When most people talk about wealth, they focus specifically on how many zeroes are in their bank accounts, or how many big-ticket items they own. These things may be all well and good, but in the grand scheme of things, they aren’t nearly as valuable as many folks think they are.
People who have lost everything they owned may still be considered truly wealthy if they have the things listed below, because they’re much more precious than anything money could ever buy. If you’re interested in building this kind of wealth, read on.
1. Build a wide variety of life skills.
I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s so important that it’s worth reiterating. One of the most important things you can do to build true life wealth is to learn and develop as many skills as possible, particularly those you have a natural aptitude for. We can’t all be experts at everything, but each and every one of us will have abilities that we pick up easily and can develop as best we can.
These should obviously include practical and useful skills, but also those that can keep you (and others, if need be) engaged and entertained. For example, my partner can cook or grow just about anything, and knits fun and useful items for pleasure as well as practicality.
2. Pour out the poison.
In simplest terms, pour out any resentment or hate you still feel for whatever might have happened in the past. If it’s impossible to forgive those who have wronged you, then put them behind you and don’t dwell on their transgressions anymore. The past can not only poison and damage your mind and body, but it can also alter your overall outlook on life so severely that moving forward and building a wonderful life is utterly impossible.
To use a gardening metaphor, we can refer back to a quote from the book The Secret Garden: “Where you tend a rose, a thistle cannot grow”. Similarly, if you keep nurturing a thistle, a rose won’t be able to grow in its place. It’s almost impossible to learn new things when you’re obsessed with the past, or so broken by the past that you believe yourself unable to rise to the challenge in front of you. Pull out the thistles, and plant roses instead.
3. Don’t neglect your mind.
Keeping your mind active will likely allow you to remain sharp and capable well into your elder years. According to Harvard Health, this is because learning new skills encourages new brain cell growth, which in turn helps to slow down cognitive decline. The key here is to learn a complex skill that you aren’t yet familiar with, which will force your brain to create new pathways.
For example, you can start learning a new language that interests you, or a new craft hobby like carpentry or quilting that requires both immediate working and long-term memory. Intersperse this pursuit with things like crossword puzzles or memory games such as solitaire. Doing so will increase your cognitive health (and longevity) significantly, which is worth far more than most people will ever realize.
4. Don’t neglect your heart.
This isn’t about the actual organ (though that matters a great deal too), but rather how you feel about things. Life is too short to spend it doing things that you despise every single day, so it’s a good idea to pay attention to what your heart is telling you about various aspects of your life.
Intuition is a keystone that many people ignore, as we tend to be encouraged to listen to outside influences and seek external validation. However, being able to focus on the things that truly matter to you is one of the greatest and most fulfilling things a person can ever do, and that requires one to look inside and be honest about what they see there.
This might require a complete life overhaul (and may involve some hardship while going through that), but the end result will be life satisfaction the likes of which one couldn’t have imagined.
5. Do what you know you need to do, not what others demand of you.
Countless people waste the precious moments of their lives pandering to other people’s demands instead of prioritizing their own needs. Of course, it’s important to take care of those we care about and make sure they’re doing okay. But it’s neither fair nor healthy to place their health, happiness, and well-being ahead of your own, to your detriment. Doing so can only cause long-term harm, including depression and resentment.
Make a point of creating and defending your boundaries, and encourage those around you to be as self-sufficient as possible. Even if it’s as simple as telling them to go look in the fridge themselves if they ask you where the butter is. They’ll push back and grump about it if they’ve grown accustomed to you doing everything for them, but you’ll be in a far better place — emotionally and physically — by doing so.
6. Pursue the type of health that works for you.
One person’s idea of health might be to maintain the physique they’ve had since their teens, while another’s is to keep their myriad health issues as symptom-free as possible. As with most other things in life, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach that’ll suit everyone. That said, even if you’re not running 10km every morning and living on wheatgrass juice, it’s still vitally important to be as healthy as possible — just on your own terms.
Some people might say, “Oh, the type of health that works for me is to not exercise at all” as a means of circumventing the toll required to build and maintain physical health. What we’re talking about here is being realistic about the options available to you, and what you’re capable of achieving.
A person on a limited budget won’t be able to afford wagyu beef and organic vegetables, but they can do the best they can. Similarly, a person with limited mobility and/or a chronic condition may not be able to run or do yoga, but they may benefit from floor Pilates or gentle strength training. Every bit helps when it comes to keeping one’s body functional and active into their golden years.
7. Cultivate community.
Here in the Western world, many people isolate themselves into small family units, and then feel lonely and abandoned later in life — especially if they don’t have close relationships with family members. In contrast, many other cultures place far more emphasis on community life, in which people cultivate strong bonds with their friends, neighbors, and other people nearby to create a network of friendship and support.
No person is an island, and we all need one another in order to live long, healthy, happy lives. This is why it’s so very important to foster connections with good people and find your tribe, so to speak. Not only will they be there for you when you need them, but you’ll have the opportunity to be of service and help them in turn.
Final thoughts…
Having been in situations where I’ve lost almost everything I owned, I can speak firsthand about what I’ve found to be truly valuable in life. Possessions come and go, but health, skills, knowledge, and peace of mind can be built upon and taken with you wherever you go.
The blues musician B.B. King once said: “The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.” That includes learning what to hold onto and what to let go of, be they relationships, thoughts, or other dross that’s weighing you down instead of helping you soar.
