The 5 Baffling Facets of Wealth

Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you. ~Oscar Wilde

When you see someone who is walking down the street, with a big smile on their face, do you think they are wealthy? How about if someone is driving by in their luxurious car? Do you believe that you need a big house and a five car garage in order to be happy, or to feel wealthy?

A few weeks ago I was forced to take a closer look at my definition of wealth. One of my readers, John, responded to my post about breaking out of your constraints regarding money by saying that wealth is relative. That got me thinking.

Lifetime Net Wealth

To take a page out of an economics textbook, I will take the idea from the term “lifetime net worth” and transform it into the concept of “lifetime net wealth“. The concept of a lifetime’s worth of wealth depends on how and when you take advantage of your wealth.

Case One: Say you were to spend money in the present on something that makes you happy. This takes away from the money available to make you happy in the future. However, if you keep all of your money in the bank, and never spend any of it, you are not getting any enjoyment out of it. This requires you to balance between spending money now for your enjoyment, versus saving money for your future future enjoyment.

Case Two: If you sacrifice your immediate health, either through stress, lack of exercise, or bad eating habits, in order to make money, you’re decreasing your lifetime net wealth. If you die at a young age, you will have worked hard for this money, but it will never have delivered any value for you. On the other hand, if you took good care of yourself and live to be very old, you will be able to develop new ways of creating money to support yourself.

Wealth is a State of Being

The concept of wealth if a state of being. You can feel wealthy even though you don’t have a lot of money, since wealth is all about how it should feel for you. Everyone has their own definition of what wealth feels like to them. To me wealth can be measured by a few key ideas: joy, health, freedom, good relationships, a good environment, and money.

Joy as Wealth

Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.
~Henry David Thoreau

Joy is one of the core feelings of a successful person. Without joy and happiness, you might ask yourself what is the purpose of your life? Why strive to have lots of money if you will not feel fulfilled, joyful, and content? Joy is something that comes from the inside, that no amount of money can create.

When something goes wrong in your life, you still feel joy inside of you. On the other hand, if something great happens to you, say winning the lottery, you should still feel the same amount of joy as was there before. You might also feel excited, but this excitement can come and go.

If you cannot enjoy your life, then I believe you are not truly wealthy.

Health as Wealth

Without health you can not enjoy any amount of money. If you happen to have a lot of money, but poor health, you will need to spend this money in order to attempt to heal your body. If you don’t have a lot of money, this can cause undue stress on your body.

You should focus on increasing your health, since a healthy body can help you to create more money in your life. If you are healthy you can put your skills to use to help others, which in turn will create value and generate income for you.

When you are healthy, you wake up feeling refreshed and ready to enjoy the new day.

Photo by Mo Riza

Good Relationships as Wealth

I believe that having good relationships with family and friends is a very important part of being wealthy. Human beings are very social animals, and as such unfulfilling relationships cause us to feel less fulfilled. When you have someone you can relate to, share your innermost feelings with, and discuss your goals with, you are truly wealthy.

Most successful people have a mastermind group of friends to help them figure out the different obstacles in their lives. Most unhappy people tend to be afraid to share their hopes and dreams with others, for fear that they will reject them (I know, I was one of them!). Truly wealthy people are not afraid to express their opinions and feelings, because they know that they will be accepted for who they are.

Freedom as Wealth

Freedom is something that we all think we are born to have. Though sometimes we do not recognize that our freedom comes in the form of choices. It doesn’t matter what other people tell us, we can always choose to do whatever we wish to do with our lives. You should not feel obliged to do anything against your moral code of honor. You can choose to do only things that add to your experience of life.

Being rich is having money; being wealthy is having time. ~Margaret Bonnano

For most of us, freedom comes in the form of free time. With free time you choose to do what makes you happy, like pursue a new hobby, learn new language, or spend time with friends. You are no longer confined to other people’s agenda, and you can pursue your own goals.

Good Environment as Wealth

I believe that along with health, the environment is a prerequisite to wealth. Different environments work for different people, a busy city life might be perfect for one person, while the countryside is best for others. Similarly, some people might love the luxurious lifestyles of the rich and famous, while others might prefer a more rustic type of setting.

No matter what type of environment helps you thrive, we all deserve a clean and safe environment. We all deserve to live on planet that supports us and our health. This means that as wealthy individuals, whether we have lots of money or not, we need to take action to ensure our planet stays clean and healthy for us.

Photo by Lois Poisy

Money as Wealth

Interestingly enough, money was the last thing that appeared on my list for what makes me feel wealthy. I understand that everyone will have a different list, and that most people will probably have money on their list. Money is different from all of the other items on the list, since some people might believe that with enough money they can buy the rest of the items on the list.

Some people might decide that they cannot be joyful, healthy, free, or have good friends, or a nice environment until they have X amount of dollars in their bank account. Unfortunately, that leads to a tightening of resources, and makes the person feel even less wealthy! I’ve written a lot about healing your relationship with money, so feel free to read those in anticipation for the upcoming posts about wealth.

What Do You Consider As Wealth?

Now it’s your turn to tell me what you consider to be wealth. Do you agree or disagree with my personal list? Do you think that wealth means a feeling of security, unlimited foot massages, or a Swiss bank account? Whatever your definition of wealth is, I want to know!

I will be delving deeper into the key components of wealth in the coming weeks, and your suggestions will help me zero in on what will help make you a wealthier individual!

Comments

Pj_Normz

My definition of wealth is experience. To me, nothing can replace the knowledge gained from life experience. I think the more you experience in life around the world, the wealthier of an individual you will become.

Great list, BTW Nathalie. I have always been a believer that true wealth comes from right inside.

Nathalie Lussier

Ooh, I love the idea of experience as wealth. I hadn't considered that at all, but I can definitely see how our lives become richer with each experience! :)

Andrea|Empowered Soul

My definition of wealth is a strong connection to Spirit and a high level of consciousness. Don't get me wrong - I think we can't be "wealthy" if we can't feed ourselves, are in ill health, or have no-one to share life with. But to me, all those things arise out of my spirituality and level of consciousness ...

Great article!
Blessings,
Andrea

Nathalie Lussier

Thank you Andrea. I totally agree with you on the level of connectedness with Spirit and high consciousness. I think for me joy comes out of these more spiritual areas, from within. I will definitely explore this aspect more in my upcoming posts!

Rosabel

I do agree with your points. Wealth for me is $ and health. $ can't buy happiness but we need money to sustain our life. At least with money, we do not need to worry about the basic needs, therefore we can enjoy life better and focus on the self development that brings happiness and joy to ourselves as well as to the people around us. Without health, no matter how much money we have, we can't enjoy life!

Nathalie Lussier

Thanks Rosabel. I think we are on the same wavelengths when it comes to money and health. They are both necessary to a given degree, and can both be enjoyed in unison. :)

Evelyn Lim

I like how you define wealth so broadly here. Indeed, abundance is more than just material wealth alone. There is more to life than just stacks of cash!! Money can definitely not buy happiness, freedom and love. Yet many of us are blinded to believe that money can solve everything!

Nathalie Lussier

Absolutely! I think you and I are on the page when it comes to wealth and abundance. I love your take on the law of attraction, by the way. I think money is just part of the abundance and wealth equation. :)

Ryan McLean

Wow, this is a really great post. Really interest to start to change the way you think about wealth completely. Really got me thinking

Nathalie Lussier

That's great Ryan! :)

Amber

love this! I agree with PJ Normz about experience. The more experiences we have the more well rounded and happy we become. Traveling for example opens up new ways of thinking and taking in the world. But of course to experience a lot you've got to have money. Like you said Natalie, it's all about balance. We must be happy, but still have some money. I'll tell you though... it surprises me how many people around the world are happy with close to nothing. It's all about perspective. Thanks!

Nathalie Lussier

I couldn't agree more with the reality that so many people are happy with so little, around the world. I think less is more, but we might not all be ready to accept that. ;) Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

JohnRocheleau

The ability to be happy, compassionate, productive, understanding, creative, in awe, respectful, secure, playful, and healthy, are the keystones of wealth.

Money is viewed as a vital component by most folks, but I leave it out of my personal list of wealth keystones, since money is really just our way to measure and trade who we are and what we offer others. It is the measure not the substance.

So it is wonderful having lots of money, but true wealth is built on those keystones. If you have them firmly in place, you will either have a lot of money and a grand lifestyle, or less expenditures and a simple lifestyle. Either way you are wealthy, because you are living your life happily by fully actualizing who you are in a workable way.

When you are not needy -- you are wealthy.

Loved this article. Really good thoughts :-)

Best,
John

Nathalie Lussier

I knew you would have something great to contribute to the conversation, John. :) I love your keystones of wealth. Money is just a measure of what we put in and what we get out, that's very true.

As always, it's great to find out your thoughts. :)

Millionaire Mommy Next Door

Thoughtful post! All of your wealth components resonate with me. I find they're interconnected with one another. For instance, research has shown that happy people tend to make more money, stay married longer, and enjoy better health. I'll add free time and choice to the wealth list.

BTW, you may not know, but my blogspot.com website was hacked and disabled a couple months ago. I moved to a new domain -- would you mind updating your blogroll with the new address?

www.millionairemommynextdoor.com

Thanks!!!

Nathalie Lussier

I love your addition of time and choice. I think all of these are very much interconnected too. Thanks so much for sharing your insights! :D

Absolutely, I am changing it now! :)