I only make 12K a year, and I feel like life is complete.

The done thing in the modern career is to go out and get a 9–5 job and in the united kingdom a post-university job starts at £18K — £20K a year which to most doesn’t seem a lot but to me, it sounds all to much like hard work.

That is a 9–5 job, 5 days a week. 8 hour days that’s spending nearly half your day working away. You will never get that time back. Now I am not saying that you’re wasting that time, but I want to ask you why you are happy at that time? If the answer is no, then read on.

Today I want to share my system for work that allows me to work around a 10 hour work week and yet make enough money to live and be happy. Before I go any further, I want to note that my system’s numbers and specifics are unique to me. I am a 23-year-old male who lives alone and has no dependents. Hence my figure for work and income are most likely relatively low. I ask that you merely take the system and apply it to your life.

THE SYSTEM

There are three sides to my lifestyle design 1) Understanding what makes me happy 2) Understanding what I need to earn to be applied to fund that 3) How can I reach that money in a way that meets number 1. In the system, money comes second, and happiness comes first. I understand what I want to be doing in my current stage of life and then work out to fund that.

Currently, for me, I love spending my time creating, learning, playing a sport, and building relationships. Most of these factors I do not make any money from. Hence I need to find a way to make money. But also, most of these factors do not actually cost the earth. They require me to be healthy and breathing, they need me to travel and see people, and at times having money can enrich the experience.

I am not going to dig into today how you find what makes you happy… I have touched on it here in another blog.

So how do I understand what I need to earn to fund my desires?
Once you know what makes you happy in life, it’s time to understand what it's going to cost you. First, you need to understand the essential cost of a living stands at rents, food, etc. For me, this is pretty small, with rent being the largest factor. While you undertake this side of the calculation, look to see how you can save money here. For me, I was able to save around £500 a month on my rent by looking around to find the place I wanted to live.

From that essential living cost now add the extras that truly make you happy. I want you to work out the bare minimum you would need to spend to undertake each activity. An example for myself would be creating, I love to create in all realms of life. Writing is just one example of that and to be able to do that, I need an internet-connected device and an internet connection. I love to create and then share my creations with others (building relationships). Therefore for me, there is a cost of owning a laptop and internet connection. Do this for each aspect of your life which makes you happy.

Now, adding a little extra money into the mix can add to the experience. I love to build my relationship, I take time to chat with people and learn their stories. I can do this on a walk in the countryside, that doesn’t cost me any money and can be done anytime. But if I take that person to a warm coffee shop and buy them a drink and cake it adds to that experience. Playing a sport is very much the same. I can kick a football about in the park with my mates, but if I join a club, compete (which both add to the cost) I would be adding to my experience. Now the key to remember here is that I am only adding a little bit of extra money. I am not going out and spending the world on those extras. I am not forking out huge bucks for the best football boots or most expensive coffee. I just add a little extra.

Now you know what the cost of living is and what the cost of doing those extra little things, now add it all together. For me, this comes to around 12K a year, nowhere near that 20K… It is interesting how little we can actually live off. If I bought fewer coffees and lived in a less expensive area, I could reduce this further, but it is already pretty low.

Now its time to work out how to fund this 12K lifestyle.

Take a look at the aspects that make you happy and work out to make money in one of those areas. For me this was a sport, I coach sports for around 10 hours a week, and it provides me with the income I need. I could choose creation or learning.

Once you have that figure its time to just go out and put this system into life. Build a week design around the things you love, then see where you have time to work to fund and then go do. For me, that’s the evenings and some weekend work. That leaves my day days free for me to go away and do.

The point in my lifestyle system is that you really do not need to earn megabucks to be happy… it is about you and your time. Money is infante time is not.

If you have enjoyed learning and reading… check out more of my stories here.