I have been an entrepreneur and business owner since 2011. During this decade-long journey I have learned many lessons about business, and life. One of the most important lessons that I have learned is that to be truly successful in business, you need to work on being successful in all areas of life as well. We all know the story of the rich businessman who dies alone, because he only focused on his professional career. Neglecting the other “spokes in the wheel” will result in an unbalanced, less happy, and less fulfilled life.
The 10 Forms of Wealth is a great exercise that can give you clarity into areas of your life that you’re most neglecting. This simple exercise is used to self-evaluate 10 areas ranging from financial, to fitness, to family and spiritual. You will give yourself a score of 1-10 in each category, and this exercise should be repeated every month to track your results. Download the 10 Forms of Wealth worksheet here.
What are the 10 Forms of Wealth?
1) Spiritual/Inner Self
Getting pulled in multiple directions is easy in the fast paced world of constant distraction that we live in. Now more than ever it is easy to neglect yourself, and not make time to nourish your spirit. Wealth can not be truly achieved without spiritual peace, and a strong sense of inner self. Do you make enough time to practice your religion, pray, meditate, or journal? Are you comfortable with being alone, and quiet with your thoughts and feelings? Do you practice knowing yourself better, and loving yourself more?
2) Physical Health
Your health is your wealth. Without it, nothing else really matters. Making your physical health a priority will pay dividends in your life. When physical health is not a priority it negatively affects everything from relationships to job performance. Wealth cannot be truly had without your health. Do you exercise regularly and consistently? Do you make good decisions with what, and how much you choose to eat? Are you getting a minimum of 6 hours of sleep each night? Do you drink enough water and stay hydrated everyday?
3) Mindset
Your mental approach to life will have a ripple effect throughout everything you do. Even though you can’t control everything that happens in life, you can control your response to it. Having a positive mindset will allow you to grow and thrive from negative experiences that inevitably happen to everyone in life. When you approach life with a negative mindset, that negative mindset manifests itself through all other areas of your life. The wrong mindset will stop you from accomplishing your financial goals, your health goals, and your relationship goals. When you find yourself in a negative headspace, do you work on becoming more positive through self talk, meditation, journaling, etc.? Or do you let the negativity permeate into all other areas of your life?
4) Family
Family time is often neglected in the pursuit of “wealth.” However, true wealth can not be accomplished without a strong relationship with family. It is easy to put time with your family last and take spending time with them for granted. Are you making the time to connect with your family? Is spending quality time with your family a priority in your schedule right now? Are there relationships with family members that you can nourish and make stronger?
5) Professional
Are you passionate about what you do for a career? Does it make you happy to go to work, or do you just clock in and out everyday to pay the bills? We spend a majority of our adult lives working to build a career. Yet many people hate the job that they go to everyday. You can make all the money in the world, and become the richest person on the planet. But, if you aren’t fulfilled with your work, you will never achieve true wealth.
6) Financial
How do you feel about your financial situation? Are you living below your means, and investing for the future? Or do you spend every dollar that comes in? When we think about the word “wealth” most of us immediately think about money. However, the financial aspect of wealth is also where many people are lacking. You don’t need to be rich, to be wealthy. You do need to manage your money wisely to be wealthy.
7) Circle of Genius/Social
You are the equivalent of the people that you spend most of your time with. Do you surround yourself with people that you strive to be like? Does your circle lift you up? Are they generally positive or negative people? Do they make you a better person? Inspire you to grow? As human beings we subconsciously learn a lot from our environment. Energy and emotion are shared, and influenced by those around you. We take on the traits, mindset, and perspective of those that we spend the most time with. If you want to change, surround yourself with people who have the traits that you aspire to have.
8) Adventure
Many people think of an adventure as a big ordeal. It’s something that is done once a year on vacation. But the coronavirus pandemic has taught us that adventures can be found close to home. Go for a hike on a new trail. Explore a new part of the city that you haven’t been to in a while. Take a weekend road trip and experience something new. Even ordering something different that you’ve never tried before off of the menu at your favorite restaurant can be an adventure. Making time to experience new things, places, and people is important to our wealth as a human. Life is too short not to regularly experience new things.
9) Love
Love is an all encompassing emotion that is essential for our wealth. It is sometimes difficult to express your love to others, and even harder to feel love for yourself. It is hard to control the actual feeling of love, but you can control actions to show love to others, and yourself. Do you make an effort to express your love to the people in your life? Is taking action to love yourself like exercising, meditating, and enjoying hobbies a priority to you?
10) Legacy/Impact
What is the impact that you want to make in your life? The people who leave the biggest legacy during their lifetime are the ones who have the biggest “why” behind their actions. Changing the world isn’t easy. But changing the world of the people around you can be. Unfortunately we all have an expiration date in life. What you do with the time that you have here is the legacy that you’ll leave behind. The truest form of wealth is using your time to enrich the lives of others. What is your legacy going to be?
