What wealth means to me

Wealth, for me, is the freedom to choose. What I experience, where I go, when and where I work, who I work with and what I build.

When I was younger, I was much more interested in status. I grew up in Pakistan, and status games were a big part of the world I knew. For a long time I played them: the cars, the house. “Look at me. I'm doing well.”

I like Naval Ravikant's distinction between the status game and the wealth game. Status feels very primal to me. I wonder how much of it comes from wanting to belong to the tribe, be recognised and be attractive to a mate.

Dr John Demartini talks about how what we perceive as missing in our lives shapes what we value. I recognise something in that idea of a void. How much of what I wanted was an attempt to feel whole?

I've learned from a lot of teachers and done a lot of what I call self-brainwashing and hypnotising myself. I still have a residue of that status game. I can see it in myself.

These days, being able to stop thinking about money is part of wealth for me. If money occupies my mind all the time, I don't feel wealthy.

Then there is the question of enough. Bills need paying. Beyond that, the amount that gives someone freedom depends on the life they want to live. Do I have enough for mine? Do I feel whole internally?

Another way I think about wealth is time: how long can I keep living the way I want to live, based on what I have right now?