Money is Energy And Energy Needs Big Goals to Channel It: Learning This Natural Law

Money is an important and critical factor in our world and day to day life. It’s like the old wall street joke, “happiness can’t buy money.” It’s a very powerful and animating factor in life. 

I’ve learned its closest equivalent is energy.  If it’s energy, it does not do well sitting still. It has to flow and has to move. And if you take the Doomberg quote: “Energy is Life”, I’d extend and say “Money is Energy and thus Energy is Life.” And this energy needs to be directed. 

In our modern world, we get so tied up and confused about money. Many of the most ambitious around us chase it unendingly as if this is the end goal. Yet, it’s not everything. I’d argue health, family, reputation and time are more important. But It’s an abstraction that drives all of human civilization and the economy and one you have to understand. 

What I’ve learned is that the purpose of life is that it is a tool and a score card. There is a great scene in “Moneyball” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVDAPTabZNQ), where the two key protagonists are talking about a big offer of money to move another team. The assistant coach tells Billy Beane: “You’re not doing it for the money. You’re doing it for what the money says. And it says what it says to any player that makes big money. That they are worth it.”

I agree with this view. It’s a metric to know how well you are doing in life, to know how much value you are creating in the world at that moment. It is no different than the points you get when you play a video game. The more points you accrue, the more tools and options and lives you get. All for the end goal of winning the game. 

Now this is the hard part. What does “winning” actually mean and this will be different for everyone. But to really win you have to have goals that allow you to channel this energy properly. What is the end goal? What is the end state? 

For me, it’s freedom and options. Freedom to work on things that energize me, things that challenge me but have impact like investing in early stage startups and mentoring and helping founders. Freedom to work with people I love and respect. No more A–holes and no more incompetent morons in my business life telling me what to do. It’s freedom to travel, work and live wherever I feel like and to go whenever I want, to places I enjoy. It’s having the resources to buy whatever books I want. It’s having resources to take care of and help family and friends.

It’s about having resources to help the various charities whose missions I believe in such as Room to Read, Nova Ukraine, World Central Kitchen, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corp among many other groups. It’s about impact and impacting as many people around me in a positive way. Once I realized this a few years ago, I really think my life got much better.

And just like playing a game, this is supposed to be fun. You should be learning new skills, meeting new friends and getting better all the time. Money is energy and money wants to flow. It needs goals and a purpose that acts like a bucket to harness that energy. So figure out your own goals. And even better if you have really big ones too.