In short
The Daily Motivation Podcast Episode Summary
Episode Title
The Biggest Money Mistake Is Not What You Think | Bill Perkins
Host
Lewis Howes
Description In this episode, Lewis Howes interviews Bill Perkins, who presents a provocative view on the relationship between money, life experiences, and the fear of running out of time. Perkins believes that the greatest mistake people make is not the fear of financial instability, but rather the fear of wasting their lives by prioritizing money over meaningful experiences.
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Key Themes and Discussions
- The Psychological Crime of Money Fear
- Main Argument: People often fear running out of money more than they fear wasting their lives.
- Importance of Perspective: This fear leads individuals to prioritize financial security over experiences that enrich life.
- Life Stages as Buckets
- Concept of Life Buckets: Perkins describes life in stages, each with unique opportunities that should be embraced.
- Twenties: Exploration and adventure.
- Parenting Years: Building relationships and creating memories with children.
- Middle Age: Reflecting on what experiences will fulfill life.
- Missed Opportunities: Each stage is a one-time opportunity; delaying experiences can lead to regrets.
- The Tetris Metaphor
- Life’s Experiences: Perkins likens life to a game of Tetris where the timing of experiences is crucial.
- Getting the Order Right: Just as Tetris pieces must fit together perfectly, life experiences need to be prioritized to maximize fulfillment.
- Example: Seniors visiting St. Petersburg, unable to climb steps to enjoy the view, demonstrate how physical capabilities dictate the timing of experiences.
- The Decay of Physical and Mental Capability
- Peak Years:
- Mental maturity typically peaks around age 28.
- Physical maturity peaks around age 33.
- Inevitability of Decline: After these ages, individuals face a plateau and decline in their physical abilities, making it harder to engage in certain activities.
- Impact of Money on Experiences
- Money as a Tool: Perkins emphasizes that money is simply a tool to facilitate experiences and not the ultimate goal.
- Decaying Ability to Experience: As physical and mental capacities decrease over time, so does the ability to convert money into fulfilling experiences.
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Key Takeaways
- Prioritize Experiences: Recognizing the importance of seizing opportunities during the prime of life.
- Mindset Shift: Changing the perception of money from a goal to a means for enriching life experiences.
- Awareness of Timing: Understanding personal limits and the time constraints of life stages to maximize enjoyment and fulfillment.
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Conclusion Bill Perkins' insights challenge listeners to reconsider their relationship with money and time. The episode encourages an active approach to life, emphasizing the importance of experiences over the accumulation of wealth. It's a call to live fully and consciously, making the most of each stage of life before opportunities pass by.
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Additional Resources
- Book Mention: Perkins' new book, *Make Money Easy*, aimed at transforming one's financial relationship.
- Full Episode Access: Listeners are invited to explore the full podcast on the School of Greatness.
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Subscribe & Engage
- Follow the Daily Motivation on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
- Sign up for the Greatness newsletter for exclusive content: [Greatness Newsletter](http://www.greatness.com/newsletter)
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Closing Thank you for tuning into this episode of The Daily Motivation. Stay inspired and remember to seize the moments that matter!
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Hi, my name is Lewis Howes and welcome to the Daily Motivation Show.
0:12What do you think is the biggest psychological crime someone can make when it comes to their money? I think the biggest psychological crime is people fear running out of money instead of fear of wasting their life. And so, you know, they have this fear of embarrassment of like, I'm going to run out of money and I'm going to be broke or I'm going to do X, Y, and Z. instead of feeling like i am wasting my life i have for the we were talking about the 20 to 30 bucket i'll just you know this is it this is the only period i'll be 20 to 30 there are certain activities experiences that are meant for this bucket right people are marketing services and products to you you know that they're there right like i don't want to do them like go have fun right but but and you only get one shot one go around you know and so and they're worried about you know in the 30 40 so i think people worry about embarrassment what other people think judgment about their lifestyle or them failing in the future etc as opposed to worrying about like i don't want to waste this ride and it's not even the ride for the whole life every single period of your life.
1:23So, if you're a parent with small children, not wasting that period. With teenagers, I know a lot of us would like to waste that period and just be like, but that period. And then, you know, eventually you don't have kids in the house anymore. And that's a different period of your life. And there's different activities and different opportunities that go. And I often say life is like Tetris, right? Like if you were in heaven, let's assume this is heaven, and you're about to come down to earth as a human being and God's like, Like, here's the bucket of experiences. And when I use experience, I mean choices, right?
1:56I mean it in the broadest sense. Hedonistic, charitable, whatever. And you're like, oh, the infinite bucket of experiences. I want to go hiking. I want to do tennis a thousand times. I want to have sex a jillion times. I want to do all these things. You're throwing them into the experience. Like, I want to start a business. I want to go to school, blah, blah, blah. And it's full. And God goes, great. You can have all those. You just have to get the order right. So life is like Tetris. You know, you remember the game Tetris where you had to get the shapes right? Life is that way. Like, if you don't have the experiences at the right time, they run to interfere with each other or your ability to doom disappears.
2:34So you can have all the money in the world, right? When I was in St. Petersburg, Russia, this was before the war, a beautiful city. And one of the things about Europe is, like, things they allow you to do would be completely illegal in the United States. It's not like safety laws or whatever. So you can climb these steps, walk around the churches and then walk around the balcony. Beautiful. It's amazing. It's like, wow, I can't believe we still get to do this. And it was like 115 steps. I remember it was an odd number. I think it might've been 111. But, and there were like six or eight tour buses of senior citizens, you know, coming to go see the museum and this church.
3:17Not a single one. climbed those steps. Not a single one. So their trip to St. Petersburg was entirely different than my St. Petersburg trip. Their experience, the information they got to process, the things they got to see was totally different. I'm not saying it wasn't enjoyable, but perhaps in a city that allows you to roam around and do these things and go on cliffs and overlook type of things and you enjoy it, perhaps that trip should have been taken much earlier. Wow. And so, you know, that's an example of getting the order right. Yes. Getting the order right and making sure you're using your money at the time where you're able to use it the most effectively.
3:59Yes. It's getting the most out of that tool. It's getting the most out of that tool. The tool of money. Your ability to convert your money into meaningful, fulfilling experiences decays over time. So, you know, your brain reaches mental maturity around 28. Your body is physical maturity around 33. So if by and large, if you were in the best shape of your life at 33, that is the top. Then you go into plateau and decline. I will never, ever, unless, you know, new technology, gene therapy or whatever, but be in better shape than I could have been at 33, right? It's over.
4:44I have a brand new book called Make Money Easy. and if you're looking to create more financial freedom in your life, you want abundance in your life and you want to stop making money hard in your life, but you wanna make it easier, you wanna make it flow, you wanna feel abundant, then make sure to go to makemoneyeasybook.com right now and get yourself a copy. I really think this is gonna help you transform your relationship with money this moment moving forward. We have some big guests and content coming up. Make sure you're following. And thank you for listening to this episode of The Daily Motivation Show.
5:27Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of The Daily Motivation. And I hope you have an amazing rest of your day. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to click the link in the description. That will take you to the full episode of our main podcast on the School of Greatness. And if you are loving the daily motivation, please follow us over on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and leave us a review over on Apple Podcasts right now. And if you want more exclusive content and ad-free listening experience, make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel on Apple Podcasts right now. And if you want to get even more inspiration from our world-class guests and learn how to improve your life and take it to the next level, then make sure to sign up for the Greatness newsletter and get it delivered right to your inbox over at greatness.com slash newsletter.
6:17Again, have an amazing day, and I'll see you tomorrow with another episode of the Daily Motivation Show.
From the publisher
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Check out the full episode: https://greatness.lnk.to/1529
"I think the biggest psychological crime is people fear running outta money instead of fear of wasting their life." - Bill Perkins
Bill Perkins watched busloads of senior citizens arrive in St. Petersburg, Russia. Not a single person climbed the 115 steps to see the breathtaking view from the church balcony. They had the money for the trip, the time to travel, but their bodies wouldn't cooperate anymore. That moment crystallized everything he'd been thinking about how we get life backwards. We treat money like it's the goal when it's actually just a tool, one that loses effectiveness as our bodies and minds decline. Your body peaks at 33. After that, it's plateau and decline. Those hiking trips, those physical adventures, those experiences that require energy and health—they have expiration dates we refuse to acknowledge. We tell ourselves we'll do them later, when we're more financially secure, but later means weaker knees, less stamina, different limitations.
Perkins talks about life in buckets, periods you'll never get back. Your twenties happen once. The years with small children happen once. Each phase has experiences designed for it, and if you miss them, they interfere with each other or disappear entirely. He uses a Tetris metaphor: imagine standing in heaven with God, throwing every experience you want into a bucket. Hiking, building businesses, raising kids, traveling to places that require climbing, all of it. God says you can have everything, you just have to get the order right. That's the game. That's what most people get catastrophically wrong. They're so afraid of judgment, so terrified of running out of money that they waste the periods of life when those experiences would mean the most, when their bodies could actually do them. This isn't about reckless spending. It's about understanding that your ability to convert money into fulfilling experiences decays over time, and no amount of savings can buy back the body you had at 33.
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