Are you having enough fun?
Could you use more laughter in your life?
What is your richest life?
How can you create your richest life?
What would you have to do, what would you have to heal, and what would you have to choose to create your best life today?

These are questions I ask myself regularly. I also write about them regularly (which is helpful).

This gets even better when it is a co-creation process.

One of the best ways to live a life you love is to contemplate it, and then co-create it.

To create a life you love, create space in your life for what you love.

Take time to think about your richest life. Have conversations with loved ones about it. Spend time with people who inspire you. Strengthen the relationships that positively challenge you.

Also consider what (or who) may be holding you back.
What are your unhealthy attachments (money, reputation, comfort)?
What labels and judgments do you place on yourself?
Do they empower you or limit you?

As you make changes, it may mean not everyone will understand or support you. That’s okay. Invest more time with those who want what is best for you.

Who do you have the most fun with? Find time for fun.

My mantra: We win when we play.

I’ll give you some examples.

This past weekend I planned an overnight date with my wife. Combining work and play.

From the moment I booked the hotel, I was excited. I bought a deck of date night question cards. I wrote questions on some 3×5 cards about health, happiness, and parenting. This was a date, but it was also about the conversations that lead to quality of life.

Wealth is built through quality conversations. “Set and setting” make a big difference as well. By “set” I mean your mindset, and by “setting” I mean your environment.

Being away from the familiar, and having time together with great food and ambiance, created the setting for lifestyle design.

Planning this night came from a course I am creating for Killing Sacred Cows 2.0. Part III of the course is about quality of life. The questions I created for the course inspired me to act in my own life.

Questions are the gateway to growth, insight, and connection.

This date was fun and rewarding. The frame for the evening: How can we live our richest life? What does it look like? What can we do immediately to move closer to it?

The questions and conversations led us to book a trip for spring break with the kids.

My wife encouraged me to book some guy time at the cabin with some local people who inspire me. I immediately texted five people and secured a day one week away.

We talked about how fortunate we were to have both our parents alive and then created a rhythm to see my parents more regularly, weekly.

My wife and I talked about finding ways to have more time with the kids. My oldest son works out with me four times a week, has traveled with me on my book/speaking tour, and does some editing for me as well.

How could I connect with my youngest son? And how can he earn some money while keeping impeccable grades, playing sports, and having time to be a kid and have some fun?

We could watch some of my comedy sets to determine which clips to start sharing online. We could have time together laughing while he is making a few bucks. When I filmed my comedy special, it was a family affair. I turned the basement into a comedy club, my kids helped me rehearse, and my youngest even opened up for me that night.

Comedy for the win.

My wife said that is her favorite thing about me, when I make her laugh. And I love to make her laugh.

My richest life includes comedy.

I have love comedy ever since I can remember. My dad is hilarious with a dry sense of humor, my mom has the most infectious laugh. From a very young age, I would stay up late when we had family parties to eavesdrop on my uncle’s jokes.

Comedy connects. For me, it is love.

We are present when we laugh. We aren’t regretting and judging the past or not worried about the future, we are in the moment.

In today’s world, comedy provides some much-needed relief. Comedy is one of the best ways to advance a conversation or call out the most ridiculous ideas… those societal “sacred cows.”

Words that lead to a spontaneous outburst (laughter) help us realize we are not alone. Comedy shows us other people think similar things we have yet to articulate or we otherwise might silently judge ourselves for. Healing. Helpful.

Other times, jokes can lend a new perspective without intense debate, diffusing an otherwise charged situation.

I believe we can all use more laughs. In today’s woke culture, comedy is leading the way to sanity and freedom. When we laugh, we can learn.

I’m grateful that both sides of my family are hilarious (and inappropriate). Even religion didn’t matter when it came to jokes. Inappropriate was fine…if it was funny. And that is a big deal considering I’m from Utah with a Mormon side of the family and a pray the rosary, go to church every day, Catholic side of the family.

Comedy is helping me to be myself, without worry or seeking approval.

Living my richest life means being myself.

Yet, in my twenties, I was a chameleon. I was told how to behave in business or how to present myself to gain trust. I was given advice to wear suits, telling me that people don’t trust those with a beard or long hair.

The advice was to do something inauthentic to get people to trust me? What? Oxymoron?

Fortunately, year by year I am becoming more open, and vulnerable and breaking the bad habits of censoring myself to be liked and accepted by everyone (an impossible feat and at odds with my richest life).

As I have faced my fears and become more and more expressed and free, I can connect more. I have more energy. There is less to manage or worry about.

On my date with Carrie, I told her it was time to finally launch a podcast. Funny Money. With my very funny and smart friend Ian Stanley.

Ian leads the way with expression. On our last comedy tour together, there was seemingly no topic he was afraid of. It was inspiring.

And now that we have recorded some episodes of our new podcast, you will see a new side of me. It has always been there, as my close friends and college roommates would share.

It just hasn’t been made available on video or audio…until now.

There are moments in the early episodes where Ian was laughing at the juxtaposition of me being a New York Times bestseller and a literal “party pooper” (you’ll have to listen to the episode).

With Funny Money, it is a drop in on what a conversation with Ian and I would have at any given moment. Random. Ridiculous. Irreverent. Funny. Sometimes profound and educational.

The tagline is where funny comes first. And we give a money tip of the day before the end of the episode… and they are pretty damn amazing.

Ian and I wanted to do something fun together that we feel listeners will enjoy. It isn’t filled with education the whole time, that can be exhausting or even ignored (only millions want to be educated, but billions want to be entertained). This is what we would do without cameras, just for ourselves. But this way we can build relationships and more intentionally have time together.

My commitment is to use entertainment to educate. To by myself. Create memorable and shared moments and be fully expressed.

Maybe some won’t love it or resonate, sure, but others will be entertained and inspired. Many will learn, and some will now have permission to be more of who they are.

On our date, I told Carrie about the remnants of growing up and “behaving” to be liked. She said, “Fuck that. Be you. Have fun.”

So here we go…

With Funny Money, Ian and I intend to connect and engage. We will be vulnerable and even add value along the way.

Our commitment is to entertain and who knows, maybe even help people transform.

My richest life comes from creativity, comedy, and relationships. Adding value to those I come in contact with. Doing work that I love, with those that I love.

Again, what does your richest life look like?

I’m redefining the way business is played.
It isn’t about the hustle and grind.
It isn’t about sacrificing today for one day, someday.

My richest life comes from the conversations I have, the commitments I make, and the ones I don’t make.

For years I’ve been deliberate about investing where it is aligned with my Investor DNA and advancing my purpose. This has allowed me to build more relationships, be more present, and stay connected to the value I provide with my money.

More recently, I’ve discovered the expense of appeasing others. It has an impact on health, happiness, and my ability to be present. So I’m no longer appeasing others at the expense of myself.

There is no way to live your richest life by focusing on what you don’t want, being governed by fear, or only considering what has been done before. This only leads to being a victim of circumstance.

Living your life for someone else, at the expense of yourself, will limit your life. Add maximum value, but make sure it is on your terms and improving your life as well. Win-lose is a losing game.

Win-win or no deal.

If we are in isolation or focused solely on survival, we become selfish. But if we only think of others and don’t consider what we want, we lose ourselves.

How can you live a life in harmony?

When you make choices you can live with, there is no sacrifice—there is freedom.

Just because something requires work and effort doesn’t mean it is sacrifice. Not if it is the right work.

Hard and smart work are part of the process. The real sacrifice would be doing things that didn’t matter, were of zero effort ever.

There are plenty of ways to build wealth and make money. But if they come at the expense of enjoying your life and diminishing your quality of life, are they worth it?

No matter your circumstance or financial position, you can be more resourceful. You could make a list of the people that support you the most. And you can invite them into your life. You could make a list of the things you love doing the most. And you can add them to your calendar.

I encourage you to find space in your calendar to design your life, contemplate, and create.

Are you having fun?
Are you living life on your terms?
Are you willing to be yourself? Love yourself?
To your journey and enjoying life along the way.
To your richest life; one of prosperity, gratitude, laughter, and love.