What do you value more, looking good or feeling comfortable?  I wonder …

Perhaps this question is odd – but it is a real and current wondering for me. At first read it might seem like you can either look good or feel comfortable.  Yes, you can achieve both. But… for each of us there is a hidden prioritized value, above all others, that can bring light to your way of navigating wealth.  Looking good is exterior; you feel more yourself when the outside is attended to first. Conversely, feeling comfortable is interior and you feel more yourself when the inside is attended to first.

Here are two examples related to clothing, an easy example of looking good or feeling comfortable. Several years ago I bought my partner a short sleeved button down shirt. The color and feel of the shirt are amazing. He loves the soft material and the shirt is worn often even though the sleeves and bottom are tattered and shredded and it doesn’t look so good anymore.  He likes the feel of this shirt.  While he does value looking good, his first way of navigating wealth first is comfort.  His way points to tending to his finances from the inside out.  He is less interested in what might look good from the outside and is more interested in the comfort wealth brings to him from the interior.

Contrasting this posture to my mother, she has impeccable style and her style matches a sense of beauty and grace she likes to bestow upon the world. She values looking good for the sake of beauty and always looks her best. Sometimes, I believe, her clothing is not so comfortable when compared to style. She values looking good first and comfort second. When she navigates wealth, she tends to seek outside barometers first. Then, she moves to inside comfort.

There is no right or wrong way of navigating wealth – comfort or looks – both are true and valid. What is important is self-awareness about your own preference and how that bias affects or supports your wealthy life.  So, what’s your first impulse, looking good or feeling comfortable? I wonder…