When we met a month ago to plan The Prosperity People’s March content, the world was in a much different place than it is today.
Images of luck and emerging flower buds permeated our brainstorming session. Should we write about how financial success is about more than luck? Should we discuss personal growth as it relates to the growth of wealth?
It’s remarkable how much can change in just a few weeks.
As our world watches the horrors and devastation occurring in Ukraine, the topic of wealth feels… difficult.
How can we discuss vacations when eleven-year-olds are crossing the Ukrainian border into Poland alone, with nothing but their passport and a plastic bag carrying the bare essentials?
The idea of luck, however, still feels relevant, but through a drastically different lens: How lucky are we? How lucky are we to wake up in our own beds and not bunkers? To have our family by our side?
Back in early February, when developing this month’s content, we planned to open with an exercise in self-reflection:
· How do you define what it means to be wealthy?
· How do you define what it means to be rich?
We planned to discuss the idea that you can be rich, but not wealthy. And wealthy, but not rich.
We planned to guide you (through self-discovery) to the realization that prosperity is a mindset, more than a set of numbers.
We’d paint scenes of a rich life: a happy retirement with time for family, the ability to travel and soak in the wonders of the world, freedom from money-related worry.
We didn’t predict the images of richness that would come to mind in today’s world:
A young woman soothing her loved ones in the basement of their home with her bow and violin.
Doctors and nurses rhythmically using a manual oxygen pump for an infant in the crowded halls of Kyiv’s Children’s Hospital.
Europeans waiting at the border with signs advertising how many refugees they can take into their own homes.
Richness has many, many definitions.
Extreme hardship puts a lot of life into perspective. It is often in the most challenging of moments that we understand what truly holds value.
The mindset of the Ukrainian people has taken our breath away on an international scale.
Prosperity is also a mindset. It’s a way of being. It’s a way of recognizing when you have enough, as opposed to always reaching for more. Enoughness is a concept that feels especially poignant in this moment.
Andy and our team encourage our clients to save for today while also planning for tomorrow — one of the reasons for that approach is because it can all change in an instant.
A reality that we’re watching play out on our television screens every day.
Because of our immense privilege (and luck) we have the opportunity to pause and reflect during this global crisis. Asking ourselves, how are we taking advantage of today? How are we creating a prosperous mindset? How are we taking care of our community (if that is part of your definition of prosperity)?
At The Prosperity People, we talk a lot about money myths.
One money myth that we often see with our clients is the idea that we’re not worthy of our wealth. There can be a lot of guilt wrapped up in matters of money. This particularly comes to a head when others are hurting. If you’re feeling this way, particularly during these trying times, we’ve compiled a list of vetted organizations supporting humanitarian efforts in Eastern Europe.
We also encourage you to take some time to check in with yourself. Reflect. Press the reset button (if need be). And ask yourself:
What does it mean to be wealthy?
How do you define what it means to be rich?
Perhaps your perspective has changed. Prosperity is, after all, a revolution.