What Living a Wealthy Life Means to Me: 4 Important Things

Imagine having an abundance of money, but no one to enjoy it with. Imagine having everything you could ever want, but not being in good health. Imagine having all the resources, but not having a purpose or a mission. Is that truly a wealthy life?

I think people fall in love with the illusion of living a wealthy life. They forget that money is just a tool, not the goal. I decided quite some time ago that my endgame is not to have a ton of assets or a high digit in my bank account, but to build a life of true wealth.

A combination of money, health, love, and purpose. So I organized my life in a way that I can invest in what is truly important for me. Here are the things that I prioritize and direct my resources towards.

1. Financial wealth

When it comes to financial wealth, I see it in three different timeframes. My long-term goal is to build a secure financial future, short-term goals are to invest in meaningful experiences, and my day-to-day expenses are to afford a good life.

It took me some time to define my long-term goal and decide what a meaningful life 10 plus years down the road would look like for me.

At first, my husband and I flirted with the idea of working hard while we are young to retire early. However, I realized that while being financially secure and having that freedom is important for me, my priority is to work a job that I find meaning in and go at a slower pace.

The best that I can do now for my future self is to max out my retirement account every month and let our real estate investment mature. I have no idea what the future holds and things are constantly changing, but this is something I can control and a manageable way for me to contribute little by little to that distant dream.

Even for my short-term goals, I follow the concept of paying myself first. Anytime I get paid, before I pay my bills I put aside money to save up for those bigger things in life.

Right now, I am saving to enjoy my time with my sister when she comes to visit and have experiences with her, and our trip to Japan in May. These are the types of meaningful experiences that are going to be so worth the wait.

I always try to adjust my lifestyle expenses according to the different seasons of my life, but one thing I always stay true to is I always live way below my means.

I find that having a good system in place works way better than having a budget, as it doesn't feel restrictive yet still moves us towards building our financial wealth.

2. Physical and mental health

Confucius once said, a healthy man wants a thousand things, a sick man only wants one. Without our health everything else would be totally irrelevant, but in our money-driven society our health sometimes takes the back seat.

I am not an expert by any means but I believe that building a healthy lifestyle doesn't have to be complicated. Exercising a couple of times a week, drinking enough water, eating nutritious food and getting enough sleep is enough for most of us.

For mental health, learning to manage stress, being more mindful, and having loving relationships can make such a big difference.

I believe that these should be the pillars of our days, our non-negotiables, rather than something we struggle to make time for, because good physical and mental health is the foundation to everything else.

I don't really have a specific goal when it comes to my health, but I just want to feel good in my body for as long as I can. I still want to be able to travel in my 70s and hike in my 60s, and to do that, I have to make some intentional choices right now.

For one, I have been working on being more mindful of what I need at this moment. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and just want to put everything down and go for a walk.

Other times, I am full of energy and want to channel that into productive things. I think that listening to my body and allowing it to do what it needs to do fulfills both my mental and my physical health.

3. Meaningful relationships

Social wealth for me isn't about status or how many people I know, but about the connections that I have with the people in my life. My love language is quality time, but it's hard because most of my friends and family live so far away.

So I decided to make it my goal to try to see them at least once a year to nourish these relationships, celebrate the big milestones or the small moments, have new experiences together, or be there as support.

It is hard and can feel one sided at times, which is why it is so important to invest in the right relationships where we feel the return on investment.

4. Having purpose

Even with all the money in the world, without a purpose, life would still feel very empty. Having a clear sense of purpose will really give us direction, meaning, and fulfillment.

This could be your spiritual beliefs, or family duties, responsibilities, your job, or your passions, or community service. I mean there are so many different ways that we can fulfill or feel our purpose.

I think one of the best ways to discover our purpose is to expose ourselves to as many situations as possible. Try new things, take risks, interact with all different types of people. This allows us to dig deeper and get to know ourselves, and perhaps if we are lucky, discover our purpose and attach a goal to it.

Moreover, I find it crucial to find purpose in everything you do. I think the most beautiful people are those who can be content and satisfied regardless of their situation. They find joy and happiness from even the smallest moments and to me, they possess true wealth.

Wealthy life

You can have a wealthy life and everything that you could ever want but I feel like being able to enjoy it and being able to appreciate it is a completely different thing.

How do you think it looks to live a wealthy life? What does it mean to you? Share in the comments.

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