I love the idea of saving money.
From the time I was a kid, my dad instilled in me the gratification of “a penny saved is a penny earned.”
I had a pink Crayola crayon piggy bank to help me do just that.
Every day he’d come home from work and he’d empty his pockets of loose change and distribute it between my sister and me.
“Save it for a rainy day,” he’d say.
And while I occasionally “broke the bank” to purchase a Barbie doll or Beanie Baby I had had my eye on, for the most part, I was pretty savvy with my finances.
Fast forward to adulthood and my penny-saving habits have remained with me.
I love the feeling of having a little money in the bank and change in the pocket.
That being said, spending it doesn’t always come easy.
A wise business mentor once told me: “Money is an exchange of energy.”
In the world of business, that means people invest in value—regardless of what it costs—if it is a value to them (ex. The new iPhone comes out, and even though your old phone works just fine, you want the new one because it’s ‘better’).
In the realm of commodity, that means, people pay for what they need—given it propels you forward or gives you more “energy” to get what you need (ex. You run out of gas in the middle of nowhere, you will pay $10/gallon if that’s what the only station in sight costs).
And, in the realm of #thrivelife, that means paying it forward…
Today, you (and I’s) #thrivelife project is to pay for someone else.
That could be a cup of coffee, the lunch of the person behind you in line at Whole Foods, someone else’s ticket for the business luncheon this week or your best friend’s groceries for the week.
Be creative. You decide.
Money is only one way we can “show kindness” to others, but when we use it as an “exchange of energy”—more energy comes back to you TWO-FOLD.