{"id":2559,"date":"2023-07-30T10:50:45","date_gmt":"2023-07-30T10:50:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebusinesseutopia.com\/?p=2559"},"modified":"2023-08-01T13:50:31","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T13:50:31","slug":"what-being-wealthy-really-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebusinesseutopia.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/30\/what-being-wealthy-really-is\/","title":{"rendered":"What being wealthy really is?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If being wealthy isn\u2019t about money, then what\u00a0<\/span>is<\/span><\/i>\u00a0it?<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to think about your\u00a0<\/span>own\u00a0<\/span><\/i>definition (so you can set your sights on the right target), but here\u2019s what wealth means to me:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Not being insecure about having enough.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In Ryan Holiday\u2019s excellent latest book,\u00a0<\/span>Stillness Is The Key<\/span><\/i>, he shares a story about a conversation that authors Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller had at a glamorous party in a billionaire\u2019s mansion:<\/span><\/p>\n

    Vonnegut began to needle his friend. He described the exchange in a poem published in the New Yorker in 2005:<\/span><\/p>\n

    He said, \u201cJoe, how does it make you feel to know that our host only yesterday may have made more money than your novel Catch-22 has earned in its entire history?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    And Joe said, \u201cI\u2019ve got something he can never have.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    And He said, \u201cWhat on earth could that be, Joe?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    And Joe said, \u201cThe knowledge that I\u2019ve got enough.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Doing work you love with an amazing team.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Because we\u2019re not chasing unicorn status, we don\u2019t have to worry about \u201cblitz-scaling\u201d our team, and can keep it small and lean, which means we can be very picky about who we work with and what we work on.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Because of that, we have a hyper-efficient team that does a lot of work with limited resources, and has a competitive spirit\u00a0<\/span>despite<\/span><\/i>\u00a0having primary goals other than revenue.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Our core values represent the kind of behaviour that aligns with this work:<\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      • Own your shit<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Be real<\/span><\/li>\n
      • No waste<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Relentlessly value driven<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Always be groovy<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        I\u2019ll share more on these in a future post, but the feeling of wealth that comes from working this way is about more than just people and values; it\u2019s about having\u00a0<\/span>processes and behaviours<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>that align with purpose-driven goals, not cash-driven ones.<\/span><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Giving your family time and love.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          If all I were chasing were money, I wouldn\u2019t be able to leave my office at 5PM.<\/span><\/p>\n

          And I wouldn\u2019t be able to spend every evening with my wife, kids and hills.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

          Last weekend, my family celebrated my friends\u2019 35th friendship anniversary, a luxury only 4% of people get to enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\n

          Coincidentally, many of the toasts were about how wealthy our family is. Specifically, the\u00a0<\/span>best<\/b>\u00a0kind of wealth; not financially wealthy, but rich in love and people who we care about.<\/span><\/p>\n

          This priority was instilled in us early by my parents, and nothing would make me feel poorer than losing that precious time with my family.<\/span><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Not having to work with assholes.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            There\u2019s no amount of money that makes it worthwhile to work with people who make you cringe when you see their name in your inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n

            Having the option to do this doesn\u2019t take millions; working with people I enjoy has always made me feel rich (and I\u2019ve always felt richer when I cut ties with an asshole).<\/span><\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Not feeling like you need to say yes to things.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              You and I have the same number of hours in each day.<\/span><\/p>\n

              Every time you say \u201cyes\u201d to something, you\u2019re saying \u201cno\u201d to something else you could be doing with that time.<\/span><\/p>\n

              Being able to own your time and say \u201cno\u201d to things that you don\u2019t want to do is a mark of real wealth.<\/span><\/p>\n

                \n
              1. Taking a run at lunchtime.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                Being able to take care of yourself and your (physical and mental) health is something we can all benefit from.<\/span><\/p>\n

                Carve out 30 minutes a day, and you\u2019ll build wealth that compounds for the rest of your life.<\/span><\/p>\n

                  \n
                1. Freedom from \u201cneeding\u201d to build a unicorn.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  A singular focus on money means that the logical approach for every business is to pursue \u201cunicorn\u201d status.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

                  Realizing that there are things more important than money frees you from the constant pressure of feeling like you\u2019re not doing enough, not growing enough and not aiming high enough.<\/span><\/p>\n

                    \n
                  1. Taking a vacation without stress.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                    I recently took a vacation<\/span>, and every single day on the river beach not too far from where I sat with my family, I would see people on their laptops and taking work calls.<\/span><\/p>\n

                    This is not a rich life, no matter how much they\u2019re getting paid to dial in from vacation.<\/span><\/p>\n

                      \n
                    1. Being able to set your own priorities and decide what\u2019s important to you.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                      Ultimately, wealth is about having the options\u00a0<\/span>you\u00a0<\/span><\/i>want.<\/span><\/p>\n

                      Not the options that society, the tech community, your peers or anyone else\u00a0<\/span>want<\/span><\/i>\u00a0you to have; but the ones that inspire you and fill you with a sense of purpose about what you\u2019re doing with your life.<\/span><\/p>\n

                      Money can buy some of that optionality. But it doesn\u2019t take much, and assuming that\u00a0<\/span>more<\/span><\/i>\u00a0will make you\u00a0<\/span>richer<\/span><\/i>\u00a0is one of the most dangerous untruths in our world.<\/span><\/p>\n

                      Letting go doesn\u2019t mean giving up<\/b><\/p>\n

                      Letting go of society\u2019s traditional definition of rich doesn\u2019t mean giving up on goals, or \u201cwinning\u201d, whatever that means to you.<\/span><\/p>\n

                      On the contrary, this new definition of rich\u00a0<\/span>empowers<\/b>\u00a0you with the freedom to decide what\u2019s important, so that you can set the right goals and focus all of your energy on chasing them.<\/span><\/p>\n

                      Not chasing money doesn\u2019t mean that our team doesn\u2019t work hard to grow our business.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

                      On the contrary, we\u2019re\u00a0<\/span>extremely<\/span><\/i>\u00a0results-oriented.<\/span><\/p>\n

                      But we\u2019re doing it for reasons other than more money.<\/span><\/p>\n

                      We\u2019re doing it because we want to win our market, build the best possible product of its kind on the planet and help millions of small growing businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n

                      If this article has succeeded in helping you think about wealth in a different way, I wish you all the best in pursuing whatever that wealth means to you.<\/span><\/p>\n

                      I\u2019d love to know: how do\u00a0<\/span>you<\/span><\/i>\u00a0define wealth? Let me know in the comments, I\u2019m eager to learn from you.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                      If being wealthy isn\u2019t about money, then what\u00a0is\u00a0it? It\u2019s important to think about your\u00a0own\u00a0definition (so you can set your sights on the right target), but here\u2019s what wealth means to me: Not being insecure about having enough. In Ryan Holiday\u2019s excellent latest book,\u00a0Stillness Is The Key, he shares a story about a conversation that authors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2555,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebusinesseutopia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebusinesseutopia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebusinesseutopia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinesseutopia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinesseutopia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2559"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinesseutopia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2561,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinesseutopia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559\/revisions\/2561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinesseutopia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebusinesseutopia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinesseutopia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinesseutopia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}