then covet something else. I thought I would be happier by buying a new Porsche Boxster S so I bought one in 2000, loved it for a while, but then the excitement faded and I barely drove the thing so I sold it. The point of my article is that coveting stuff just isn’t going to make you happy and a person can become very broke and very disillusioned with life by constantly chasing “happy” in the form of cars, houses, and material possessions instead of in the form of life experiences, having fun with friends and family, seeing the world, etc.
All of that said, I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t live well when you achieve success. I don’t live in a crappy house or drive a crappy car, but I now have enough wisdom to know that once I’ve achieved a certain level of comfortable living, striving for a lot more isn’t really going to change my day to day happiness. I try to ratchet up my lifestyle very slowly over time (instead of striving for the best of everything) because each time you achieve a new level of living it’s nearly impossible to go backwards without being constantly frustrated and disappointed. So eventually you reach a point where nothing but the best will do, you’re spending out the nose to maintain that lifestyle, and you end up adapting to it anyway and probably being just as happy as you used to be at a “lower” level of living.
David Pitlyuk
10/23/2007 11:55 amScott - Thanks for replying on here.
I guess I sort of mis-represented what I meant with the Lamborghini example. By personal experience I mean I have “toys” like a Dodge Viper, motorcycle, dirt bikes, bar in my house, etc. BUT, they are “toys” that I can afford and at least according to me, are fairly smart purchases in proportion to the amount of money I have/make…at least in the aspect of blowing money on toys/gadgets that will more than likely not make a return.
I hope that makes a bit more sense, and better states that it’s not a prediction, but actual experience…just not at the Lamborghini level yet
But yeah, don’t get me wrong, I agree with most of your article about never really being truly satisfied with material possessions, etc. I really just wanted to make the point that it’s not wrong to have goals and strive for material possessions, but you need to have an equal balance of goals, and you need to be smart with the material possessions you want.
I think you make an excellent point with the whole once you moved up a level, it’s very hard to come back down. For example you get comfortable living in that $5k/month house, how can you ever go back to the $2k/month house. I think that’s part of being smart with your money and your goals.
Thanks for writing the excellent article, and I’m glad I was able to at the least provide some feedback
Welcome to the blog world Scott!