I'm a Dreamer

Wealth is a process, not an outcome. Nothing changes until I do. It’s just me versus my mind every day.

"How you are seen by others becomes the mirror that tells you what you are like and who you are. You need others to give you a sense of self, and if you live in a culture that to a large extent equates self-worth with how much and what you have, if you cannot look through this collective delusion, you will be condemned to chasing after things for the rest of your life in the vain hope of finding your worth and completion of your sense of self there."?~ Eckhart Tolle

How do you know if you are "better off" now than you were in the past?? When you aspire to enable your children to be "better off" than you in their future, how is that accomplished?? When I tell you that these questions (and their answers) are at the root of the greatest existential challenges of the modern world, it is no exaggeration. Money is not the root of all evil, but it is the most effective means of losing oneself.

If we believe and teach our children that success is measured by one's net worth, what does that teach about one's?self?worth? I can tell you from speaking with thousands of people, observing the attitudes and behaviours of my financial planning clients and prospective clients, and from reading countless books on psychology, philosophy, money, and happiness, that the world's message to its inhabitants,?that one's identity and self-worth are synonymous with money,?material wealth and social status, is completely false.

The?utility of wealth diminishes?after the point at which one has enough money to pay for the basic physiological needs of food, shelter, and clothing (plus a few of life's small material pleasures).?

For example, if a family can sustain a reasonable lifestyle with a household income of R70, 000, an increase of income to R700, 000 will NOT make them 10 times happier.?The false belief that it will is why there exists a larger, rarely communicated problem in modern society: The definition of "better off" is purely financial; the material, meaningless world grows in importance as the inner, meaningful world fades.

Until we can change the message that "better off" is more about meaning and purpose than money and prominence, we perpetuate the illusion that our self-worth is and should be solely measured financially. We wrongfully define the word "rich" as more than you have now, as opposed to as?enough. We fail to understand that identity is who you are, not?what you have.

I don't foolishly expect to one day live in a world that has completely erased the conventional line connecting financial status to the meaning of "better off" but I do believe that most people, deep within themselves, feel that there are many things in life more important and more valuable than money and material wealth.? This inner truth simply needs to be uncovered from the debris placed upon it from outside sources.

Life is the journey; meaning is found in the doing, the perspective, not in the results; the challenges are what shape us.?These ideals and accomplishments are not enabled by an increasing supply of money; they are enabled by meaning, purpose and the degree that people act as their authentic selves. What the world needs is more people who are "better off," not because their net worth has grown but because their?self-worth has grown.

In the immortal words of John Lennon, 'You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will live as one.'

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