What Game Are You Playing?

Have you ever asked yourself what game you’re playing - what life you’re trying to create? And whether your actions are in sync with your desired results?

This sounds philosophical, but it’s important. It will help you to better define your relationship with money and where it makes sense to spend.

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What do we mean by a game? Simply put – it’s the framework you use to define success. Some people prioritise money, some focus on power, and others focus on security. Sports, travel, painting – the list goes on. Everyone plays their own game and prioritises their lives accordingly.

It’s up to you to choose your game. But regardless of your choice, three things are certain:

1. You can play any game you choose, but you can’t play all of them. You can have a few priorities, but not fifty.

2. If you don’t know the game you’re playing, you’re not playing consciously. You’ll end up drifting with your time and money.

3. If you’re not playing consciously, you can’t win.

When we’re young kids, we choose the games we want to play. Perhaps it’s the trampoline, Connect Four, or Lego. That’s because our parents encourage us and childhood innocence means we do what we choose, without an ego to protect.

But as adults, we get caught up much more in what other people think of us. As a result, we’re less concerned with what we enjoy, and more concerned with image. We feel inferior to our friends, so we splash out £150 on a new pair of trainers. We might be happy driving a £10,000 car, but we spend £30,000 on a brand new one to feel good in the eyes of others.

We end up wanting what others want. This means we spend money in a way which isn’t aligned with what we actually want.

For example, most people want financial security, the ability to travel, and the opportunity to engage in their hobbies / sports. But they waste money on other areas which are less important to them. Consequently, they can’t afford to do what they want to do.

Budgeting = Spending More

Try this experiment. Write down your top priority areas for spending money. Now look at your bank statements. Do they match?

Are you spending enough on the areas you truly enjoy? Or are you spending on low priority areas? Could you make your life better by cutting the waste to zero, and reallocating more of your budget to the parts that matter?

An extension to this experiment is to consider what you would do if no-one else could see the financial decisions you make. What would you do differently? You may find you make very different decisions – decisions that are more in line with what actually makes you happy.

Budgeting is not about spending less - it's about spending more on the right games, and wasting less.

You Can Have Anything, But Not Everything

In a social media world, it’s tempting to look in awe at the lifestyle that others may have. Naturally, they only show you the best parts. But if you go chasing the sports cars that some friends have, the big house that others have, the fancy restaurants, five-star holidays, designer clothes etc etc, then you’ll soon be skint.

Having all these luxuries is unaffordable, but that’s not necessarily a problem. Do you really need them? Or are there diminishing returns whereby each additional ‘special thing’ leaves you with less satisfaction?

The question for you is to work out which game you’re playing. If you play the fast car, big house and expensive holiday games at the same time, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to afford any of them. You’ll do them for a while, realise they’re far too expensive in combination, then have to save in order to compensate. Within reason, you can do anything you want – but not everything.

Most games are a trade-off – prioritising one expenditure means you can’t do another. The financial independence game, however, is unique. If you play the financial independence game, you’ll eventually have enough money to engage in many more things that you enjoy.

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People are often surprised at how easy it is to afford the things they want if they really deprioritise the unimportant areas. It’s about spending more on what you love and cutting ruthlessly on things you don’t.

If you don’t define your game, you’ll end up playing in someone else’s world. You’ll work for someone in a job you accept, buying things you sort-of-like, spending your time in a kind-of good way. I don’t know about you, but that’s my idea of hell.

When we’re kids, we mostly live in a structured world where we’re taught what’s right and wrong, and encouraged by parents to do X or Y. But as adults, the games we play are unstructured, and down to us to define. Very few people truly define their games. But the ones who do are happier, richer, and stress-free – because can spend more time and money doing what they love.

Spend on the Right Things

A final thought from one of the greatest ever investors – Warren Buffett:

1. Write down your top 25 priorities.

2. Decide on the 5 most important ones.

3. Eliminate the bottom 20.

4. Focus on the top 5.

If you can define which games you’re playing and focus on winning those games, your financial life will be much easier. It’s not rocket science but it’s powerful – you’ll be spending your money in the right places for YOUR happiness, not on what seems popular. You’ll never look back....