#44: Money

Money makes the world go round. No doubt. Trade relies on it as a common denominator. We couldn’t really do without, could we?

We all agree that money is a necessity of life. Too little and you run into problems. Too much and the nature of your problems changes. There seems to be sweet spot at an annual income of USD 75,000. After hitting that threshold, any additional income apparently doesn’t make you any happier.

And yet, there is more to it. Beyond statistics. Money is much more personal.

Seth Godin, a fabulous storyteller himself, says that money is most of all a story. It forms part of an abstract world where the perceived value of goods and services is exchanged for money. What makes it abstract is that value isn’t determined as easily as cost. Lots of personal factors such as our emotional state, well-being, social perception and risk appetite play into how much value we assign to a particular good or service at a moment in time.

Such storytelling mindset isn’t just helpful when you have a conversation with your prospective customers about the perceived value of your goods or services. It can be equally helpful when talking to yourself about the value and importance of money in your own life.

So if money was a story, then why not change its dynamic by becoming the narrator of our own (money) story?

«MANY OF US ARE losing our hat, shirt, boots, family silver. If you are worried about money, then change the dynamic. Reclaim your agency. Give some away. Could be ten pence, could be ten grand, but change the story. That’s what I do with each financial pummeling I seemingly hourly receive, and it’s working splendidly. I know that may not land well, dear reader, but there we are.»

Dr. Martin Shaw, a Welsh poet