One of my close friends at work can often be heard saying “man, if only I had the F.U. money.” By that, of course, he means that if he had enough money to not care about losing his job, he could say what was really on his mind and do what he wanted to do.

I did point out to him that if he had the F.U. money, which by his estimate is millions, if not billions, of dollars, he wouldn’t be at work in the first place.

“Not true” he said. “I may not be at this job, but I’d still want to work. The only difference would be that I’d call the shots and I’d make a difference.”

I thought about that for a while and I had to agree that even if I had all the money I could ever dream of, I’d still want to work: I’d want challenges; I’d want exciting things to happen; I’d want to make that difference on my terms.

It has now become a long-running debate over lunches and coffee-breaks. “What would you do with the F.U. money?” Now, we do have a few main rules. One is that you can’t say you’d give away millions to charity, cure hunger and starvation or bring about world peace. As worthwhile as those are, they’re just way too easy to say. You also couldn’t sit on a beach in Jamaica drinking coconut rum and listening to reggae. Again, that’s just way too easy…and really selfish if you ask me.

Personally, if I had a ton of cash and no limits, I’d want to do something extraordinary and memorable. Partly to fulfill that small desire to be remembered long after I’m pushing up daisies. But mostly because I’d want to give something to the world that was truly remarkable. What would that be? A time machine? An island of pure happiness?

Sub

One thing I’ve always wanted to do is find out more about our oceans. We know more about space than we do about what’s under the sea. Maybe if I had the big F.U. money I could find a way to traverse the real depths successfully and discover what this planet is all about. An enormous sub that could go deeper, for longer, and hold more people. Of course, science can't defeat the powers of nature right now.

On a less amazing note, I’d love to create a chain of truly healthy, cheap restaurants that combine good food with play and education for children. It’s amazing that most of the restaurents that offer fun-time for kids are places like McDonald’s! What if you could take the family to lunch, eat a really healthy, affordable meal and also let the kids play in a safe, educational environment? Sort of like crossing a salad/sushi bar with a kid’s science museum. And if you didn’t like that idea, well, that’s why it’s called F.U. money.

The big question is, what would you do? I’d love to know. I’d also love to give away a massive prize of cash and gold to the winner, to help them realize their vision, but alas I don’t have the F.U. money yet. I don’t even have the ‘please, can I come in two hours late tomorrow’ money.

More importantly, if you have any amazing ideas on how to raise that F.U. money, don’t sit there and think “what if?” Do something about it. Maybe if we all try, a few of us just might succeed.