How Do You Want To Live?

by Scott Bilker
Scott Bilker is the author of the best-selling books, Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt, Credit Card and Debt Management, and How to be more Credit Card and Debt Smart. He's also the editor and publisher of DebtSmartŪ.

People always ask kids, "What do you want to do/be when you grow up?" I'm sure you remember the question well. A fireman, policeman, scientist, doctor, social worker, teacher, superhero, etc.

The truth is that people have many interests and talents. Someone may be just as happy being a lawyer as a teacher. That's why I believe the better question to ask is "How do you want to live?" Do you want to live in a mansion? Do you want a chauffer and a yacht? Do you want to live in the city, country, on a farm, an apartment?

I believe that you need to decide what you want to do based on how you want to live your life. Time after time I've read about studies that show that people do get what they strive for in general. In fact, I just ran into a friend of mine from high school. He was my lab partner in biology. He wanted to be a podiatrist, which was great since I really didn't want to dissect that pig. He did everything.

Well, when I ran into him guess what he's doing? Okay, he's not a podiatrist but he is a neurologist. He still became a doctor. My other friend always wanted to be in construction and now he's the owner of a very successful construction company.

If you think back you will probably discover that most people, that pursued what they wanted, achieved their goals. That's why it's so important to have the right goals. Pursue dreams that will give you the future you want with your career, but, let's not forget something that's equally important, which is the quality of your off-time and family life.

If you really love helping people, doing social work, or being a camp counselor, that's great! But if you, at the same time, want to live in a huge house by the shore, then you will be disappointed that the social worker salary isn't going to let you live in that manner.

It's a combination of what you want to do and how you want to live. Pick one of the things that you love to do, that will pay for how you want to live. That's my two cents on this issue.

It's never too late to start. You might be thinking, "I did get what I wanted but now I want something else." Fine. Believe it in your heart. Work toward that goal. Stay focused and as before, you'll reach your goal. Just be sure you choose carefully because if you work hard you will get what you want!

As Thoreau said, "In the long run, we only hit what we aim at."