Wealth

A proper understanding of wealth is important in leading a holistic life. In previous blogs I have talked about the importance of growing and excelling in all areas of life, including, but not limited to, spiritual, intellectual, physical, occupational, social, and financial areas. In this blog, I want to talk specifically about the financial area.

First, let us define wealth. Wealth is anything of value, particularly having more than what you need to survive: an abundance. So what place does wealth have in a successful holistic life? Many fall into the trap of measuring their success purely in terms of wealth. Often, their success in this one area can come at the expense of growth in another area. Maybe they have sacrificed relationships (social) to gain financial success, or they might never take a break (occupational/recreational) in their pursuit of success. On the other extreme, I hear people make the mistake that that wealth is not important, or worse, that it is evil.

In another post I can deal with the moral value of wealth. For my Christian readers, I can talk about what the Bible does and does not say about wealth. However, for this post I want to talk a bit about how to view wealth, and how to excel in the financial area.

Two Views

There are at least two ways in which one can view wealth. The most common view that I hear, sees wealth being analogous to a pie. Those who hold this view protest that one percent of the population own forty percent of the wealth. If all the wealth in the world is one single pie, then it is only fair that we cut the pie into even pieces, and that no one gets more than their fair share. If this is true, than rich people are evil and greedy, because they took a bigger piece of the pie. Those greedy fat jerks! Also, as the population continues to grow, we will need to split the pie into even smaller pieces.

But what if there is a different way to view wealth? What if wealth is not in fact static, but actually grows? Instead of being a pie that must be divided into smaller pieces, what if wealth is like a seed, with potential to multiply. This might sound crazy. We are all told that money doesn't grow on trees.

Wealth Grows

We all have resources: time, skills, talents, and even money. Let's imagine that those resources are like seeds. Some may have more than others, but we all have something. A seed, when you plant it in the ground, it brings forth fruit and more seed. You have multiplied your resources. You can plant those seeds and continue to multiply your wealth.

Now let's connect this analogy to actual wealth. There are three ways that we can multiply wealth: innovation, effort, and trade.

Innovation

One of the ways in which we create wealth, add value to the world, is through innovation. I've talked about this is a previous blog. I can take relatively cheap canvas, paint, and utensils, then through innovation (creativity) I can create an artistic masterpiece. If I'm a talented or skilled artist, the final product could be worth far more than the sum of the original parts.

Another form of innovation is technology. Sand, for instance, is relatively cheap. However, with ingenuity, a little work, and a few more pieces we can create micro-chips. Through scientific innovation, the common component of sand has been transformed into a micro-chip, which is more valuable than the original sand.

Effort

Both of the above examples (of the painting and the micro-chip) require effort, but some instances of wealth creation require little or no innovation. If I work as a cashier, I provide a service to a store, which adds value to the store, and they pay me for it. I took a resource, my time, and used it to add value to the store. In return they pay me.

The same thing happens if you pay me ten bucks to mow your front lawn. You value the mowed lawn, and I value the ten dollars. Something else has happened in both of these cases, the cashier and the lawn mower. In both cases there was a trade, where both parties win! As a cashier, I provide a service for the store (which brings them revenue), and they pay me.

Trade

Let's say that I am selling hot dogs at a hot dog stand, and you are hungry for some hot dogs. I have hot dogs, but I want money to pay my bills. You have cash, and you want some hot dogs. So we trade hot dogs for cash. Who wins in this scenario? Answer: we both win!

Trade of this nature is mutually-beneficial. This means that we both win, because we both walk away with something we value more than what we previously had. Now if you took a hot dog from me by force, then only you win. If you took all of my hot dogs, and got away with it, then I would go out of business and lose big time.

Conclusion

So anyone can multiply their wealth through these three methods: innovation, effort, and trade. Wealth is not simply a pie that we must evenly redistribute. Therefore, a key to success in holistic life is to add value to the world around you. We can add value to our physical possessions, through the aforementioned methods. We can add value to others by investing time in them and encouraging them to become better persons. We can add value to ourselves, by growing in any of the areas of our own life.

There are so many implications to this concept, which I am hoping to unpack in future blogs. So what do you think? Tweet at me @frank_perseo or comment on this post on the “Frank Talks” Facebook page. What are some of the implications of wealth being able to multiply? What are some ways that you add value to the world? What are some things that you want to add value to the world?

Two Tips For Productive Holistic Living

For the past five years, I've been interested in this concept of improving personally in a well-rounded way. In fact, last year, I created an entire blog founded on this theme. I was inspired by many real and fictional characters who excelled physically, intellectually, and in other areas as well. My life goal is to strive for excellence, and be well-rounded.

I was inspired by a line from the movie "Limitless", talking about being "the perfect version of yourself". Can you imagine what that would be like? Well, maybe not perfect, but if you could live your dream life. What would that look like? Now some of the things that we dream about, may be things that we can't change. But what can you change? What are some things in your life that you wish were better in your life?

I am of the firm belief that the key to this excellence is well-roundedness. If you focus too much on one area (say intellect) you can burn yourself out. You burn yourself out by neglecting your health and social life. Conversely, improving your health can improve your brain. Working out and staying healthy is one way to raise your IQ.

I clearly have not arrived at my life goal (for those who know me personally), but let me pass along two tips that have helped me, from heroes of mine who have made it.

One bite at a time

When looking at your dreams and what it takes to be well-rounded, it can be overwhelming. How can you take on these gargantuan tasks? I would propose that you do so, in the same way that one would eat an elephant: one bite at a time. Start with a smaller goal and work your way up to where you want to be.

In my personal experience, the health arena has always been the worst for me, but I'm making real strides. All through college I ate terrible foods and did the minimum amount of exercise. However, in the past year, I've seen my eating habits improve immensely, through small, seemingly insignificant changes in my diet. First, slowly switching out all the soda that I drank with water (to the point where I now drink water almost exclusively). Overall meals have improved (although not by my doing), and I've made conscious efforts to cut down on snack foods. All this stuff happened a little at a time.

Normal or Successful

"Listen kid, you can either be normal or be successful." You simply can't be both. If you want to get ahead and feel the satisfaction of achievement, you will need to do things that others aren't doing. We are wired with a natural inclination to be normal, to fit in. Children have the inherent ability and desire to imitate those around them. They learn through imitation. Then we grow up, and we have this strong desire to be cool or relatively normal. Even in this "hipster", "self-aware" generation, they may stray from normal a bit, but never too far.

However, it is this straying from the beaten path that often breeds success. Not always. Sometimes you stray off the path and get stuck in the mud. Stray from the path with wisdom.

If you want to be successful academically (intellectually), you need to study. It's probably a no-brainer for most of my readers. However, in my college experience, I have many classmates ask me how I get good grades. I watched these guys, and they are the same people that I see messing around instead of studying. Same thing with fitness: you need to put in the time and effort if you want to be fit.

One final example is with money and time. You need to budget and make a schedule. It's weird. It makes you feel like a nerd. Writing stuff out. Planning. God forbid that your friends hear that you do this kind of stuff. That mentality used to keep me from planning out my time. I had to get over it. I don't keep a rigid schedule, it's more of a loose to-do list and a list of goals, but planning that out has been the key to living the life that I want to live.

As far as budgeting, my parents used to have me do that from a young age. They'd give me an allowance for chores I did around the house, then they'd have me save some, give some away, and keep some to spend. When I grew up, it was just a matter of making my budget slightly more complicated. 

So what do you think?

So what do you think? Tweet at me @frank_perseo or comment on the Frank Talks Facebook page. Is this all elementary for you? Are these all things that you do? Any suggestions hit you particularly? Does the idea of living a balanced life interest you? Please tweet at me, or comment on the Facebook post. I want to hear from you.