A Principled Life vs. A Practical Life

As the new year begins, and what appears to be a new economic reality continues to maintain its grip on the country and the world, I am beginning to hear from many people about the ways they are changing their lives to be more practical. Now that their portfolios are down by as much as 40% and some may have even lost their job, what once seemed normal, has become very impractical.

For example, many of us fell into a habit of going out to expensive dinners and paying for too much for a meal. Or maybe we had grown accustomed to spoiling our children with too many gifts and extravagant presents at Christmas. For others, it may be a shopping habit that just never seems to stop needing its fix. Or, in my case, it was that one or two big purchases a year that pumped up my ego and made me feel successful.

Now, all of that starts to feel wrong. But why?

This past week, I was in a discussion about how the times have changed. Many of the participants said that the change that was taking place around us represented a return to values and a return to practical living. I could not help myself when I spoke up. Has anything really changed or are we living the exact same life just with a different economic floor. In other words, has anything changed in our hearts and our minds about what is right or wrong, what is good or bad, what is success or significance. As I look around, I do not see any real change, I just see people with less money acting the exact same, only with a new set of financial constraints limiting their behavior, at least for the time being. Worse than that, the behavior they are limiting may actually be the most significant things they do in their lives.

I will give you an example. I have a friend who, at one time, was probably worth close to $100mm. This recent down turn in the stock market and the eroding of real estate market along with a pretty spectacular life style has reduced that number dramatically. Still, the remaining $40mm, more or less, is an astronomical amount of money. But the way he perceives the impact on his life has been shocking. He has decided that he needs to be more practical. As long as he does not spend extravagantly or give his money away, he is "comfortable" that he will be able to maintain his current lifestyle for the next 20 years, even if he makes no money on his portfolio. Not bad, a practical life for $2.0mm per year. But what has actually changed? The only thing that I know that has changed is his generosity. He plans to give less money away and feels as if he needs to hoard his wealth in these “hard” economic times. Is this what should be resulting from practical living?

Obviously, this example is extreme. Many of us, like myself, have far bigger concerns about paying our bills than does my wealthy friend. But as my friends and I continued our discussion, a man of great wisdom said this, “It is the difference between a practical life and a principled life.”

Those words have played over in my mind time and time again. You see, the road to success is all about practical living. Determine your life and your lifestyle by the financial success you achieve. Practical living is dependent on economics.

But what about a principled life; a life that is not controlled by your portfolio, or your income, or your financial empire, but rather a life that is grounded in the principles of significance.

The road to significance can only be traveled by those of us willing to build our foundations on principles, not just practicality. Don’t get me wrong, it is important that we all be pragmatic as we serve others well. But solid principles, such as humility, sacrifice, service, grace, simplicity, love, joy, peace and a desire to give more than you receive allows everyone to maintain a steady course, even in these turbulent economic times.

I have been traveling this road of significance for just over 13 years, and I have to admit that it is a lot easier to forget about my principles and replace them with practical living, especially when times get tough. But if this world is ever going to change, and the road to significance is ever going to become the main thoroughfare, I need to brand my principles onto my heart and soul and begin to live not by practicality, but rather by the principles of significance.