What Would You Do If You Didn’t Need to Worry About Money?

I wouldn’t be rich–it would just allow me to more or less maintain my current lifestyle while giving me considerable freedom over how I spend my time. 

And there wouldn’t be any legal or ethical issues associated with doing it; I wouldn’t be doing anything wrong or illegal or hurting anyone or anything. 

To help me think through this, I’ve been asking other people what they would do. 

I’ve focused on people in mid-to-late career who, like me, have reasonably decent and stable jobs. I expected most of these people to hem and haw about it. Instead, to my surprise, almost everyone has come down squarely on one side or the other. 

When I asked Johanna, a project manager for a large civil engineering company, she immediately said she would keep doing what she’s doing.

“Sure, there are plenty of things I don’t like about my job,” she acknowledged, “and by the time Friday rolls around, I’m often exhausted and even frustrated. But by Sunday night, I’m usually feeling a bit restless and ready to go back to the grind. My work gives me structure, an identity, and a purpose. Honestly, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I quit.”

Earl, a psychotherapist, had essentially the opposite response.

“I’d quit tomorrow,” he told me. “I still like my job; I like helping people and still find at least some of the work interesting. But I absolutely wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn’t need the money. There are so many other things I’d rather do with my time—I’d never be bored!”

For similar reasons, everyone else has basically fallen into one of these two camps.

As I’ve thought about it some more, I’ve realized that, as usual, I want to have my cake and eat it too.

There are definitely some work-related things I’d stop doing if I didn’t need the money. But I also wouldn’t simply quit because I greatly enjoy some parts of my work, and those parts are deeply meaningful and fulfilling to me.

For me, though, the most challenging part of the question is the last one:

What new things would I do if I didn’t have to worry about money?

I’m still pondering that.

So far, no clear answers have emerged.

Maybe that's the point.

Perhaps like most everyone else, I have spent far more time thinking about how to make a living than I have about what I might choose to do if I could do whatever I wanted. 

If you know what you would do, and you're willing to share, please reach out.

I’m all ears.