What you really want when you want more money

Hey Reader, ever notice how a long weekend makes you suddenly philosophical about your whole life?

You're washing dishes or walking the dog, and boom—you start wondering if you're actually building the life you want or just staying busy enough to avoid thinking about it.

Here's the thing most people miss: we spend way more time figuring out what productivity system to use than figuring out what we're actually trying to produce.

We obsess over the perfect app, the ideal morning routine, the cleanest calendar setup. But we never stop to ask the bigger question: what kind of life am I optimizing for?

Take 10 minutes this weekend and grab a piece of paper. Don't open an app. Don't start a new document. Just write about what you actually want your days to look like in a couple years.

What kind of work gets you excited? What does your ideal Wednesday afternoon look like? Where do you want to live? How do you want to spend your weekends?

Here's the plot twist: when you really think about the life you want to live, you usually realize it costs way less money than you thought. That fancy house? Maybe you just want a cozy place with good light. That dream job? Maybe you just want work that doesn't drain your soul.

Whenever I get caught up thinking I need to make a million dollars, I work backwards from my dream life and realize it costs way less than a million. What I want isn't a million dollars: it's meaningful work, time with my family and friends, and vintage Toyota Land Cruiser (I need one toy, ok).

The gap between where you are and where you want to be is probably smaller than you think. But you can't close a gap you haven't measured.

Once you have that vision on paper, everything else becomes easier. Your daily choices start making more sense. Your productivity system becomes a tool for something bigger instead of just a way to feel busy.

If you're ready to build a simple system that actually aligns your daily actions with your bigger picture, then you'll love the new updates to Analog Action.

Analog Action is designed to help you get clear on what matters and make steady progress toward it—15 minutes a day, pen and paper, no overwhelm. The updated course launches on Monday 🚀

Later,

Matt "vision before system" Ragland