What’s the Soundtrack to Your Life?

January 6, 2011

If you had to pick one song to be the soundtrack for your life, what would it be?  That’s the question I recently asked the readers of the Money Smart Life newsletter.  Here’s what I wrote:

What’s Your Theme Song for Life?

See, music reminds us of where we’ve been and inspires us towards where we want to be in life.

Do you agree that the songs of our lives have a deep connection with our psyche?  That they have an incredible power over how we feel and even act?

As you’ve probably experienced, those emotions can dredge up memories of past failures … but can also give us and hope and motivation for the future.

Those fears and hopes are what will guide our life decisions.  So whether you’re trying to get out of debt, retire early, start a business, buy a home, or do anything related to money – your success will ultimately be decided by those emotions and how you channel them.

– You have to really WANT to succeed
– Or you may be totally terrified of failure

Without fear chasing you or hope pushing you, chances are you’ll eventually run out of steam. That’s why, if you want to sustain your life goals, it really helps to figure out your theme song.

What’s My Theme Song?

I got some great responses to my email but I had several people say they weren’t really sure about their song – even more just asked what my theme song was.

Thanks to everyone that responded and I apologize for my bad form.  I should have shared mine first before asking you to unveil your theme song – so I will in minute.

Before I go into mine, I just want to say that it doesn’t matter the original intent behind the lyrics of the song you choose – it’s what the song means to you.  It’s the picture you form in your mind when you hear the tune and the words combine.  It’s the emotion the song tugs out of you that scares you or inspires you. 

If you like your theme song those emotions can motivate you to continue striving for what you’re chasing.  If you don’t really like your soundtrack maybe it’s a sign that you should think about some changes.

Life Goes On

My theme song right now would probably be Obladi Oblada by the Beatles.  The key lines for me are:

“In a couple of years they have built
A home sweet home
With a couple of kids running in the yard”

That pretty much reflects what’s happened as our family grew from 2 to 4 people over the last few years.  Now our kids are the most important thing to us and our lives have changed to reflect that. 

My wife left her job to stay at home with the kids. I switched to a job with regular hours so I could be at home more.  Our evenings and weekends revolve around the kids.  All of our financial decisions are based on creating a home and family where they can thrive.

Not only that, the title of the song is quite appropriate. We don’t get many breaks these days; life goes on at a rapid pace.  I feel like most days are somewhat of a blur with my job, our kids, and running Money Smart Life.

Of course I occasionally feel like adopting a different theme song for a night, maybe Nothin’ But A Good Time  : )

The Evolving Soundtrack

One thing is certain, your theme song will change over time.  For example, right out of college mine would have probably been All About the Benjamins Baby. At the time my wife and I were really focused on our careers.

We both worked long hours and went back to school at the same time to get our Masters degrees.  We maxed out our retirement accounts, saved & invested as much as possible, hired a financial planner, bought real estate – just really focused on getting ahead at work and building wealth. Don’t get me wrong, we did have a good time together as a couple but we definitely worked pretty hard.

That was also the decade of the Internet boom and I spent so much time working on the computer, another appropriate song for me at the time would have been the parody All About the Pentiums – “paying the bills with my mad programming skills” : )

So What’s Your Soundtrack?

So think about it for a few minutes, then try and choose the theme song for your life.  For more ways to help guide your money adventures, you can join the free newsletter – just enter your email address below to request access:

Ben

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Ben
Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

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Comments

3 Responses to What’s the Soundtrack to Your Life?

  • Diva

    My soundtrack is “One” from A Chorus Line.
    “One
    singular sensation
    every little step she takes.”

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