My 6 Rules of Money

Or how to get rich on the cheap

I recently watched an interview with a pro athlete—and you might envy him. Not long ago, he retired at age 32 with a net worth over $100 million.

The interviewer asked him what it felt like to walk away in the prime of his life with so much money.

His response: “Miserable.”

Interviewer: “Really? You were miserable?”

Athlete: “Yeah.”

Interviewer: “Huh? I didn’t expect this answer.”

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The athlete explained that he had discovered meaning and purpose in his life around age 6 or 7. It came from sports.

From that moment on, sports gave him goals. Sports provided him with discipline. Sports offered him camaraderie and teammates who worked together in a common cause.

Every day, he had a regimen—both during the season and the off-season. He took pride in his improvement, and how he fulfilled his responsibilities to coaches, teammates, fans, and especially to himself.

Even the sacrifices felt good. He didn’t go out partying. He avoided alcohol. He kept distractions to a minimum. This all contributed to the greater purpose—and happiness—of his life.

Then it all went away at age 32.

Nothing could fill the gap. Every day he confronted the emptiness—and wondered what he could find to replace what he lost.

“I had to figure out how to be busy…..I spent a year just driving in traffic.”

He would get into his car and drive with no purpose or destination—just to fill up the hours on the clock. He put 30,000 miles on his car in a single year, even though he had no place to go.

But, of course, he had his $100 million. That should make him very happy?

Not at all. And now we get to the key reality of money.

This is important stuff. You won’t hear about it in any of those Super Bowl commercials—but it’s far more important than anything those marketeers are peddling.