Filip Filatov's Blog - Posts Tagged "filip-filatov"
Most People Don’t Have a Money Problem — They Have a Meaning Problem
People talk endlessly about money:
how to earn it, save it, invest it, multiply it, protect it, optimize it.
But the longer I observe it — in myself, in friends, in readers — the more one truth becomes painfully clear:
Most people don’t actually have a money problem.
They have a meaning problem.
That’s the part no financial book, no YouTube guru, no index fund chart wants to say out loud.
But it’s the part that determines everything.
⸻
The Quiet Truth Behind Every Money Struggle
People say they want wealth.
What they really want is relief.
From stress. From confusion. From the discomfort of not knowing who they are or where they’re going.
Money becomes the lightning rod for all that inner noise.
When someone says,
“I don’t know how to save,”
“I can’t stop overspending,”
“I feel behind,”
what they often mean is:
“I don’t know what I’m living toward.”
Because when your life lacks direction, money becomes emotional fuel — burned fast, burned blindly, burned to keep the emptiness warm.
In that sense, money isn’t the fire.
It’s the smoke.
⸻
Consumption Is Not a Financial Behavior — It’s an Existential One
We buy things not because we want them,
but because we want to feel something.
Progress. Distraction. Identity. Status.
A momentary sense that something in life is moving forward.
This is why consumerism is addictive:
it promises meaning without requiring growth.
For a few minutes — buying feels like becoming.
But when the object loses novelty, the meaning evaporates,
and we begin again:
scroll, crave, buy, repeat.
It’s not a money loop.
It’s a meaning loop.
⸻
Why More Money Never Solves the Real Issue
I’ve spoken to people earning €800 a month and people earning €6,000 a month.
Both groups say the same thing:
“If I only made a little more, everything would calm down.”
It never works.
Because until you resolve the meaning problem:
– earnings rise
– spending rises
– anxiety rises
– dissatisfaction rises
– and peace remains exactly where it was: untouched.
Money amplifies who you are — it doesn’t replace what’s missing.
⸻
The Cushion Method Was Never About Money Alone
People think I write about investing.
But I don’t.
Not really.
Don’t Try to Rush Your Wealth,
The Ten Sacred Rules,
The Cushion Method —
all of them were written for one deeper purpose:
To help people remove noise long enough to hear what they truly want their life to mean.
The whole system — Flow, Safety, Power — exists for one reason:
to create space.
Because without space, you cannot think.
Without thinking, you cannot feel.
Without feeling, you cannot choose.
And without choosing, you have no meaning — only momentum.
⸻
The Real Work Is Not Financial — It’s Human
The real transformation doesn’t happen when you save your first €100.
Or when your ETF grows.
Or when your Safety Cushion is full.
It happens when you ask, honestly:
“What would I do with freedom if I finally had it?”
Most people never ask that question.
It’s safer to chase money than to chase meaning.
But if you’re brave enough to answer it,
your entire financial life reorganizes itself automatically —
because your choices finally have direction.
Money becomes a servant, not a substitute.
⸻
In the End, Wealth Is Just a Mirror
It reflects your structure, your desires, your fears, your values.
If those are unclear, money will always feel chaotic.
If those are aligned, money becomes simple — almost boring — because it follows the same rhythm you do.
Financial peace is not created by income.
It’s created by clarity.
Income simply amplifies it.
When people fix the meaning problem, the money problem usually dissolves on its own.
— Filip Filatov
(From The Cushion Series — where calmness is the currency, and meaning is the real wealth.)
how to earn it, save it, invest it, multiply it, protect it, optimize it.
But the longer I observe it — in myself, in friends, in readers — the more one truth becomes painfully clear:
Most people don’t actually have a money problem.
They have a meaning problem.
That’s the part no financial book, no YouTube guru, no index fund chart wants to say out loud.
But it’s the part that determines everything.
⸻
The Quiet Truth Behind Every Money Struggle
People say they want wealth.
What they really want is relief.
From stress. From confusion. From the discomfort of not knowing who they are or where they’re going.
Money becomes the lightning rod for all that inner noise.
When someone says,
“I don’t know how to save,”
“I can’t stop overspending,”
“I feel behind,”
what they often mean is:
“I don’t know what I’m living toward.”
Because when your life lacks direction, money becomes emotional fuel — burned fast, burned blindly, burned to keep the emptiness warm.
In that sense, money isn’t the fire.
It’s the smoke.
⸻
Consumption Is Not a Financial Behavior — It’s an Existential One
We buy things not because we want them,
but because we want to feel something.
Progress. Distraction. Identity. Status.
A momentary sense that something in life is moving forward.
This is why consumerism is addictive:
it promises meaning without requiring growth.
For a few minutes — buying feels like becoming.
But when the object loses novelty, the meaning evaporates,
and we begin again:
scroll, crave, buy, repeat.
It’s not a money loop.
It’s a meaning loop.
⸻
Why More Money Never Solves the Real Issue
I’ve spoken to people earning €800 a month and people earning €6,000 a month.
Both groups say the same thing:
“If I only made a little more, everything would calm down.”
It never works.
Because until you resolve the meaning problem:
– earnings rise
– spending rises
– anxiety rises
– dissatisfaction rises
– and peace remains exactly where it was: untouched.
Money amplifies who you are — it doesn’t replace what’s missing.
⸻
The Cushion Method Was Never About Money Alone
People think I write about investing.
But I don’t.
Not really.
Don’t Try to Rush Your Wealth,
The Ten Sacred Rules,
The Cushion Method —
all of them were written for one deeper purpose:
To help people remove noise long enough to hear what they truly want their life to mean.
The whole system — Flow, Safety, Power — exists for one reason:
to create space.
Because without space, you cannot think.
Without thinking, you cannot feel.
Without feeling, you cannot choose.
And without choosing, you have no meaning — only momentum.
⸻
The Real Work Is Not Financial — It’s Human
The real transformation doesn’t happen when you save your first €100.
Or when your ETF grows.
Or when your Safety Cushion is full.
It happens when you ask, honestly:
“What would I do with freedom if I finally had it?”
Most people never ask that question.
It’s safer to chase money than to chase meaning.
But if you’re brave enough to answer it,
your entire financial life reorganizes itself automatically —
because your choices finally have direction.
Money becomes a servant, not a substitute.
⸻
In the End, Wealth Is Just a Mirror
It reflects your structure, your desires, your fears, your values.
If those are unclear, money will always feel chaotic.
If those are aligned, money becomes simple — almost boring — because it follows the same rhythm you do.
Financial peace is not created by income.
It’s created by clarity.
Income simply amplifies it.
When people fix the meaning problem, the money problem usually dissolves on its own.
— Filip Filatov
(From The Cushion Series — where calmness is the currency, and meaning is the real wealth.)
