This Is Real Wealth

Ryan explains why you should have your own definition of wealth, on today’s Daily Stoic Podcast. Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/emailFollow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

• 0:05Speaker 00

  Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast where each day we bring you a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom in everyday life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoic.com.

• 0:26Speaker 00

  This is real wealth. Marcus Aurelius was obviously extremely wealthy. He was wealthy before he was emperor, coming from one of Rome's great families. And yet, his definition of wealth had very little to do with money. In Meditations, Marcus writes that he's fortunate not due to his palaces or the treasury. Sure, his wife had silken and embroidered robes, and they possessed many silver goblets and beautiful emeralds. But to Marcus, the true measure of his wealth was that whenever he saw someone in need of help, he could provide it. Moreover, he said that wealth provided him a unique luxury. He would never have to ask for such a favor in return. Marcus cared, and he worked hard to be self-sufficient

• 1:11Speaker 00

  so he could show this care even more. Ramit Sethi, who we had on a great episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast recently, has talked about his definition of the rich life. Part of the rich life for him is being able to travel, being able to reduce hassle, to work on what he wants to work on. We would call these the creature comforts. But another important part of the rich life, the part that arguably sustains him morally and spiritually, he says it's using his time and money to help other people. When something outrages you or inspires you, he said, when something makes you mad, or sad, or thrilled, that's an opportunity to lean into it and use your time and money to improve it. If you can't

• 1:53Speaker 00

  do that, because you're too busy, because you're too selfish, because whatever, then you are not rich, no matter how many digits are to the left of the decimal point in your bank balance. Indeed, you could be quite wealthy, but you will still never be rich. The point of this life, Marcus says, is to possess good character and do acts for the common good. This is also the point of wealth and success, to be a positive difference maker, to be able to help when someone needs it, to be able to hop on a flight and show up for a friend who reached out in a time of crisis, to be able to forgive a debt, to be able to pick up a tab, to be able to spend a few hours furthering a cause. That is true wealth. It has very little to do with how much you save for yourself

• 2:37Speaker 00

  and everything to do with how much you spend for others.

• 2:43Speaker 00

  Thanks so much for listening to the Daily Stoic Podcast. Again, if you don't know this, you can get these delivered to you via email every day. So check it out at dailystoic.com/email.