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[whitehatblackbox]

I was wondering what would change about your life if you had more time, money, less things looming over your head, etc.

I was trying to think how my life would change if I had a million dollars. I would probably buy a few nice things, but I can't really imagine my life being dramatically different. How about you guys? Aside from the toys and the vacations, how would your life change if you didn't have to worry about the things that cause you stress?

[Brad Blackman]

If I had a million dollars... this reminds me of the scene from Office Space:

[Peter, Michael, and Samir are chatting as they hang around the printer]
Peter Gibbons: Our high school guidance counselor used to ask us what you'd do if you had a million dollars and you didn't have to work. And invariably what you'd say was supposed to be your career. So, if you wanted to fix old cars then you're supposed to be an auto mechanic.
Samir: So what did you say?
Peter Gibbons: I never had an answer. I guess that's why I'm working at Initech.
Michael Bolton: No, you're working at Initech because that question is bullshit to begin with. If everyone listened to her, there'd be no janitors, because no one would clean shit up if they had a million dollars.
Samir: You know what I would do if I had a million dollars? I would invest half of it in low risk mutual funds and then take the other half over to my friend Asadulah who works in securities...
Michael Bolton: Samir, you're missing the point. The point of the exercise is that you're supposed to figure out what you would want to do if...
[printer starts beeping]
Michael Bolton: "PC Load Letter"? What the fuck does that mean?

Personally, I'd probably spend a lot of time working with the church and going on mission trips and stuff like that, and spend a HUGE amount of my time painting and just doing art. The remainder of my time would be spent on the web, developing this site (WLC), Mysterious Flame, and my own blog to promote my artwork. And of course, I'd spend a LOT of time with my baby girl, who is now nearly 6 months old already.

[whitehatblackbox]

Haha, that's a good quote. It's almost perfectly expresses what I was experiencing. Ironically, I've been doing more yard work lately.

So it sounds like you wouldn't really change what you're doing now, just spend more time doing it? On a side note, I have high hopes for WLC. I put a link to here at the bottom of my blog. Anything else I could help out with?

[Eric Beavers]

$1 million isn't a lot of money these days and I don't think it would dramatically change my life except for making it more comfortable.

1- Pay off the house
2- Pay off the cars
3- Pay off all debt
4- Repair/renovate/improve house
5- Put half of remainder in savings

6- Use the rest, which I estimate would be roughly $400,000, to get whatever nice stuff we may want and comfortably pad our accounts. After getting the stuff we want, put a significant chunk of the remainder into savings.

Above all, I would keep working. I have a great job that I love. However, my lovely wife who isn't so fond of her job could be the stay at home mom should yearns to be.

How about you?

[Brad Blackman]

Daryl, I guess I'd do MORE of what I love. If I were to actually break down what I would actually do with it, sure, it would look a lot like what Eric said, with the exception that I'd pursue fine art full time.

Oh, and feel free to promote WLC all you want. ;-) I checked out your blog and it looks really nice. I'm adding it to my feed reader right... now!

[Michael Ramm]

I guess I would do the requisite paying off of debts. Then who knows! I would probably stay in my IT job because I love IT. I would give some to the Church. Probably buy me a SUPER computer for the house as well!

@Daryl...Thanks for the link at your site. I found your site a couple of weeks ago and d/l your Weekly Awesomeness form, though I have not used it. I really like the PCEO stuff and am trying to incorporate it more into my workflow.

Michael

[whitehatblackbox]

I've been spending quite some time thinking about this topic and it seems that money isn't the limiting factor. I've been mapping out the things I like to do and what I ultimately want to do and I saw that I can do things now that I enjoy.

For example, I first thought that I might like a few fancy cars. I've wanted a Porsche 356 for a few years now. My real reason for wanting the Porsche 356 is so I can rebuild and modify it and enjoy driving it. I figured out yesterday that I like making/modifying things that I eventually get to use.

With that in mind, I can get enjoyment from lower cost projects that have the same qualities of building and using my creations. It's not necessarily about having the thing, but what I do with it. My challenge now is figuring out how to make this process sustainable in itself.

@ Michael...no problem for the link. I believe in you guys and the potential of this forum.

[Luther]

Wow, this leads right off from my post in what is your ideal day.  Yeah, 1 mil is pretty meager these days but I agree with everyone about more church time.  Probably I would spend more prayer time and I expect that I would go back to school to do my PhD.  Also, I might foster some kids or adopt. Oh, yeah, workout more.