What Money Can’t Buy
Guys! Guys! Guys! I discovered a new parenting hack this week. Each night, Sarah and I told the kids they could stay up later.......if.......if they watched the Olympics with us. They were initially unhappy about this condition, but staying up late is staying up late.
The first night: "Uh, I don't want to watch gymnastics. Gymnastics is boring!"
The second night: "Swimming is boring! Can we watch something else?"
The third night: "Daddy, can we watch gymnastics tonight? Is swimming on, too?"
The fourth night: "I hope Biles is playing tonight!"
We've been geeking out on swimming and gymnastics all week, and it's been fun to share that with the boys. Finn even tried to imitate Katie Ledecky at the pool one day.
The interesting thing about swimming and gymnastics is we collectively aren't really swimming or gymnastics fans, but once every four years, we're glued to our TVs. The Olympics is their showcase to the world, and we're grateful to consume the content. Knowing how much work goes into these sports, and how little they get paid (on average), can we all agree these athletes are pursuing meaning over money?
Then, there's the other sports. Basketball, soccer, golf, and tennis, for example. These athletes are some of the highest-paid athletes in the world. Lebron James is a literal billionaire!!! Many of these athletes get paid tens of millions per year.....not including their endorsements!
Here's where I'm going with this. Yesterday afternoon, I received two separate messages from two separate blog readers. They wanted to highlight "meaning over money moments." One was of tennis superstar Novak Djokovic collapsing to the ground after winning gold. The other was of golfer Scottie Scheffler breaking down with emotion while listening to our national anthem after receiving his gold medal.
Novak Djokovic has won 24 tennis grand slams in his career (the most of all time) and is often regarded as the best tennis player ever. He's also earned approximately $170 million in prize money just from his tennis events. He has an estimated net worth of a quarter-billion dollars. Yet, he broke down the moment he won a gold medal for his country.
At just 28 years old, Scottie Scheffler has been the #1 ranked golfer in the world for approximately 100 weeks, and has earned approximately $90 million in his short career (not including the tens of millions earned from endorsements). He's achieved monumental success in his professional career, yet he sobbed when he earned an Olympic medal.
We can easily point our fingers at famous athletes and snidely say they are "just in it for the money." However, as I commonly say, the science says otherwise. Money can do a lot of things, but it cannot buy meaning or fulfillment. The Olympics are a perfect reminder that meaning ALWAYS trumps money. It's true for Scheffler, it's true for Djokovic, and it's true for you and me.
Meaning over money. Always meaning over money.