Wealth doesn’t guarantee happiness. But happiness in relationships can guarantee wealth.
Most of us have a strong desire to be successful. We want to build our skills, have good jobs, make good money, and have a happy life.
But many of us are never taught the pivotal mindsets and skills we need to build a life like this. Instead, we are fed narratives that end up undermining our chances of gaining financial wellbeing and we start thinking:
“If I want to make a good income, I have to be competitive.”
“Someone else’s gain is my loss.”
“I only have the resources to look after myself.”
These sorts of lack and me-against-you mindsets are extremely detrimental to financial wellbeing and longevity. We need to do a 180 in our mindsets and start embracing this fact: that the greatest secret to building wealth is building strong relationships.
A Harvard study kept up with 100 students after graduation to see how they lived and what measured their success as adults. And they found that those with strong, healthy relationships in their lives ended up making a great deal more than their peers. But a Pew Research study discovered that many Americans value making money over their friendships.
It seems that the beliefs many of us have clung to about success – that we need to go to the top schools, that we need to work the longest hours, that we need to sacrifice time with family and friends to build our wealth – are not true! It turns out that the most profound work we can do to attain financial independence is develop our human connection and emotional intelligence.
Maybe it sounds too good to be true, but we found it heartening that this message is coming directly from the financial professionals over at WealthWave, a company that provides financial literacy education to Americans. They recently posted this piece about wealth and relationships on their blog that we wanted to share with you all as it emphasizes an idea we don’t hear enough about – that human relationship is the key ingredient to success.
Let this piece serve as a little mantra to all of us this week – a reminder that the values which help us build wealth and success are not at odds with a life well-lived. Valuing relationships and connection with each other is a part of being human. It is not a part we need to diminish or sacrifice to build the lives that we want.
Invest in your relationships, invest in yourself and in your own life, and see what amazing things the world will bring you!
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