I was out walking the other day, enjoying the changing colours of the sunset and pondering life. When I got struck by a thought: What do I want?

I seem to have been having this conversation with a lot of people at different financing events lately. One guy who refers me business said wants the same type of lifestyle I have with my business partner. We have created a partnership that involves a lot of time away out of the business, either on holidays (him) or me on RDOs (I work a 9-day fortnight). The business is growing, so it is more of a lifestyle choice for us. During our discussion about various things I asked my colleague outright: What type of life do you want?

He stared at me blankly and said, “good question”; I left it to him to think about. A couple of days later, I had nearly the exact same conversation with another finance specialist. It is a hard question to answer as we have been conditioned to work hard and pay off things, like cars, houses, school fees… But, if money wasn’t a problem, what kind of life would YOU want?

As I continued on my walk, I ran these conversations around in my head and then started thinking: What do I actually want from my life?

The business coaches/ lifestyle coaches are all about, creating a life you want – but quite frankly what type of life do I want?  To me this is like asking a kid – What do want to be when you grow up? (I still don’t know and when do you become an adult)

I have been pondering this question for many years, and thought I knew, but it seems to change constantly. If money was no object, I would be travelling and helping others in the community. But since I have to earn money, am I really doing what I want?

Another couple of kilometres passed and I come up with the following:

I have slowly been creating the life I want for some time now and, guess what, it changes constantly and that is OK!

I also came to the decision that I could sit and dwell on the stuff I don’t have and get really depressed — or I could be grateful and happy for what I have achieved and be excited for what the future may hold.

The things I am grateful for include:

• I have a partner who supports me
• I have a cat who loves to give cuddles
• I have friends who support me and live all around the world;
• I can volunteer with charities of my choosing, (ie. Youth Off the Streets, the Michelle Richmond Foundation and I help two foster boys through the Aunties and Uncles Program
• Every year, I get to take a holiday, and every second year I jet off on a seven-week holiday to an exotic location; I have been to places like Kenya, Rwanda, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and the list goes on
• I am now a partner in a firm that I have been working at for 12 years, with a view to taking over the business when my business partner retires
• I have investments — both shares and properties — that will support me in my old age

I pondered all this as I walked, and a big smile crossed my face… I ACTUALLY LOVE MY LIFE. I have been subconsciously creating the life I wanted all this time. Yes, there is room for improvement, but I am going to stop beating myself up about it and keep working towards the smaller things that make my life even more enjoyable on a day-to-day basis.

Now I ask you again: What Do You Want? Are you creating the life you want?