One of the best things I love about meeting people are the stories they have to tell and the fact that there is always a lesson to learn from their experiences.

Whether that’s getting an insider tip from the taxi driver picking me up from a foreign airport on the best place to experience some local cuisine or hearing the inspiring journey of how someone built a small side project into a money-making passive income stream!

The content of what many people tend to share with others however, often revolves around something materialistic.

That ultra HD TV or latest electronic gadget you recently bought in an online sale.

Your ever growing collection of clothes and latest designer items.

Expensive accessories such as your new flashy car or jewellery pieces.

There’s nothing wrong with this stuff (especially if you’ve got the spare cash to splash out!), but immediate gratification from the purchase of material things only lasts so long and I believe there are much better ways to spend your hard earned cash.

Ways that will be meaningful to the wellbeing of your existence and see you collect memories, which in turn, will provide you with some incredible stories to share with the world.

You don’t have an infinite amount of money, so here are a few areas where we should spend more money on:

Travelling. With holidays to suit every kind of budget, there’s no reason not to explore what the world has to offer! The world is like a book – full of stories, flavours, sights and sounds – and if you rarely travel, you restrict yourself to just a few pages. Doing so will reenergise you and do wonders for your creative thinking. As Marcel Proust states, “the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes”.

Education. Knowledge is power. I spend money on seminars and educational courses that have had a profound impact on me as well as books on investing, personal growth and business. Who knows what will happen once you start signing up and turning up to more things that further your knowledge?!

Food. In a similar way to travel, it’s important to expose your taste buds to what the world has to offer. And you don’t have to eat out at restaurants all the time. These days you can learn new recipes for free from YouTube and food bloggers to leaflets distributed at your local supermarket. As they say, ‘variety is the spice of life’.

Live Experiences. There’s a big difference between seeing something on TV and seeing it live amongst hundreds, even thousands, of other people. In a live setting, you’re able to be more present and at a higher, more excited state. My partner for example, can’t stand watching an entire football match on TV. But if I offer to take her to a live match, she’s a lot more up for it! It’s more entertaining and she gets to take in the atmosphere in its entirety.

Your Health. You’ve got one life and one body to live it through, so it’s essential to look after your health! Without good health, all the success and desires in the world would be pointless. Get yourself a personal trainer, sign yourself up to some regular fitness classes or make a commitment today to making healthier everyday choices.

Life can be filled with a collection of materialistic things that you inevitably become attached to…

or…

packed with endless and lasting memories, which are colourful and bursting with feelings of joy and gratitude.

Remember… a mountain of experiences is infinitely richer than a mountain of stuff.

What will your life be a collection of?