The Definition of Wealth

Many people think being wealthy is being rich. I discovered that is extremely inaccurate. Being rich is being rich. Rich people have money. Wealthy people have a lot more than money. Their lives are far more satisfying than merely possessing dollars in a bank account. What took me more than seven years to discover you will be able to learn before the end of this article…  But, before delving into the concept of creating wealth, we have to first understand the definition of wealth.

Traditionally people have referred to wealth as asset management, stocks, investments or other financial complexities. After I lost my first million, I was determined to make my money back. I thought having money was being wealthy and wanted to find out how to become wealthy. I read an inspiring quote from the late Jim Rohn. He said:

“If you want to be healthy, study health. If you want to be wealthy, study wealth.”

Over the course of more than seven years, I studied a mountain of sources and closely followed who I thought to be “wealthy” people. I read books, attended seminars, listened to audio books, interviewed people, worked for millionaires and tested all their theories in practice. After all of that effort I came to the enlightening conclusion for the definition of wealth: Wealth is not money, stocks, assets or other financial complexities…

Wealth is: “Having more than enough time, health, people and money.”

The definition of wealth is literally that simple – having more than enough time, health, people and money in your life. To better understand this simple statement, you need to understand each of the components of that statement. The following key points have to be understood:

1) In order to be classified “wealthy” you need to have more than enough time, health, people and money. These four elements of wealth are inextricably linked. If you take any one of them away, the removed element will immediately have an impact on the remaining elements. Take a look at each of the four elements of wealth individually:

2) Time: People who don’t have time are busy. They run around all day and do what they think is right and barely have enough time to do what they love. If you have all the money in the world but no time to enjoy it, you cannot be considered wealthy.

3) Health: People who are physically unable to enjoy life are hampered from experiencing the joy of each day. Ask anyone in a hospital bed if they would trade their money for their health and the answer would almost always be: “In a heartbeat.” In the extreme situation of health failure you will be dead, and that is no way to enjoy life. Remove health and it becomes impossible to enjoy wealth.

4) People: In essence, we are talking about the quality of people as well as the quality of the relationships you have with these people. If you don’t have people in your life you could be labelled “lonely.” If you have challenging relationships with the people in your life it could be labelled “complicated.” And complicated is no way to enjoy life. People spend money on people and spend time with people. Several people have in their final moments of life expressed their regrets for not spending more quality time with the people in their lives. Remove people from the definition of wealth and it cannot be considered wealth anymore.

5) Money: Every one of us has a different capacity or need of the amount that is more than enough. I know people who think $1,000 is a lot. I also know people who think $10,000 is not enough to cover their expenses every month. Regardless of your situation or need; if you do not have money you could be considered poor. Being poor is a tough way to make a living.

Focus on the having “more than enough” part. Having more than enough is what remains after you have fulfilled your needs, paid your bills, done what you had to etc. In other words, you would have more time than you need. You would have better health than you expected. You would have fantastic relationships with several more people than you could visit in a day, and you would have more money than what you require to survive each month. If you had lost your job you would have enough saved that it would not matter.

Having more than enough is no instant achievement. It takes both time and dedicated effort. It took me more than seven years to recover financially, to create working environments that allows me to manage my time, to spend time with people and to work on my health. For you, it is my goal that this information will save you time to master these valuable insights. Over the next few months, the remainder of the Secrets to Wealth will show you how to address all of these challenges individually.

In The Wealth Matrix, you will start to learn which specific elements will help you to manage your time, your health, your relationships with people, and in this course, the focus will be on money. I believe that having more than enough money helps you to manage your time, to improve your health and to have enough time to build quality relationships with the right and right types of people. In short, understanding money and how it works will help you to become wealthy!

Please do leave a comment below if this has changed your perception of wealth. Your comments will help others to learn and to grow wealthy. Your next piece of reading will be The Wealth Matrix.

Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net