Who is Rich?

What is YOUR definition of Wealth?

Self-Action Leadership and Serendipity have made me a very RICH man. 

How rich am I?  

          GOOD QUESTION.

This article provides some answers to this question. In so doing, it also reframes the very idea of wealth.

When we think of wealth, is is natural for our brains to gravitate toward financial riches, or money; and that is certainly one way to be rich. But wealth involves sooooooo much more than just cash.

I have come a LONG way financially since being a broke bachelor who used to bounce checks before getting married. Of course my amazing wife Lina—who is our family CFO—deserves most of the credit for my financial turnaround and positive, new financial trajectory. Nevertheless, even with the material progress we have made over the course of our marriage, Lina and I are still a far cry from being one of the truly rich—what they refer to as a "one-percenter"—financially speaking. 

This being the case, on what basis do I make my own claim upon being RICH? 

Ben Franklin, who graces the U.S. hundred dollar bill,
knew a thing or two about financial riches and holistic wealth.

The answer may be found, at least in part, in one of my favorite quotes from Benjamin Franklin—a great man and leader to whom many SAL-oriented quotes are attributable.  

Franklin once asked a piercing question, as follows...

"WHO is RICH?"

He then answered his own question thusly: "HE that REJOICETH in his portion."

"Who is Rich?

                    "He that rejoiceth in his portion." 

                    —Benjamin Franklin

This quote suggests that your happiness—and even your ultimate wealth—is not contingent on acquiring an arbitrary amount of money or material possessions or achievements. Rather, it is determined by your ability to find happiness and contentment with whatever you may have at any given moment in time.

This may sound simple enough in theory. But countless human beings (including myself at a variety of junctures throughout my life) have found it difficult in actual practice. Nevertheless, the wisdom inherent in the statement remains self-evident and inspiring to self-action leaders, including myself.  

What is your definition of SUCCESS. 

I suppose everyone defines things like HAPPINESS and SUCCESS somewhat differently. Tony Robbins once spoke about an experience he had with a couple of people with whom he was acquainted. He asked both men to define success from their perspective. In other words: "What do you have to do or achieve in order to be successful? The first person had a very narrow and strict—albeit detailed—definition of success. It required him to achieve a lofty net worth and a slew of other time-consuming and hard-won objectives. Until he had accomplished everything on his list, he would not allow himself to feel successful.

The second man man, however, merely chuckled and said: "I am a success every single day I spend above ground!" 

Self-action leaders are never so fixated on
the destination that they fail to enjoy the journey.

The first fellow viewed success as a destination, whereas the second guy saw success as a journey or process that should not only be enjoyed all along the way, but that he felt very grateful to experience—period. 

Who do you think was happier? The first man or the second guy? Moreover, who do you think viewed himself as being more successful, regardless of his material acquisitions?  

While we instinctively see the wisdom in the second man's response, in truth, both fellows were extreme in their mode of thinking. Self-action leaders should set their sights on worthy objectives that are difficult to accomplish. Why? Because doing so leads to GROWTH, which is the ultimate aim of Self-Action Leadership.

However, self-action leaders should also practice the art of enjoying the journey all along the way. By so doing, they find themselves feeling happier and more successful along their journeys toward accomplishing significant and important goals and visions in life.

Let's return now to my initial statement about being wealthy....

I am indeed rich because I rejoice in the things which I have been allotted in my life. But I am also rich because I have truly been allotted a great deal. Part of this allotment is a direct payment for my own disciplined and dedicated exercise of Self-Action Leadership over long periods of time. And part of it is a direct blessing bestowed upon me by the Grace of God (or Serendipity, as the secular SAL Theory & Model term it).  

Too often, human beings equate wealth in a monolithic or one-dimensional manner with an overly magnified focus on the financial realm of riches. This is unfortunate because wealth encompasses so many other life arenas. Thus, while I am more wealthy financially now than I have ever been in the past, finances are just one component of the wealth Self-Action Leadership and Serendipity have empowered me to accrue. And that is the beauty of SAL: its principles and practices have the power to make you exceedingly RICH over time. I know this is true because in virtually every area of my life, I am much more wealthy now than I was thirty, twenty, ten, or even five years ago. In short, I know SAL works for one, simple, and incredibly compelling reason: because I have honestly and authentically paid the price it demands and have thereby accrued riches of all kinds over time.

That is why I am rich.

          Or perhaps a better way of framing it would be to say: that is why I am holistically wealthy. 

And the good news is that there is nothing inherently special about me. However, everything is special about SAL principles and practices. As such, YOU can also become holistically wealthy over time by studying SAL principles and applying SAL practices... just like I have.   

Other areas of my life where I am even more wealthy than the financial realm include the following: 

With my Precious Wife and Children
September 2021

FAMILY:  I adore my wife. She is lovely in every way. Truth be known, I probably like her even more than she likes me! To her credit she puts up with me—longsuffering soul that she is. Moreover, she is good at focusing on the positive aspects of our relationship, demonstrates patience with my shortcomings, and shows genuine gratitude for the role I play as a stay-at-home Dad. As for my kids, what can I say other than they are incredibly SMART, FUN, and CUTE—mostly thanks to Lina.

Beyond my immediate family, I have been blessed with an extended family full of kind and wise mentors and friends who have had a profoundly positive influence on my life. I have been further blessed by a rich and illustrious ancestry whose many and varied legacies continually inspire me to make the very most out of my own opportunities in life. 

HEALTH:  No one has perfect health, and I have faced my share of minor aches, pains, and other issues throughout the course of my life. Nevertheless, 42-years into my mortal journey, I have been extraordinarily fortunate to have circumvented serious illness and/or death. Much of this blessing is a by-product of my genes, which I cannot take credit for. And part of it is my commitment to fitness. Moreover, considering my weaknesses when it comes to nutrition, I acknowledge that I have also gotten away with a lot. This is due in part to my focus on fitness. However, as my recent blog on my weight loss goal attests, I have begun to pay the price for my nutritional sins, and there will always be room for repentance in that area of my life.

My Home Office Library demonstrates
the love I have for books and education.

EDUCATION:  I have been blessed to receive a magnificent education. Part of this education was made possible by the blessing of being born into a Country where free public education was readily available and accessible. Part of it was made possible by the financial resources of loving family members. But the greatest part of it materialized because of my own thirst for knowledge accompanied by my willingness to proactively seek out the best books for study and learning. As much as I value my two formal academic degrees (bachelors in English and doctoral in education) I value my informal (and ongoing) quest after knowledge even more.  

OPPORTUNITIES:  I have been blessed with many opportunities to make something interesting of my life and career, and I have never been shy about embracing—and proactively chasing down—those opportunities. Part of these blessings were made available through Serendipity. For example, for my senior year of high school, my oldest brother invited me to live with him and his wife in Spokane, Washington. That opportunity gave me the chance to compete at a much higher level as a runner than I had access to in my small school classification in Utah.

Many other opportunities materialized through my own, diligent, visionary, and proactive exercise of Self-Action Leadership. Just as we are ultimately responsible for our own happiness in life, we are likewise responsible to seek out and take advantage of our own opportunities in life. Self-action leaders do not sit down and wait for opportunity to simply walk up and knock on their door. Instead, they boldly and proactively walk outside their door to chase down the opportunities they most want in life. 

I have always been a visionary dreamer. But unlike Edwin Arlington Robinson's Miniver Cheevy, I am absolutely determined and obsessively committed to doing whatever is required to accomplish and realize my dreams and visions. For a self-action leader like me, it is not enough to merely dream or envision. I must take concrete action based on sound plans and procedures. Just as importantly, I must be flexible in my approach as I stick with worthy tasks, goals, and objectives and never give up until they have been satisfactorily completed.

Throughout my life, I have had the chance to associate with a range of people who were good at dreaming, passionate at envisioning, and eloquent in the articulation of their dreams and visions. Unfortunately, these same people were not always as good at following up with consistent, persistent, flexible, and smart ACTION. Despite the unfulfilled potential of said persons, their lives and careers have been very inspiring to me in the sense that they motivated me to avoid making similar errors. 

I am grateful for the LIBERTY I enjoy as an American.
Even more, I appreciate the FREEDOM I enjoy as a Self-Action Leader.

LIBERTY & FREEDOM:  As an American citizen, I deeply cherish the hard-earned liberties bequeathed to me by heroes from the past and present. Such liberties include: life, liberty, the opportunity to pursue happiness, opportunity, and success, and a variety of civil rights as delineated in the Bill of Rights section of the United States' Constitution.

But even more than my personal and civil liberties, I cherish my hard-earned personal freedoms that have developed over-time within a framework of those liberties. Such freedoms include: marrying an incredible woman of my choice, becoming highly educated, skilled, and capable in my field of work, and being able to travel and otherwise do many things I desire to do when I desire to do them.

No matter how much money you earn, or how many concrete achievements you obtain, or how "successful" you may become in the eyes of others, there will always be a temptation to "want more." This itch for more—that we as humans sometimes find so difficult to buck—can and should motivate us onward and upward on our journey through life. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, "A healthy discontent is good."

Nevertheless, we should never allow our "healthy discontents" to prevent us from taking joy in the present moment for everything that is REAL and GOOD right now. Remember that the actual happiness and success you feel will depend more on cultivating an attitude of gratitude for what you actually possess and enjoy in your life, not on what you may eventually achieve or acquire in the future. This is why I include Rule #11—Take nothing for granted, and in all things give thanks—as one of my 13 Rules for Life. And it has been my experience that the better I follow this rule, the happier I am.  

"Most people are about as happy as
they make up their minds to be."
— Abraham Lincoln

You don't have to be financially rich to be happy. You can choose to be happy right now, no matter what may be going on in your life. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." There is, of course, a certain irony in this statement, which arises out of the fact that Abraham Lincoln dealt with severe depression throughout his life. This is a beautiful irony to me, however, because it demonstrates two parallel truths about life. The first is that life is difficult and all of us will face severe trials along our walk through life—no matter how positive our attitude may be.

This means that things like depression are real and we cannot always just wish (or positively affirm) such experiences out of existence. We must positively and productively confront our challenges with the right tools to overcome and/or manage them. However, it also means that as self-action leaders, we are free to make choices that will make the bad times better, and bolster the likelihood that good times will increase in the future. No one's life is perfect—no matter how efficient or effective a self-action leader one might be. Yet, much hope exists for all of us to experience brighter futures through the conscious, intentional, and proactive exercise of SAL. 

So... who is RICH?  

After reading this article, I hope you can honestly answer this question by saying: "I AM... but, I look forward to being so much richer in the future through SAL and Serendipity."  

—Dr. JJ

January 19, 2022

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 248th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 247 FF Blog Articles.  

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Notes: