I saw a post on social media recently by a florist, who said that even if she was financially wealthy, she would still do the same job, and spend her days in exactly the same way. ‘Isn’t that true wealth?’ she questions her followers. The idea that if you are able to live your life and spend your days in the way that you really want to spend them, you have a wealth that money can’t buy. The concept that if money was no object, you would change very little about the way you currently decide to do things.

In a very similar vein, my partner and I have a little game we sometimes play, where at the end of a day or a holiday together, we ask ‘if we were millionaires, would we have done anything differently’?

We asked this of our particularly lovely holiday to Spain last August, and decided that there was absolutely nothing we would have changed, even if we had been able to spend thousands of pounds more. We stayed in a yurt, at a cost of less than £500 for the week, cycled or walked to the local town to visit the supermarket daily for food, cooked all our own meals in the quirky little outdoor kitchen, which we just loved! We did nothing at all fancy, chose not to eat out, even though we could have done, and didn’t dress up for the evening once.

Had we been able to book a 5 star, luxurious, expensive hotel, eaten out every night, and dressed up for our meals, would we? It’s not to say that we wouldn’t have enjoyed that sort of holiday, but we loved our week so much that we genuinely wouldn’t have swapped it, even if money had been no object. And that really is the most wonderful feeling! Of course, there are days where, on reflection, having more financial wealth would be handy, or even incredibly desirable! But, those occasions where everything felt just as you would have wanted it to be, because you are with the right people, enjoying what you are doing so much, feeling in a flow state or just totally at peace, regardless of the cost – well, there’s something  a little bit special about those.

At a recent business and wealth conference, one of the speakers encouraged us to ask more often ‘What would I love?’. In a world which is becoming ever more stressful, anxiety inducing and disconnected, we need to be creating our days around things that truly make our hearts sing. I don’t need to be a millionaire to enjoy a really good coffee every morning, to be grateful for having a hot shower every day, to marvel at the miracle of nature every time I see a sunrise, full moon or rainbow, and to get completely immersed in doing what I really love when I’m experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen.

You don’t need to be a millionaire to feel like one. Just clarity over what you really love, and freedom to make the choice to do those things each day.

PS – If you want some more guidance and to ponder on the big questions in life, why not check out the Philosopher-in-Residence series. Out every fortnight on a Thursday, and written by our Principal Planner, Anna Pascoe.  You can take a peek at the latest edition here: ON SUNSCREEN - Make Me A Plan