Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest investor of them all?
It depends on your perspective.
Some view a mirror as a fixed object that’s unchangeable. Putting something horrible in front of it will cause a violent shattering.
Others look at it differently. Believing reflections change, but the mirror remains the same.
Do this experiment. Look at yourself in the mirror. Then, move about the room and notice how it remains stable while the reflection undergoes a dramatic transformation.
Imagine a mirror in the sky. The reflection transforms you into the city. Likewise, an outer space mirror transforms us into part of the planet. With zero distance between yourself and the mirror, only emptiness remains.
Which one of these reflections is really you?
All of them. There are many layers to peel regarding the human onion.
If this perspective piques your interest, check out these experiments.
Don’t view mirrors as an unchangeable phenomenon if you care about your money.
Mirrors aren’t storage bins. They’re terrific hosts, not judging their guests. Never hoarding images, displaying and releasing them instead. Mirrors provide the opportunity for a fresh financial start. It proves past errors needn’t contaminate your future.
The mirror doesn’t display our financial fantasies, both good and bad.
Many of us didn’t plan enough for the future and find ourselves in financial purgatory. Thus, intensifying our urge to give up.
Like a mirror, we aren’t in a fixed state, and neither is our wealth.
Don’t let your regrets control your destiny.
Not saving for retirement is a common problem but won’t shatter the mirror.
There are numerous ways of surmounting this obstacle. At age 50, catch-up contributions begin. Increasing your savings rate as an empty nester is doable for most. Working longer remains an option.
The lack of an estate plan won’t crack it either.
Make sure your beneficiaries on retirement accounts are accurate. Then, find a lawyer and draw up a will, including a health care proxy and financial power of attorney—all very fixable issues.
College planning is a mystery. But, lack of savings means a different strategy.
Think community college or your home state universities. Becoming a resident assistant saves a ton of money. For a select few, the military provides free college if that’s something that interests you. Commuting to school cuts costs drastically.
There are many ways to make college affordable by changing your perspective.
Did you take social security too early? You may be able to stop and let your benefits accrue by using this strategy.
Finally, Don’t bother looking into someone else’s mirror and staring at their reflection.
Gazing in this direction impedes progress. What you see is someone else’s image, not yours. Trying to model your finances on others’ values and goals never ends well.
James Low states, “To be always looking at somebody else’s plate isn’t very useful.”
You have the power to stop keeping up with the Joneses. Unleash it.
The past is gone, and the future is unknowable. All we have is the present. Gazing into the changing mirror only solidifies this belief.
Low sums this up.
This fresh flavor of the moment may seem bland when we are used to the spices of anxiety, fear, hope, excitement, and so on.
Don’t let distractions get in the way of reality.
Making things complicated by connecting our financial failures compounds our problems.
This chain reaction is impossible to deal with. Moreover, linking separate decisions gives the illusion of solidity instead of separate solvable problems.
Look into one mirror at a time. Seeing things as they are – solvable separate events.
Too many live by this Yongey Rinpoche quote.
We cling to our opinions, storyline, and personal mythologies with the same desperation that we hold to the sides of a roller coaster cart.
Don’t ask the mirror anything. The answers are inside of you. Find them.
Paying attention to reality is better than winning any beauty contest.
You needn’t become the fairest investor of them all.
Doing something about your finances is good enough.
