The Five Dimensions of Wealth
Yes, the first track is money. It’s finance. It’s hard to be wealthy with no money in modern society. But money is just one piece of the puzzle.
The second dimension is purpose. I call it “sole purpose” – your values, what you deem important, your abilities, and what you’re passionate about. When you combine these things for the highest context of living, that’s sole purpose.
Third is our mindset or mentality. If you’re always in fear but have a ton of money, if you’re always frustrated but have a lot of money – you’re not wealthy. Scarcity is the greatest destroyer of wealth. There’s no luck, saving, discipline, or rate of return that can save someone stuck in scarcity.
Fourth is our physical well-being – our health. Someone with their health has a thousand dreams; someone without has but one. In 2023, when I was having kidney issues and insomnia, I didn’t feel very wealthy even though I had plenty of money in my bank accounts.
Finally, our social life matters. When you have good community, a good tribe, great friends, and family, there’s a richness in relationships that money can’t buy.
Depth and Harmony: The Keys to Wealth
You don’t need to be perfect in all five tracks. What matters are two factors: depth and harmony.
Depth is your ability to be present and intentional. Harmony is related to presence as well, but it’s about feeling fulfilled and having a sense of calm.
Balance isn’t the aim. Last year, my family and I took 63 days in Italy. I wasn’t building my financial fortress during that time, but I was connecting with my kids uninterrupted. It was the first time in my marriage that we had spent 63 straight days together without me taking a trip to speak somewhere or attend an event.
We were together, intentional, slowed down. We had long meals, cappuccinos, great conversations, played cards, went to the pool, and took day trips. That’s wealth.
Rich vs. Wealthy: Understanding the Difference
Rich means you’ve got money. But who defines rich? It depends on where you live and who you’re around.
Part of the problem is that many people think the only solution is to have more. There’s no place for most people, especially in the United States, to feel content. But being content is different than being complacent.
Complacency is where you’re not doing anything, there isn’t fulfillment or joy. Content means you’re happy with what you have, you’re okay with where you are.
We’re addicted to growth. “If you’re not growing, you’re dying,” people say. But they’re typically talking about growth in net worth. You could have a time where your net worth goes up, but your joy goes down because you’re exhausted.
Money Doesn’t Determine Your Destiny
I think of money as a terrible solo artist, but as a great companion to the other factors in life. Your money doesn’t determine your potential, and your bank account doesn’t determine your destiny. It’s just a snapshot in time.
Sometimes people hold onto money because they’re afraid of going back down to lower numbers in their bank account. They scrimp, save, and sacrifice – and all those three S’s lead to scarcity.
Wealth is an inside game first and foremost. It’s a perspective. It’s a state of being. It’s when we can be present, find joy, and feel fulfillment.
Some people in the pursuit of money have no presence because it’s always about the future, never enjoying today. Or it’s always about the past and holding on to what they have. It’s governed by fear – fear of loss, fear of missing out – and by greed.
The Retirement Trap
The retirement model has three faulty notions:
- It takes money to make money (it doesn’t – it takes human life value, relationships, and ideas)
- High risk equals high return (risk means your chance of losing, which can lower your return)
- You’re in it for the long haul (because they say it takes thirty years for compound interest)
This accumulation philosophy says wealth is a function of how much money you have, how much risk you’re willing to take, and how much time you’re willing to wait.
The biggest problem with this approach? You will not be wealthy today. You will be wealthy in the future. But wealth is our ability to be present.
A New Definition of Wealth
I don’t believe in sacrificing all the joy today for the potential of joy in the future. In business, sacrifice has unfortunately come to mean “do things that you hate today so that one day, someday (that’s not guaranteed), you might be able to live a good life.”
But you create habits of not enjoying life, training yourself that it’s not possible, that “someday” is not today.
When you go from “have to” to “get to,” that’s wealth. When you fall in love with the process, you’ve already won. That’s wealth – when you can say, “I’ve already won. Everything I do is gravy.”
Economic independence means having assets that create enough cash flow to cover your lifestyle, giving you choice. What do you want to do today? You don’t have to do anything.
Wealth equals presence. And that’s something money alone can never buy.
