1. You will spend your life chasing a net worth number you think you will make you happy, but never get there. People talk about their “number,” or the amount of money they think will make them happy and content. I’m convinced these numbers are what most people live for. But they’re dangerous. People are bad at forecasting almost everything, but trying to predict how you’ll feel in the future is a whole different level of delusion….

2. A lot of what you know is wrong, incomplete, distorted, and subject to revision There’s a bias called the “end of history illusion.” It says that people think changes in taste, new ideas, and learning in general occurred in the past, but today we’ve got it all figured out. The truth is we’re always learning how wrong we were in the past…..

3. People are less impressed by your success than you think Most people in the developed world are about as comfortable and safe as they’re going to get in their lives. Their incentive to get richer is to impress other people. But while people spend their lives trying to impress their friends, a trait they find most attractive in those friends is humility. Few of us ever connect these dots…. SOURCE: Unfortunate Realities You Should Get Used To.

The folks over at Motley Fool have struck another chord with me. Here is a post about worrying on your wealth. Let’s take them a number at a time.

Number 1 – I don’t think I have ever spent any time chasing my net worth number. Money has just not been an important a topic with me. But of course that is probably because I had a fairly good career path and put away enough to now be comfortable. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not some closet millionaire but I am pretty sure I have enough to last out my years.

Yeah, people are usually very bad at forecasting anything. I am a planner at heart and of course most of those plans change because of circumstances. Nothing ever goes as planned. The ability to adapt is what is important.

Number 2 – I don’t know how many times in my life that I figured that I now had all the needed knowledge of life. Of course that was, and will continue to be, just naive thinking. I am still learning many of life’s basic lessons when I was sure I would have it all figured out by now. Learning how wrong we were in the past, how true that is.

Number 3 – I am a contrarian and in this regard because I am just not impressed with the wealth of a person. At least in monetary terms.  Personally, trying to impress others with wealth is way way down on my radar screen and anyone who IS impressed by wealth is usually not going to be much of a friend of mine. Humility  and how you treat others is way further up there for me….