I really enjoy finance as a hobby, and that is why I started and continue to run Wealth Artisan. I love helping people, I especially enjoy interacting with everyone, and I love hearing when my information has helped someone.
I write a lot about building wealth, starting a business, and managing money, but I also know that there is far more to true wealth than a bunch of dollars in a bank account.
I liken a lot of this to the idea of building a castle. There’s a grand vision, it will be a lot of work, and it must be done bit by bit. I enjoy trying to build my castles, but it isn’t what I live for, and it shouldn’t be what anyone lives for either.
Running Success
My wife and I want to get more exercise, but we’re so busy all the time that exercise gets put on the back burner. Often, we would start a regiment, but then slowly it would disappear. Lately, we’ve been sticking pretty well to our jogging routine, and I really enjoy it.
Instead of sitting in front of computers, my wife and I are out jogging, and enjoying some free quality time together. Don’t get me wrong, we still get plenty of computer time too! Do we still talk about businessy stuff? Of course, but we also enjoy the time outside in the scenery, and we goof off together too. While I end up extremely tired afterwards, I’m really starting to enjoy this part of our day.
Importance of Rest
I’ve written about Time Management before, Relaxation and its affect on business success, and I also wrote about my botched attempt at a staycation. I know that rest is very important to be at your best. These activities take the focus off of building castles out of money, or castles out of work, and focus on building castles out of faith, love, and family.
Believe me, running isn’t at the top of my list of things I want to do after work, but I’m learning to enjoy it because it is bringing other good things to the table. It is great for me and my wife, as we get to do a tiring exercise together, and talk.
True Wealth
Today, true wealth is propagated on TV as having a bunch of nice things such as house and cars. People aren’t successful unless they’ve got certain sized rims, certain wrist watches, an iPhone, and a huge house. Unfortunately, we’re being misled when this is all that is portrayed as true wealth. If true wealth were a castle, and all that was focused on was making money, then the castle would simply be a single turret.
I believe that true wealth is a healthy balance of these things, and without it you’ll feel stressed and overwhelmed. When the focus is on one small part of the entire “true wealth picture” you end up with an extreme imbalance. If examples are needed, then I can point to numerous ones including people like Bernard Madoff and Charles Ponzi (sounds familiar?). They focused on one part of true wealth (the financial part) and lost everything as a result.
How To Relax
What can you do to relax and balance out the other parts of true wealth? You don’t necessarily need to like what you do, like I said, I’m not a running fan, but it turned into a really enjoyable activity with my wife. Maybe it isn’t so much what you do, as much as who is with you. Start building true wealth by focusing on the other parts of your true wealth picture. Don’t forget about your faith and family.
What good is a bunch of money if you can’t enjoy it, and the people you’re with. Try to do some activities to help you relax and unwind from the high strung stresses or pursuing financial wealth. Do you like sports, and have some pals that might want to get together on the weekend to play? Also, don’t underestimate sitting outside for a while and just enjoying the quiet and the view.
Relaxation is accomplished differently for each person, but I definitely suggest taking a step away from your castle construction site and get some relaxation time in. How are you pursuing true wealth? Let us know in the comments!
