Author's Note: It's been a busy few days, so I haven't gotten the chance to really sit down and let my thoughts flow through the fingertips onto this lovely canvas here. It's been good, but it's been busy. And I am nothing if not grateful. Let's get into it.

What motivates us to take certain actions? Why do we place value on things when others may find them to be entirely useless? What is it about that nature of decisions that we ourselves make that makes us so different from others (to clarify: not the nature of the decisions themselves, but rather the nature of the fact that we are making these decisions)? I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this just yet, but I have been thinking about the intentionality of actions in life and the value that people place on them. Let me give you an example.

Let's say that you are at a place in your life where you are looking to purchase a home (for the sake of this example, I'm using a home, but it can be a car or any other large asset you like). There are a lot of factors that need to be taken into account: apartment or house, community or standalone, where you want to live, how much you want to spend, etc. Every person makes different choices for each one of these questions, and we tend to see another's choice and make a judgement on it. These judgements influence our own future actions or reflect on our past actions, and we place ourselves in relation to those around us.

It seems like a bit of an abstract concept, but allow me to continue this thread, please. I came upon this thought process when I realized people treat money very differently. There are generally four ways in which people interact with money:

1. People receive a steady paycheck and use the rest of the time not working to enjoy their lives.

2. People do some sort of job not for the money but for some other cause, and the money will come afterwards (think: military or other government job that gives them a pension afterwards).

3. People place a wager and expect there to be a bigger payout afterwards (think: sports betting or even some form of investing — the bet placed today will multiply in some form tomorrow).

4. People build something that others find value in and they exchange money for that bit of value (think: building a business).

Generally, these four approaches of thinking about money fundamentally change the way in which we make choices, thereby impacting the intentional motivations we have to take certain actions. More importantly, however, it dictates what we value, what we want out of life.

More crudely, it dictates what makes us happy. I know, I know: money doesn't buy happiness. That's true, but it can buy your way out of sadness. And not being miserable is just as important to your life as finding what makes you happy.

I think if we

(Published unfinished.)

Author's Note: It's been a busy few days, so I haven't gotten the chance to really sit down and let my thoughts flow through the fingertips onto this lovely canvas here. It's been good, but it's been busy. And I am nothing if not grateful. Let's get into it.

What motivates us to take certain actions? Why do we place value on things when others may find them to be entirely useless? What is it about that nature of decisions that we ourselves make that makes us so different from others (to clarify: not the nature of the decisions themselves, but rather the nature of the fact that we are making these decisions)? I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this just yet, but I have been thinking about the intentionality of actions in life and the value that people place on them. Let me give you an example.

Let's say that you are at a place in your life where you are looking to purchase a home (for the sake of this example, I'm using a home, but it can be a car or any other large asset you like). There are a lot of factors that need to be taken into account: apartment or house, community or standalone, where you want to live, how much you want to spend, etc. Every person makes different choices for each one of these questions, and we tend to see another's choice and make a judgement on it. These judgements influence our own future actions or reflect on our past actions, and we place ourselves in relation to those around us.

It seems like a bit of an abstract concept, but allow me to continue this thread, please. I came upon this thought process when I realized people treat money very differently. There are generally four ways in which people interact with money:

1. People receive a steady paycheck and use the rest of the time not working to enjoy their lives.

2. People do some sort of job not for the money but for some other cause, and the money will come afterwards (think: military or other government job that gives them a pension afterwards).

3. People place a wager and expect there to be a bigger payout afterwards (think: sports betting or even some form of investing — the bet placed today will multiply in some form tomorrow).

4. People build something that others find value in and they exchange money for that bit of value (think: building a business).

Generally, these four approaches of thinking about money fundamentally change the way in which we make choices, thereby impacting the intentional motivations we have to take certain actions. More importantly, however, it dictates what we value, what we want out of life.

More crudely, it dictates what makes us happy. I know, I know: money doesn't buy happiness. That's true, but it can buy your way out of sadness. And not being miserable is just as important to your life as finding what makes you happy.

I think if we

(Published unfinished.)