Last week I was asked to speak about Lifeonaire to a group in church. When I get asked to do things like this, there are various related topics I can share on—like overcoming debt, giving, managing money and what it means to live a truly abundant life. The person who invited me leads a local group of people through Dave Ramsey’s popular Financial Peace University and he asked me to share openly on one salient topic:

“What’s the missing ingredient in the myriad of financial teachings in the world today?”

More specifically, something that’s far-reaching, but little-known anymore. He continued, “There’s just something wrong—something is missing. We read your book Lifeonaire and I’m convinced you have the missing ingredient.”

In fact, this man and his wife said that they’ve been pursuing various financial teachings their whole life, and after so many years of absorbing and applying the teachings of others, they’ve realized there’s still just something missing in their own lives.

What was missing? In his own words he said that he was, “…living for someday.”

Well, time flies, doesn’t it? Someday has arrived, and now he’s looking around at his life and no longer believes he can do the things he’d been dreaming of doing when he “arrived” financially.  Though considered by most to be healthy for his age, he can’t do most of the things he once dreamed of enjoying in this phase of his life. Physically, his body just can’t do it anymore.

Someday Took Too Long

While I believe it is never too late, there is validity to his argument. His physical abilities are certainly limiting him.  Additionally, he said,

“My kids are all grown up and have families of their own now. I can’t get them all together to do and enjoy the things that I had dreamed of doing with them many years ago. They have their own lives. Those memories that I dreamed of making someday with my family never materialized.  Someday took too long to get here.”

He continued…

“When we read Lifeonaire, we realized that you had the missing ingredient. We focused our whole lives on being good financial stewards and we’ve been very successful, but time is not on our side. It’s run out. You focus on time and life and making the most of it now.”

The financial teachings they’re leading others through are great, but they didn’t want others to make the same “someday” mistake they had—they wanted their study group to know about the missing ingredient and not miss the boat on living so much of their lives today instead of someday.

So with this in mind, I started out my session setting the frame with three key questions:

1. How many people do you know that dream of struggling financially and living week to week?
2. How many young people do you know that have a dream to work hard their whole lives, only to do nothing when they get older?
3. If we were to poll a bunch of high schoolers and college students, how many of them do you think dream of being deep in debt and stressed out about paying their bills all the time?

On the surface, these questions seem a little ridiculous and definitely got more than a few chuckles from the group. But here’s the hard reality: These are the all-too-common “success” patterns these people are sitting in a classroom to learn how to recognize and unwind.

No one dreams of living such a life, but sadly it’s just what most Americans end up doing. It’s not what they want, but it’s what they end up getting most of the time.

So, I have to question, “Why?”

As Lifeonaire has developed, we’ve identified the biggest, most common reasons why people are not living the abundant lives they deeply desire to live. Then based on this, we crafted some specific “Lifeonaire principles” that are, in many ways, countercultural—squarely debunking the lies our modern “success” culture has conditioned us to believe will give us a more rewarding life.

Yes, at the same time, we’re showing people how to make money, build wealth, and pursue financial strategies. But not at the expense of experiencing the life you desire sooner than later.  Whether it is Dave Ramsey, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, or maybe one of the many other leading success programs out there, I truly believe that Lifeonaire offers people a precious missing piece in the equation, and it’s called…

The Someday Deception

Someday everything will make perfect sense. By then, it might just be too late.

“Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.” —Jim Rohn

“Someday” is an invisible prosperity bandit that Lifeonaire squarely tackles—which also happens to be the “missing ingredient” that so many financial success books and courses just miss entirely.

I’ve enjoyed coaching many people with this throughout the years. I’ve seen the patterns and have learned and lived the stories that so many experience in life. I then spent 9 years crafting a book that people like me would want to read, would never want to put down, and that could be passed along to others—a book offering insights, truth, hope and encouragement to a dying world.

Lifeonaire is all about revealing the disguised lies people have embraced, and showing them how easy and practical it is to start creating and actually living a truly abundant life.

I truly believe Lifeonaire principles and core values are the missing ingredients that so many are looking for today. At one point they were even called, “The Secret Sauce”.

What do you think? Does this apply to your life in some way?

—Steve