How you define being rich or success goes far beyond just money, fame, or status. I have found some really wealthy individuals who have explained this to me in the books I have read (such as billionaire steel magnate Andrew Carnegie) to the videos I have watched (such as millionaire Tai Lopez) to other knowledge I have consumed.
The following video does a great job of explaining the basics of true wealth and success. You have the ability to define what it means for yourself but it might be worth considering to be able to define it as one or more of the following: spending quality time with your family, having great friends, doing what you want when you want to, enjoying the world, experiencing the things you want to, being truly happy, being healthy, being loved by those who you want to love you, creating new things for the world, helping the world, not being chained down by lack of money, and having the freedom to do what you want in a non-materialistic way.
This video is by Scooby, a long time fitness expert on Youtube. As you may know, I watch more Youtube than many people will in their lifetimes. I’ve watched Scooby for a while now (many years). (I know, I’m still not fit, but this is a marathon not a sprint and admittedly, I have been inconsistent and simply a watcher but not a doer in my past) And I am just so surprised at how well he understands some of these concepts. I stress many of these concepts in my video and I will stress them even more in future videos. I am thoroughly impressed by his knowledge on things. A simple but essential truth in personal finance is explained in this video which is that it’s now how much you make sometimes, but what percentage of that you spend. Some people will be forever poor because they spend 120% of what they make immediately and if unexpected disaster strikes in the future (which it will), they’re screwed.
Additionally, they are bound by their job and will put off forever any thing they wish they could do with their money because of stupid, unnecessary purchases and overspending. Long-term sustainability and safety cannot be achieved being so foolish with money. It is somewhat strange how I will try and tell this invaluable piece of advice to people in real life and some of them will close their minds to it and not even consider it. They will not even try to listen. It is like a man who won’t take free money. But not you. My audience is generally speaking pretty open, bright, and looking to succeed. Take heed. And you won’t be like some men who earn a great deal and yet still end up bankrupt. Mike Tyson made millions in a year and spent so much that he ended up bankrupt and millions of dollars in debt.
Recently, I went to one of the most remote, local islands in the Philippines. It’s the island that Magellan planted the first cross in the Philippines and very little of the island has artificial lighting at night. Once the sun sets, it’s dark.
The island had about 2,000 inhabits and they had to take a 3-hour ferry to get close to more urban towns and cities. I was likely the only foreigner on the island at the time. The island had beautiful, clear turquoise blue water that rippled into sea green in certain regions. I was able to briefly visit a mini-lagoon and tourist resort station on the island, and it really got me thinking about how fortunate I was.
An elderly lady operated the tourist destination and her sons did a lot of the grunt work. I found out that they would work for many hours everyday, often carrying heavy bags of cement onto and off of tiny boats. For a day’s work, they made less than what a minimal wage worker could make in a couple hours in the U.S.
Sometimes, you have to see it to believe it and really feel it. I realized I was blessed just because of the location I was born. If I was born in that small village, my life would be very different.
As far as success is concerned, living with more financial opportunity and income doesn’t guarantee more success. I bet some of those villagers were happier than certain city-dwellers earning middle-income, soul-crushing jobs. And maybe some of those villagers were unhappier. Every person is different.
I bet most would believe that more money would make them happier, and at a certain low-income, I can understand why. But I’m sure some would unexpectedly find that the city life they could access through the ferry may actually be less pleasant than they thought. In fact, I met the pastor on the island and discovered he left a good city life to live on the island and spread the gospel.
Regardless of all that, I think I’m grateful to have the freedom and wisdom to be able to choose the right life for me. Whereas, many of those villagers were stuck living their life and couldn’t find that higher-income opportunity even if they wanted to.
-Will
