If you want to find financial freedom, it’s important to understand the difference between a tool and a toy. Like a TV, which can be both.
A Tool
A tool is something you have that you use to make you a better person. It’s something you use to improve your life and the lives of others. It’s something you use to create.
A TV can be a tool. Do you use it to go to trade shows and show off your products and services to prospective customers? Do you hang it in your restaurant to show people waiting for a table the mouthwatering appetizers they can order? Do you put it in front of your treadmill so that you can rehearse your PowerPoint presentations while you work out? Then you may just have a tool.
A Toy
A toy is something that you use to enjoy life. A toy is something you use to take it easy and wind down. It’s something you use to consume something others have created.
A TV is often a toy. Do you use it to sit on the couch and unwind? Then you may just have a toy.
Creation vs. Consuming
We are made to create new things and consume the things that others (and ourselves) have created. We want to make sure that we create more than we consume.
Sure it’s great to watch that Brady Bunch marathon, but is that the best use of our time? Maybe we can find a way to contribute more to the world instead of spending all day in front of the TV.
We need to make sure we are creating new things, expanding our minds, and growing as people. We want to make the world better and spending all our time consuming won’t do it. And it won’t line our pockets.
Financial Freedom
Creating helps us become financially independent. It makes us more talented. It gives us products and services we can sell. It gives us skills we can market. It gives us great financial opportunities.
For that reason, we want to focus our money on things that make us creative. We want to spend our money on tools.
Do you want to be the person who plays video games or the one who creates them? Do you want to be the person who has a huge collection of MP3’s or the musician who makes them? Do you want to own a zillion books, or be the one who writes them?
If you want to make a difference in your future, focus your spending on tools. Because a tool is simply a way to share our true creative self with the world, and that is when we shine.
