Try This Simple Exercise If You Want to Be Wealthy
Trust me, it might take lots of practice, but keep trying
Image credit: Author, a digital painting. “Blue Sky Is the Limit”
I’m in my early sixties now, and I’m wealthier than I’ve ever been. But not because of money, even though my wife and I make a decent living and have no debt except the 3% mortgage we pay each month.
If you feel like you’re not wealthy enough, I’ve got a suggestion that took me decades to understand. After all, if you had a last name like mine, Jones, you’d have a hard time trying not to keep up with us.
Keeping up with the Joneses is a slippery slope down the side of a mountain of debt. I know because I built a few, raised a family, built the business of my dreams, and was too optimistic about the future when I wasn’t fearing it.
It’s not easy not to spend money and put lots of stuff on credit cards even though we know we can’t fit more things into the garage or local storage sheds.
We easily succumb to the monster brands and the master marketers employed by them. These people mine our data and follow us like ghosts of modern-day consumerism.
They consistently compel us to buy things we don’t need and, in most cases, can’t afford—no wonder we find ourselves in Fight Clubs even though the movie Fight Club topped the charts in 1999.
“The things you own end up owning you.”
– Tyler Durden
It’s even harder not to buy things we don’t need or can afford because the marketing mavens at Amazon seduce us with data-driven marketing and convenience, such as one-click, Buy Now.
If we had to get into a car, drive to the store, and wade through the sea of humanity to buy the same things, we’d buy a lot less. Consider it, and maybe cancel the seeming value of paying for Amazon Prime.
They and others make it too easy to sit on our butts and get sucked into the suck of buying stuff with the click of a mouse, or a seemingly harmless push of a button on Smartphones, making us dumber.
The simple exercise I offer for being wealthy is to want less. I’m not the guy who came up with this concept. It’s been around since most of us were Greek or Persian.
“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”
– Epictetus
In contrast to a true philosopher like Epictetus, too many of us fall into traps set by false prophets and characters like Brad Pitt, who plays the masterful role of Tyler Durden.
“Hitting bottom isn’t a weekend retreat. It’s not a goddamn seminar. Stop trying to control everything and just let go!”
– Tyler Durden
I don’t profess to be a philosopher. Instead, I minimized my former consumeristic self by learning from wiser people than me.
“He who is contented is rich.”
– Lao Tzu
He was wealthy of mind and spirit, and we continue to revere him centuries after he walked the Earth.
After all, he knew the Wu Wei to go; keep in the middle, not too high or too low, which is the path of effortless living.
Imagine you are wealthy and have enough stuff in the here and now. Instead, you seek solitude, maybe even serenity, knowing you are good enough and rich enough just as you are.
In closing, the simple exercise I reference in the title is to train your mind to know you’re wealthy just as you are.
Try it, and never stop. We’ve got too many mountains of garbage and islands of plastic choking the few fish remaining in the oceans.
Let’s do better by buying less and being more by feeling wealthy with what we’ve got. Because minimalism matters, it brings us closer to feeling wealthy just as we are and without needing more stuff.
I write about the art of human transformation, transcending suffering, mental health, workplace stress, and dealing with addiction. Learn more about The Clarity S.H.I.F.T. Method® for tackling executive, business, and career stress at www.CliffordJones.com.