Be Your Own Kind of Wealthy
When one speaks about wealth, one normally thinks about fancy cars, big houses and exotic travels. But does this really equate to being wealthy? Persons, who haven’t yet achieved this traditional definition of wealth, are often surprised to hear of “wealthy” persons committing suicide or engaging in other types of self-destructive behaviour. So many persons, who fall within this definition of wealth or aspire to this definition of wealth, still find that they have a void in their lives. They realize that the void they were/are trying to fill isn’t fulfilled by these possessions. So what do they do? They pursue more possessions even more fervently at the expense of the less tangible things in life.
Merriam-Webster defines wealth as an abundance of valuable material possessions or resources. Meanwhile, Business Dictionary defines wealth as tangible or intangible things that make a person, family or group better off. It is this second definition that I prefer, because it speaks to wellbeing and, of what value is wealth, if it doesn’t improve wellbeing? Perhaps we, as a society, have missed the whole point of wealth accumulation. Perhaps we have been sidetracked by our quest for success and have lost focus on the important in our lives. Have we traded our time, health, family and friends for money that we have no time to spend?
Wealth needs to be defined much more broadly than simple material possessions. We need to have wealth in our relationships with family, friends and spiritually. We need wealth in our health. We need wealth in our experiences. We need wealth in our time. We need to have wealth in cultivating our interests. So it’s important that we define what we need to consider ourselves wealthy. How do we split up our wealth pie into relationships, health, experiences, time, interests and money? When we have answered this question, we can prioritize our efforts to achieving and growing our wealth and achieving financial independence.
The key to achieving financial independence is being deliberate about goal setting. This requires a transformation of your thoughts, a focus of your attention on your dreams, prioritization of your goals, creation of an action plan, preferably with the aid of an expert financial partner, and consistently taking the necessary steps to accomplish your objectives. Financial independence and growing your wealth aren’t about products, they’re not about fitting into a box of what various salespersons are pushing; they’re about you, the individual, you, the investor, you, the dreamer. You determine what your goals are and then establish a way to achieve them, using tools and investment options tailor made for you.
True wealth is about setting your goals, hitting those markers; it’s truly a journey. The first step towards financial independence is setting your priorities. The amount of time and resources you dedicate towards each piece of your wealth pie, defines where you have set your priorities, whether deliberately or inadvertently. It is therefore incumbent on you to be deliberate in allocating your pie. So if you find yourself wishing you could spend more time with family, then you need to set a plan for this, and work towards achieving this. It cannot be a passive process.
At the end of the day, trying to achieve someone else’s definition of wealth will ultimately leave you dissatisfied and craving more. Just as businesses need to establish a vision and mission for achieving their goals and objectives, individuals need to know what it is they want to achieve and where they want to be, so that when they get there they’ll know it. Growing wealth is a journey. At various stages, acknowledge your accomplishments and plan and execute on the next stage. The experience of the journey can be a fulfilling one, with many returns to be gained, if you execute proper planning.