Tag: wealth (page 2 of 5)

June 1, 2025

Mental Wealth: What You Had as a Kid That You Need Back Now

Your mental wealth started with being curious about the world around you, just like when you were a little child asking “why” about everything.

As you are older now, having mental wealth means you have a clear purpose that gives your life meaning. You keep learning and growing daily, and make time to think and rest your mind. It’s about staying true to who you are instead of just copying what everyone else does.

When you build mental wealth, you create a rich, interesting life filled with learning, growing, and following your dreams.

Mental Wealth is built on a foundation of curiosity, leading to fulfilment, growth, and purpose.

While innate in childhood, curiosity declines in adulthood due to the demands of life. But reconnecting with your childlike curiosity through “mental time travel” can provide perspective and evaluate your current state of Mental Wealth.

Why is it important to build Mental Wealth?

Living a life of Mental Wealth is an important fight against the forces of “stasis” and “normalcy” that encourage settling and blending in.

Most people are stuck in one place, doing the same boring things every day without trying anything new or different. And they want everyone to act the same way and not stand out. Choosing to build your Mental Wealth means fighting against this by always learning and being creative.

Maintaining your distinctiveness is key to realising full potential and living a “texture-rich existence.”

Your goal is to become a better version of yourself instead of just going along with what everyone else is doing. It’s about choosing to grow and explore new possibilities rather than staying in the same safe but boring routine.

Mental Wealth is ultimately defined as living according to your purpose. It’s believing in your capacity for growth and creating space for reflection and recharge.

Three Key Pillars of Mental Wealth

The First Key Pillar is Purpose.

Have a clear vision that creates meaning and aligns decisions. This involves defining a unique identity and contributing to something larger than yourself, whether through work or other activities.

The Second Key Pillar is Growth

Your Mental Wealth is highly dependent on a continuous hunger for progress and change.

Believe in your dynamic potential for development in intelligence, ability, and character. Growth is the pursuit of improvement in a world often seeking ease.

The last Key Pillar is Space.

Space is the intentional creation of stillness and solitude for thinking, resetting, and recharging. This allows for listening to your inner voice and gaining new insights. Space is “rocket fuel for the mind.”

How to Build Mental Wealth

To build Mental Wealth, here is a guide to ten high-leverage systems:

Quick Mental Wealth Hacks You Wish You Knew at Twenty-Two:

Prioritize solitude.
Write everything down.
Reread impactful books annually.
Take yourself out for solitary meals.
Focus on substance over presentation.
Focus deeply on one creative project at a time.
Dedicate thirty minutes daily to improve a skill for thirty days
Practice daily gratitude (list three things you are grateful for and say one aloud)

The Power of Ikigai (Pillar: Purpose):

This Japanese concept helps define your purpose by finding the intersection of three areas:

What you love (activities that create joy).
What you are good at (activities that feel effortless).
What the world needs (activities relevant to your current context – self, family, community, or the world).

List activities for each area to begin exploring your unique ikigai. Because purpose is personal and doesn’t need to be professionally tied or outwardly impressive.

The Pursuit Map (Pillar: Purpose)

The Pursuit Map uses a two-by-two matrix to help align how time is spent with what brings energy and utilizes skills efficiently.

The matrix has “competency level” (low to high) on the x-axis and “energy” (draining to creating) on the y-axis.

Zone of Genius: High competency and energy-creating. This is the ideal area for most time investment.
Zone of Hobby: Low competency but energy-creating. This is where new pursuits often start and can evolve into the Zone of Genius.
Zone of Danger: High competency but energy-draining. This is risky as positive feedback might encourage spending more time here despite the energy drain.

Your goal is to maximise time in the Zone of Genius, spend remaining time in the Zone of Hobby, and minimise time in the Zone of Danger. Then communicate this map with teams or managers, or for solo practitioners, being honest about activities and outsourcing those in the Zone of Danger.

Following your energy is key to a more purposeful and fulfilling life.

The Feynman Technique (Pillar: Growth)

This learning model promotes deep understanding by leveraging teaching and simplicity through four steps:

Set the stage: Write down everything known about a topic.
Teach: Explain the topic to someone with no prior knowledge, using simple language and avoiding jargon (or pretend to teach a child).
Assess and study: Reflect on the teaching performance, identify gaps, and revisit source material.
Organize, convey, and review: Structure the simplified understanding into a narrative, share it, refine, and review.

Feynman technique is effective because it forces distillation and clear explanation, revealing areas where understanding is lacking. It’s a method used by successful thinkers and entrepreneurs.

The Spaced-Repetition Method (Pillar: Growth):

Spaced repetition uses cognitive science to improve information retention by revisiting new information at increasing intervals.

For example, do your repetitions starting one hour after initial consumption and progressively increasing the time between reviews to transfer information from short-term to long-term memory.

The Socratic Method (Pillars: Growth and Space):

This is a method of critical thinking through structured questioning to expose assumptions and vet logic.

The process involves:

Starting with open-ended questions to identify the core problem.
Proposing current ideas or hypotheses.
Probing these ideas with progressive questions to challenge assumptions (“Why do you think this?”, “How do you know it’s true?”, “How would you know if you were wrong?”).
Evaluating evidence and considering potential alternatives (“What alternative viewpoints exist?”, “Why might they be superior?”).
Zooming out to reflect on the initial thinking and any systemic errors discovered.

The method is recommended for high-stakes decisions to think differently and identify the most advantageous path.

The Think Day (Pillars: Growth and Space):

Dedicate one day each month to step away from daily demands and focus solely on reading, learning, journaling, and thinking.

Key elements of the think day include secluding yourself (mentally or physically), setting an out-of-office, shutting off devices, and using tools like a journal, books, a secluded location, and thinking prompts (e.g., “If I repeated my current typical day for one hundred days, would my life be better or worse?”).

The benefits are restoring energy, noticing missed things, being more deliberate, focusing on high-leverage opportunities, and moving “slow to move fast.”

The Power Walk (Pillar: Space)

Walking is a simple and free tool for creating space.

Incorporate short walks between tasks or meetings. Use longer, passive, tech-free walks (thirty to sixty minutes) where the mind is free to wander.

Bringing a notebook to capture ideas during longer walks is recommended because walking with your thoughts is an “ultra-powerful space-creating tool.”

The Personal Power-Down Ritual (Pillar: Space)

This is a fixed sequence of actions to mentally and physically end the professional day and create space for personal life. It includes three elements:

Complete final tasks: A quick check of emails, messages, and open projects.
Prepare for tomorrow: Identify focus priorities and do prep work.
Initiate power-down: Create a mental trigger or phrase to signify the end of the work day. Implementing a power-down ritual helps build clear boundaries between work and personal life.

The 1-1-1 Journaling Method (Pillar: Space)

This simple journaling practice aims to create space and improve mental health by writing down three points each evening:

One win from the day (for appreciating progress).
One point of tension, anxiety, or stress (to get it out of the mind and onto paper).
One point of gratitude (to reflect on important things).

Its simplicity makes it an easy way to start a journaling habit.

What It Truly Means to Build Mental Wealth

Mental wealth helps you become the best version of yourself by keeping your mind strong and healthy.

When you know your purpose, keep learning new things, and give yourself space to think, you make better choices and live a more meaningful life. This pursuit is a necessary and rewarding “fight” for your distinctiveness and fulfilment.

Mental wealth is one of the keys that unlock your highest self and helps you and me live a life that feels exciting and full of possibilities.

Use it wisely.

I hope this helps you as much as I enjoyed doing this review.

Godspeed and Cheers.

Zamai.

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

Become Your Highest Self: Every Sunday, I share actionable tips from successful people on how to master money, mindset and meaning. Please confirm your subscription via email so the newsletter goes straight into your inbox.
Fast Track Book: Stay relevant, master new skills, and be ready for whatever life throws at you. This is the complete roadmap to speed up your learning process and expand the opportunities available to you. Available on Amazon.
Personal Wealth Maximizer: Take control of your finances and build financial freedom. The Personal Wealth Maximizer give you the exact knowledge and tools to break free from money struggles and build financial confidence.

May 25, 2025

Financial Freedom: At What Point Will Your Money Be Enough?

What does it even mean to have financial freedom?

Being financially free means having enough money, so you don’t have to worry about paying for the things you need.

Imagine having a bank account that’s so loaded that you can use it to buy food, pay for your house, and get the things you want without stressing about running out of money.

This is what financial freedom means.

When you’re financially free, you can choose how you spend your time instead of working to pay bills. You might still work because you enjoy your job, but don’t have to work to survive.

Being financially free helps you live a happier and less stressful life.

When you don’t have to worry about money all the time, you can focus on the things that matter to you, like spending time with family and friends or doing hobbies you love.

For me, attaining financial freedom means living freely with close friends and family around. I will be able to spend weeks watching anime (maybe One Piece at a stretch) without my conscience judging me. I will also have enough money to go to the concerts of my favourite music artists anywhere in the world.

Defining what financial freedom means to you is important.

The 7 Levels of Financial Freedom

The truth is that financial freedom comes in stages or levels.

Understanding these levels is like climbing stairs. You must reach each step before you can get to the next one. When you know how much money you need to be financially free, you can always adjust and see if you’re doing better.

Level 1: Clarity

Know exactly how much money you spend every month.

Write down what you pay for rent, food, black tax, data subscriptions, and everything else. Find out how much you currently spend monthly. Then write out your ideal monthly expenses.

This level is important because you can’t get better with money if you don’t know how you’re spending it. It’s like trying to lose weight without knowing what you eat.

In this level, figure out where you are and where you want to go.

Level 2: Self-Sufficiency

This is when you earn enough money to cover your expenses on your own.

At this level, you have saved up enough money to pay for one whole month of expenses. If you spend 20,000 Naira every month, you have 20,000 Naira saved up.

This is important because it means you can survive for one month if something bad happens, like losing your job. You won’t panic right away because you have a little cushion.

To achieve this level, you have saved your monthly expenses.

Level 3: Breathing Room

In this level, you escape living from salary to salary.

Now you have enough money saved to pay your bills for 3 to 5 months. Using the same example, you’d have 60,000 to 100,000 naira saved up.

This level gives you time to breathe and think if you lose your job or when your business is down. You don’t have to take the first job you find because you have time to look for something better.

The path is clear here – Save 3 to 5 times your monthly expenses to complete Level 3.

Level 4: Stability

This is when you have six months of living expenses saved and your debts repaid.

You have expenses saved up for the next 180 days. This means you can go half a year without working and still pay all your bills.

This level makes you feel secure. Most emergencies or job losses get fixed within six months, so you’re protected from most problems that might happen.

To achieve this level, you have saved 6 times your monthly expenses.

Level 5: Flexibility

In this level, you have two years of living expenses invested.

At this level, you have saved up twenty-four months’ worth of expenses. That’s a lot of money! It means you can live for two whole years without working.

This gives you amazing freedom. You can quit your job to start a business, go back to school, or take care of a sick family member without worrying about money.

Remember again – you need your monthly expenses saved 24 times to be financially flexible.

Level 6: Financial Independence

This is when you can live off the income generated by your investments till the day you die.

You have so much money invested that it makes enough profit to pay for your living expenses forever. You never have to work for money again if you don’t want to.

This is the dream level you must aim for. You can choose to work because you love your job, not because you need the money.

I love this level because work becomes optional at this point.

Level 7: Abundant Wealth

Here, you have more money than you’ll ever need.

Your money is too much at this level. You can buy almost anything you want and help lots of other people, too.

At this level, money isn’t something you think about anymore. Simply focus completely on doing things that make you happy and help make the world better.

I also talk about how to identify your skills and keep moving up these levels of financial freedom in Personal Wealth Maximizer. Check it out if you are truly ready to start your journey in being financially free.

Why is it Important to Know These Levels?

Knowing these levels helps you in three big ways:

First, it shows you exactly where you are right now with your money. You might discover you’re already at Level 2 and didn’t even know it!

Second, it gives you clear goals to work toward. Instead of just saying “I want to save money,” you can say “I want to get to Level 3 by saving up four months of expenses.”

Third, it helps you stay motivated. When you see yourself moving from Level 1 to Level 2, you feel proud and want to keep going.

Again, at what Point will you be financially free?

To be financially free, recognise these 7 Levels and complete them one at a time.

Clarity (know your monthly expenses)
Self-sufficiency (Save 1x monthly expenses)
Breathing Room (Save 3 to 5x monthly expenses)
Stability (Save 6x monthly expenses)
Flexibility (Save 24x monthly expenses)
Financial Independence (Make enough money to pay for your living expenses forever)
Abundant Wealth (Have more money than you’ll ever need)

Ultimately, the amount you need comes down to the life you want to live, where you want to live it, what you value, and what brings you joy.

I hope this helps.

Godspeed and Cheers.

Zamai.

May 18, 2025

Social Wealth: Why Relationships Might Be Your Real Net Worth

Social wealth is the connection to others in your personal and professional worlds.

The more people who love and support you, the more social wealth you have. It’s the depth and breadth of your relationships to those around you. Social wealth is having good friends and family who care about you.

Having a meaningful human connection is important for a fulfilling life.

Prioritising relationships is essential to your happiness and well-being. Fortunately, there is a framework for building Social Wealth through three core pillars: Depth, Breadth, and Earned Status.

This is still a review from Sahil’s book – 5 Types of Wealth: A Transformative Guide to Design Your Dream Life.

From his book (now a bestseller), I will share the practical systems and hacks for improving your social fitness and developing stronger connections.

The Core Idea is Prioritising People

Deep, meaningful relationships are the foundation of a wealthy life.

No matter how you focus on your career or financial success, your achievements in other areas will feel empty without strong social connections.

Do you really picture yourself alone on that plane or yacht? What good is the big house if there is no love to fill it?

Human connection is ultimately what provides the lasting texture and meaning in life.

The Three Pillars of Social Wealth

Your Social Wealth is built across three core pillars.

1. Depth: The Front-Row People

This is the connection with a small, inner circle of people with whom you share deep, meaningful, and durable bonds.

These are your Front-Row People. You can rely on them for love, support, and connection during good times and bad.

How to Build Depth

Be Honest: Share your inner truth and weaknesses and truly listen when others do the same.
Show Support: Be present and supportive during difficult times. Sit in the darkness with those who are struggling.
Have Shared Experience: Engage in positive and negative experiences together. This will strengthen your bonds and build resilience in all your relationships.

Your circle of depth is not limited to family.

Meaningful connections can be found anywhere.

Your circle of closest and irreplaceable people must not be static. It can evolve and change over time as relationships grow or fade. But note this, depth is crucial for a happy and fulfilled life.

Your depth of social wealth provides a foundation of support and love that makes anything possible.

2. Breadth: Belonging to Something Bigger

Your breadth of social wealth is connecting to a larger circle of people for support and belonging beyond your inner circle.

You achieve this by participating in communities or having more individual relationships. Community is very important. It provides a sense of belonging and connects you to individuals you may not have physically met.

Belonging to communities also lets you connect to something larger than oneself. And communities can be formed around various interests, such as cultural, spiritual, local, or professional affiliations.

How to Build Breadth

Join Local Clubs or Communities: Participate in activities related to your hobbies and interests. It can be book clubs, art clubs, or gyms.

1. Attend Spiritual Gatherings: Engage in faith-driven activities if you are a spiritual individual. It can be church programs, gospel artistes’ concerts or volunteering for evangelism.
2. Sign up and join Digital Meetups: You can join online communities that focus on causes you care about.
3. Coordinate Walks or Hikes: Organise regular outdoor activities with others in your area.
4. Attend Networking Events: Overcome shyness and attend events that can lead to new connections.

Expanding your breadth of social wealth requires trying new things and being open to the world.

To do this, you must be generous and not expect anything in return. Both are essential for building meaningful connections within a broader network.

3. Earned Status: Social Currency That Lasts

This is the third pillar of your social wealth.

Earned status is the respect, admiration, and trust you receive from your peers based on your actions and character, rather than acquired possessions or social symbols.

There is a big difference between bought and earned status.

Bought Status is achieved through acquired status symbols such as club memberships, expensive cars, jewellery, or private plane flights.

Earned status is achieved through hard-won treasures like freedom to choose how to spend your time, loving family relationships and purposeful work. It can also be accumulated wisdom, adaptable mind, fit physique, professional promotions, or company sales.

Focus on Increasing Your Earned Status

Lasting, durable satisfaction comes from pursuing earned status.

Genuine respect and admiration (from those whose opinions you value) comes when you focus on improving your earned status.

Bought status is fleeting and provides only temporary social positioning. On the other hand, earned status is durable and lasting, providing a solid foundation for Social Wealth.

Concentrate on what must be earned rather than what can be bought.

This is how you will live a life of abundant Social Wealth.

The Social Wealth Guide: Systems for Success

There are actionable systems for building Social Wealth.

These systems are not one-size-fits-all, so feel free to select those that resonate and align with your personal goals.

First, there are some anti-goals you must avoid. Don’t allow the pursuit of financial success to damage deep connections. Don’t neglect local relationships and community ties.

Now, here are ten Proven Systems for Building Social Wealth

1. Social Wealth Hacks I Wish I Knew at Twenty-Two:

1. Happiness is direction, not destination; whom you travel with counts.
2. People are made for love.
3. Political disagreement doesn’t preclude close relationships.
4. Happy people love people, use things, and worship the divine; unhappy people do the opposite.
5. It’s a bad trade to prioritize being special over being happy.
6. Approach disagreements as a “we,” not a “me.”
7. Happiness requires generosity in love and allowing yourself to be loved.
8. Talk to people unlike you to expose yourself to new perspectives.
9. Treat fighting like exercise.
10. Focus on relationships, not leaving them to chance.
11. Expand your time horizon with love.
12. Entrepreneurs risk their hearts by falling in love.
13. Say exactly what you mean.
14. Don’t treat family like emotional ATMs.
15. Make friendship an end, not a means.
16. Don’t spread misery.
17. Put on your oxygen mask first.
18. Don’t focus on looks and status in others.
19. Let people know when you think something nice about them.
20. Tell your partner one thing you appreciate about them every day.
21. Ask intimidating people what they’re most excited about and then listen closely.
22. Offer unwavering support during tough times.
23. Record video interviews with your parents.
24. Send a book you love as a gift.
25. Always carry a pocket notebook.
26. Never keep score in life.
27. Avoid overly transactional friendships.
28. Wait twenty-four hours before acting on strong emotions.
29. Compliment a stranger every day.
30. Focus on being interested, not interesting.
31. Do things worthy of stories to tell your kids someday.

2. The Relationship Map (Pillars: Depth and Breadth):

List your core relationships (10-25).
Assess relationships based on if they are supportive, ambivalent, or demeaning, and by their frequency.
Map the relationships on a grid with Relationship Health (demeaning to supportive) on the x-axis and Relationship Frequency (rare to daily) on the y-axis.

Then put your core relationships into these zones:

Green Zone: (Supportive, frequent) – Prioritize and maintain.
Opportunity Zone: (Supportive, infrequent) – Increase interaction frequency.
Danger Zone: (Ambivalent, frequent) – Manage impact or improve interactions.
Red Zone: (Demeaning, frequent) – Manage or remove the relationship.

3. Two Rules for Growing in Love (Pillar: Depth):

Rule 1: Understand Love Languages: Words of affirmation, Quality time, Gifts, Acts of service and Physical touch.

Recognize and show love in your partner’s preferred language.

Rule 2: Avoid the Traps (The Four Horsemen): Criticism, Defensiveness, Contempt and Stonewalling

Use antidotes like gentle start-up, taking responsibility, building appreciation, and physiological self-soothing.

There is also some additional relationship advice you can adopt.

Avoid scorekeeping, maintain separate interests, understand that it can’t always be 50/50, avoid involving non-professional third parties in disagreements, prioritize your spouse, and accept each other without needing approval from others.

4. The Life Dinner (Pillar: Depth):

Have a monthly date with your partner to discuss personal, professional, and relationship progress, challenges, and goals.

5. Helped, Heard, or Hugged (Pillar: Depth):

When someone comes to you with a problem, ask if they want to be helped (solutions), heard (listening), or hugged (comfort).

6. The Four Principles of a Master Conversationalist (Pillar: Breadth):

Create Doorknobs: Use questions or statements that invite storytelling.
Be a Loud Listener: Use sounds, expressions, and body language to show engagement
Repeat and Follow: Repeat key points and add insights or questions.
Make Situational Eye Contact: Deep while listening and organic while speaking.

7. The Anti-Networking Guide (Pillar: Breadth):

1. Principle 1: Find Value-Aligned Rooms: Put yourself in places where you’ll meet people with similar values and interests.
2. Principle 2: Ask Engaging Questions: Start conversations with personal questions.
3. Principle 3: Become a Loud Listener: Focus intently while the other person speaks and listen to understand.
4. Principle 4: Use Creative Follow-ups: Show effort beyond a typical exchange.

8. The Brain Trust (Pillar: Breadth):

Build a personal board of advisers (5-10 people) with diverse perspectives for feedback and advice.

Focus on their genuine interest in your success. They might each have a particular archetype, such as senior executive, inspirational leader, or contrarian thinker.

9. The Public Speaking Guide (Pillars: Breadth and Earned Status):

During Pre-Event Preparation: Create clear Structure, practice your key moments and study the best speakers you want to emulate.

During Pre-Stage Preparation: Address the Spotlight by confront your worst fears about what could go wrong. Then get into character and eliminate any form of stress.

During Delivery: Cut the Tension with jokes, use big, confident gestures to hype yourself up and move purposefully.

10. The Status Tests (Pillar: Earned Status):

When seeking status, take these two tests:

The Bought-Status Test: Would I buy this if I couldn’t show it off?

The Earned-Status Test: Can the richest person in the world acquire this easily?

Tailor Your Social Wealth to Fit What You Truly Need

The exact levels of social depth and breadth appropriate for an individual can vary by person.

You may be more naturally extroverted and desire high degrees of social breadth and depth. Or you might be more introverted and prefer fewer, deeper connections.

This means if you are a natural extrovert, you need significant breadth and depth of connection to keep loneliness at bay. If you are a natural introvert, you will need only a few close relationships to do the same.

Your goal is to look at the three pillars of social wealth and know where to improve.

The plan is to prioritise relationships and build a life rich in meaningful connections.

I hope it helps.

Zamai