NFA Finance

I had to think about that one.

Money is the obvious answer. Give me a pile of it. Take the pressure off. Let me do whatever I want.

And I’m not going to pretend money doesn’t matter. It does. Bills are real. Having some breathing room makes a difference.

But I know people with a lot of money who are miserable. Big time. They can afford things most people dream about, and they still aren’t happy with their lives.

That made me think harder about what I would actually ask for.

My wish would be for the life I’ve dreamed about and deliberately designed to come true.

The whole thing.

How I spend my days. Who I spend them with. The work I do. The places I go. How I feel when I wake up in the morning.

Life by design.

You can spend years working toward something without stopping to ask whether you actually want the life that comes with it. You get good at a business. People know you for it. Opportunities keep showing up, so you keep saying yes.

Eventually, your days are full. But are they full of what you want?

That’s a question worth answering honestly.

I want to build things I enjoy. Work on cars. Create content. Have a shop where I can take an idea and turn it into something real. Get on the road, experience places, meet people, and have stories worth telling.

I want time with my daughter. Good people around me. My health. The ability to enjoy an ordinary day while I’m still working toward something bigger.

I want to be able to choose what I take on because it fits the life I’m building.

There has to be room in the dream to actually live it.

A business can make money and consume every waking hour. A beautiful house can become a source of constant pressure. Something you once wanted can stop fitting the person you’ve become.

You have to be willing to look at that and make changes.

I’m still figuring parts of it out. The picture gets clearer as I go. Some things I used to want don’t interest me anymore. Other things matter more than they ever did.

That’s part of designing your life, too. You’re allowed to change the plans.

And I wouldn’t wish away every challenge. I enjoy the work of building something. There’s satisfaction in solving a problem, finishing a project, and watching something grow because you kept showing up.

I want that effort to lead somewhere I actually want to be.

If a genie appeared today, I’d wish for that whole picture to become real. A life that feels right to me, from the work to the relationships to the way I spend a Tuesday afternoon.

But until the genie shows up, I’ve still got choices to make.

What do I say yes to? What do I let go of? What can I do today that moves me closer to the life I keep talking about?

I can’t control every outcome. I can pay attention to the direction I’m taking.

That’s my wish: to live the life I’ve imagined, shaped intentionally, and made my own.

And that’s what I’m working on.

— Nicholas Francis