Redefining Wealth: Finding Joy Beyond Money

Are financial resolutions already fading? A new viewpoint suggests that true wealth extends far beyond monetary accumulation. By shifting our focus from mere dollars to holistic well-being, we can cultivate a richer, more fulfilling life.

The Illusion of Monetary Wealth

Many equate wealth with a hefty bank account,inadvertently neglecting other vital aspects of life. Investment advisor Elizabeth Husserl, author of “The Power of Enough: Finding Joy in your Relationship with Money,” challenges this notion. She posits that money should be viewed as a tool for self-discovery and a means to understand our values. Husserl’s transformative experience in Oaxaca, Mexico, illuminated the stark contrast between financial affluence and genuine wealth.

“I was first kind of like confronted with the core problem that there is a difference between money and wealth and our issues with wealth is when we let it be defined by money,” Husserl explains.Her time spent among indigenous communities revealed a profound truth: wealth transcends material possessions. “Working in these communities for two years just started to somatically change the way I was experiencing wealth. And so then I knew that my work wasn’t in Oaxaca. My work was back in the states where people had so much and yet we continue to feel so poor.”

Oaxacan Wisdom: A New Definition of Wealth

In Oaxaca,Husserl discovered that wealth was intrinsically linked to community,health,and ritual.

• Community Bonds: Strong social connections fostered a sense of belonging and support. Studies show that robust social networks correlate with improved mental and physical health. Reference: Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review
• Health as a Cornerstone: Prioritizing well-being created a foundation for a joyful existence. Preventative care and healthy lifestyle choices contribute significantly to overall wealth.
• Ritual and Tradition: Engaging in cultural practices instilled a sense of purpose and continuity. Rituals provide structure and meaning, enhancing psychological well-being.

“ I would constantly ask them what wealth meant to them, and their responses, to me, were wealth was community and ritual and health was a big one. If they were healthy, they felt wealthy,” Husserl notes. Observing their lives, she realized that true wealth manifested in the richness of their lived experiences, not the size of their bank accounts. “And I would walk into their homes and there were dirt floors and I could tell there was a lack of potentially material resources, but the experience and the connection, the intimacy and the vitality felt very different than some of the communities that I had been raised in the states or even in my college.”

Money as a Mirror: Understanding Your Values

Husserl suggests viewing money as a reflection of our inner selves. it’s a tool that can reveal our priorities, fears, and aspirations.

“ If we were to just kind of turn towards our relationship to money and start to kind of clear up the interference, we can see it for what it is. It is a tool. Right? It is a neutral tool that allows us to exchange things, that allows us to purchase things with money that we have or on credit. It allows us to engage in the material world, but it can’t define us and it can’t define who we are or how trustworthy we are.”

in a society often characterized by isolation, money can become a substitute for genuine connection. Addressing the epidemic of loneliness requires shifting our focus from financial validation to building meaningful relationships. As Husserl states, “And that’s where it starts to get murky because we’ve lost a lot of those intimate connections that I would see in these communities in Oaxaca where everyone knew each other. So people trusted you even if you didn’t have a dollar in your bank account. That wasn’t what was important. Hear, we have lost a lot of those intimate relationships. We’re going thru an epidemic of loneliness, and so we use money to replace how we trust each other, and that’s when it starts to get murky.”

Behavioral finance: Unpacking Your Money Mindset

Behavioral finance explores the psychological factors influencing our financial decisions. Understanding our emotions—anger, fear, entitlement—can definitely help us develop healthier financial strategies.

”behavioral finance is a study that looks at people’s behaviors and attitudes and what is the underlying psychology and how people make money decisions.A lot of it is influenced by how we feel about things, how confident, our sense of security, our emotions around it. When we understand the underlying emotions in our relationship to money, we bring a lot more awareness to helping us create strategies that work with us or for us. So for example, some people feel a lot of anger in their relationship to money or avoidance or entitlement or disgust. I mean, there’s so many words that we can insert there and we start to clear up the interference and recognize, ‘What am I really angry about? What am I really scared of?’ We start to really get clear. ‘Oh, yeah, that’s what I can start to take agency and redesign and redefine in my life and not scapegoat money.’ Right? Because what happens is that when we scapegoat our relationship to money, we give our power away.”

Husserl emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach to wealth. “When I’m working with clients,I help them create super specific strategies and their financial stability slice of the pie.  But I define wealth so much more holistically to include 11 other aspects,right,that are based on human needs. And that’s really important because I tell my clients, my job is only half done when we create a financial plan. Now let’s turn to these other areas in your life that define your true experience of wealth and see how fulfilled are you. Are you feeling scarcity there? Is there poverty there? And let’s get super clear on what strategies we’re using with the use of money, and here more importantly, without using money, to break dependency that money is the only way that we can feel satisfied.”

The Power of Satiation: Cultivating Contentment

Satiation,the feeling of being truly fulfilled,is key to embodying wealth. Rather than endlessly pursuing more, we can learn to appreciate what we already have.

”The feeling of satiated is how we truly start to embody wealth instead of just accumulating it. and it’s really critically important. We are wired to seek. Scarcity brain is a real thing because that’s how our ancestors kept us alive and survival, but if you start to tap into how your body can viscerally feel fulfilled and the easiest example is we all no what a nourishing meal feels like versus empty calories. You’re like, ‘That hit the spot,’ versus, ‘Oh my gosh, what did I just eat?’ And when you start to recognize the ways in which you feel fulfilled and allow those moments of meaning to compound inside of you, now you start to build a different wealth portfolio, right? We love compounding interest in our investment accounts. We can do the same thing in our experiences of wealth and start to get really savvy on how we’re creating more of those. And again, sometimes without using money and we start to break the dependency of like, ‘Oh, I can only feel happy if I have more money.’ I argue that you can start to feel happier and more joyful in your life without adding one more dollar to your bank account.”

Actionable Steps: Finding Your “Enough”

Here’s a practical exercise to cultivate a sense of satiation and redefine your relationship with wealth:

• 30-Day Satiation Journal: For 30 days, record three things each day that made you feel fulfilled. these could be simple pleasures like a lovely sunset or meaningful interactions with loved ones.
• identify Strategies: After 30 days,analyse your journal entries. What strategies are you already employing to create fulfilling experiences?
• Apply to Areas of Lack: Identify areas in your life where you feel a sense of lack. Can you apply the strategies you identified to these areas?

“ I think the easiest one, again — you don’t even have to buy anything — is grab a piece of paper or a journal. And for the next 30 days, do a 30-day satiation journal. And at the end of each day, write three things that satisfied you, where you felt fulfilled. It could be a meaningful conversation, it could be something that you finished at work, it could be feeling the wind on your skin or a sunset and just start to recognize, how are you feeling satisfied in your life? Don’t bring any judgment to it. Just write it down. After 30 days, go back and read them and be like, ‘What are the strategies that I actually already know how to employ and how can I start to bring those strategies to the end areas that I’m feeling lack?’ So bring the things that are working to the things that aren’t working and we start to open up new windows of possibility and that’s what starts to give us agency and how we experience our relationship to money, but ultimately our relationship to wealth.”

Conclusion: Embrace a Holistic Vision of Wealth

True wealth isn’t solely defined by monetary accumulation but encompasses our relationships, health, and sense of purpose. By shifting our perspective and actively cultivating fulfillment, we can break free from the scarcity mindset and embrace a richer, more meaningful life. start your 30-day satiation journal today and unlock the power of enough!