How To Be Rich: Stage 1 – Understand What It Means To Be Truly Rich

When we think about being rich the first thing that springs to most peoples mind is money. Indeed having money can be a big part of being rich, however, it is by no means the only part. There are many, many people that have a lot of money but do not lead a rich life.

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So what does it mean to lead a rich life?

This will differ slightly from person to person but there are some fundamental and underlying aspects of a rich human existence. I like to keep things simple so I have categorised these into five core areas for benchmarking a rich life.

The 5 Core Areas for Benchmarking a Rich Life are: Financial Security, Freedom, Good relationships, Health, and Identity.

The order of priority isn’t really important and will probably differ for different people.

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Financial Security:

A big part of financial freedom is having your heart and mind free from worry about the what-ifs of life.
Suze Orman

Having money is nice, and not having money is really not at all pleasant, no matter what anyone says. However, research shows there is a point in a person’s financial worth where the numbers become meaningless and having more and more money does not bring an improved, richer life….in a lot of cases it can actually prove detrimental. It is generally agreed that, as Suzy Orman puts it, once a person’s heart and mind are free from worry about the what-ifs of life, subsequent increases in wealth won’t have a huge impact, in the long term, on living a richer life and ones general happiness. This is especially the case if health, freedom or relationships are sacrificed to achieve the financial gain.

Benchmark number 1 for living a rich life; Have enough money to be financially secure.

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Freedom:

Arguably the best thing about humanity is freewill and the privilege of freedom. I know around the world this is not always the case but for most of us we do not suffer from serious oppression to our freedom. What most people today suffer from is the lack of freedom from having to work in order to pay the bills. Over 95% of people working today are caught in the “rat race.”

Every day they have to get up and go to work to ensure that there is enough money to put food on the table, clothes on backs and roofs over heads. They live from paycheck to paycheck. This is both a stressful and needless existence. Just small changes to lifestyle and life goals can help people break free from the rat race and claim back some of their freedom.

I am in no way advocating that a rich life entails not working, as everyone needs to work to lead a rich life, a persons work is part of finding their identity. The loss of freedom comes through not being able to make the “decision” not to work, for a short or long period of time.

If you lose you job today or decide to take 6 months off…could you? Part of being truly rich and leading a rich life is being able to answer yes to those questions. In the next stages of “How to be rich” I will explain how this can be achieved.

Benchmark number 2 for living a rich life; Be free of the rat race

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Good Relationships:

“Happiness is best shared” Into the Wild

Humanity is greatly blessed with the gift of friendship. There are a great many things that the human mind can endure; however, if you have no one to love and no one to return that love, any individual can very quickly become a shell of who they were designed to be.

Friendship is what sets us apart from all other animals on this planet. Where animals can offer and experience companionship they cannot experience the emotional bond that humans create with one another.

The core to a happy and rich life will always involve strong relationships and human connection. Achievements are greater when you have someone to be proud of you, experiences are richer when you have others to remember them with you, sorrow is more copable when there is someone to sit with you. Laughter is fuller when there are others in on the joke, songs are louder when there is a shared passion, victories are greater when it’s been a team effort.

Think back to the best memories of you life and I bet that everyone involved other people.

Some are blessed with good people skills and confidence, others are more shy and introverted but both have equal opportunity to deep, lasting relationships with others. Each have the opportunity of a rich life of relationships. In the next stages of “How to be rich” we will explore how to build and maintain these relationships.

Benchmark number 3 for living a rich life; Share the journey

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Health:

The greatest wealth is health.  ~Virgil

Life is about balance and so is health. Being in good health acts like the foundation for living a rich life.

Being in good shape, exercising regularly and eating healthily reduces stress, increases energy levels and improves the brain functions. When you are physically fit you feel more confident in yourself and this improves every other aspect of your life from your social interactions to the challenges you face at work. Click here for 10 easy ways to Get You Started.

Team sports, Triathalons, Hiking mountains or just a few laps in the pool with friends gives a counterbalance to the daily challenges of life. In addition these activities offer further opportunities for new experiences and friendships.

Benchmark number 4 for living a rich life: Get Healthy. Stay Healthy.

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Identity:

“The value of identity of course is that so often with it comes purpose.” Richard R Grant.

If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything. In order to truly lead a rich life one must understand their own identity, their own uniqueness, their own way of seeing the world and be true to it. The greatest conflict in life comes when we don’t know ourselves and constantly seek approval and our identity from others.

Those that seem so confident, so sure of themselves in life almost always have a great sense of identity and from that purpose. They understand their own uniqueness and the uniqueness of others but derive the worth and meaning from their own principles not the principles of others. Everyone needs a purpose in life, something bigger than themselves to be a part of.

Lack of purpose in life is like being on a small looping train ride at the fairground going round and round until its time to get off instead of being on the mountain pass train aiming for the top and taking in the breathtaking views, the ups and downs and the fellow passengers on the way.

A great book to read for more on this is: The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren

Benchmark number 5 for living a Rich Life: Know Who You Are

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This is the first of a three part series. If you have enjoyed it or it has meant something too you I would love to hear what you think by leaving a comment below. Don’t worry if you are reading it many months after its posting I am still keen to hear your thoughts.