What Is Inner Wealth?
Returning Wealth to Wellbeing
“Wealth” comes from the Old English word ‘weal’, meaning wellbeing.
Yet somewhere along the way, our understanding of wealth became increasingly associated with financial success. While financial wellbeing is important, it alone has not brought deep and lasting wellbeing to many lives – human or non-human.
Our imbalanced focus on financial and material success is one contributor to many of the global challenges we face today – from mental health challenges and social inequality to environmental degradation.
Another form of wealth is needed to help humanity and all life on the planet flourish.
We call this inner wealth.
What Is Inner Wealth?
What is Inner Wealth?
Inner wealth emerges from a deeper, more meaningful connection with oneself, others and life for collective wellbeing and transformation through five pathways: Be. Love. Serve. Grow. Play.
It is a life-giving form of wealth that nourishes and enriches us from the inside out. It is reflected in our presence, relationships, wisdom, the depth with which we live, our sense of meaning and fulfilment, and ultimately, the choices and actions we take for the wellbeing of all.
Inner Wealth Pathways
These are non-exhaustive pathways in cultivating inner wealth in the way we define it. This may evolve in time as we do. Wisdom teachers and researchers who study the good life have highlighted many of these for the longest time. Browse some of their discoveries here. They may seem basic. And yet if we all walked it consistently, we would be living in a different world with more peace, love, joy and wisdom.
Perhaps we could humbly ask ourselves: “How do my actions align with my knowledge? Who or what keeps me humble and growing? How does this timeless wisdom speak to my life in fresh ways right now?”
We are open to...
- be deeply present with ourselves, others and life. We strive to minimise distracted living, paying special attention to our relationships with technology, social media consumption and consumerism.
- see and sense deeply. We witness the world with a clear lens, appreciative gaze and compassionate heart. We see that everything is connected. We see suffering in its various forms. We find beauty everywhere. We experience the richness of even simple encounters with our full senses.
- seek truth. There are layers of truth and we aim to see what lies at the heart of things.
- feel the full gamut of emotions, with a leaning towards positive emotions such as gratitude, love and peace. At the same time, we cultivate the equanimity to be with grief, anger, and other uncomfortable emotions in healthy ways. We embrace emotions as precious, transient messengers and potential catalysts for growth.
We are open to...
- love unconditionally and radically, deepening and widening our circles of love for ourselves, people close to us, strangers, people who may have harmed us or others and marginalised groups usually left out of our circle of care (such as animals). We experience Love not merely as an emotion, but as a powerful transformational force and orientation. We facilitate its flow everywhere with humility.
- nurture relationships in which we grow and live more virtuous, meaningful, loving, deep and joyful lives. Such relationships enable us to be of greater service. In these relationships, we are able to be and feel ourselves held in a safe yet courageous crucible for transformation.
- enjoy deep, meaningful conversations. Talking about matters of depth; being deeply present with each other, listening generatively to not only words but deeper currents; appreciating the other; asking open, honest questions that serve the other; being open, vulnerable and authentic; allowing silence to do its work; allowing laughter and tears to flow through the space easily – such things lead to conversations that nourish deeply.
We are open to...
- serve to reduce suffering and add joy naturally using all of ourselves – our gifts, story, healing, growth, humility and most authentic nature. We are a living stream of service as we move through our world – all types, as moved by the heart, and tempered by discernment and wisdom. Our presence and way of connecting with others can itself be a service when it is life-giving. We are attentive to what’s within our sphere of influence, where we feel most called and where we become most alive. We grow our capacity for service and our sphere of influence. We grow through our service.
- consume consciously. When we buy, we seek to do most good and least harm to people, planet and animals. Where possible, we buy from those who are kind, service-oriented and have integrity. We consume information that is truthful, builds wisdom and feeds our spirit.
We are open to...
- embark on a lifelong journey of learning and transformation towards greater love, wisdom and other virtues. Humility is needed for this. We have an open, exploratory mind. We have an experimental mindset and learn with self-compassion and courage from failure and mistakes. We unlearn what doesn’t serve us anymore. We cultivate our inner teacher. Those who live by example are special role-models we treasure.
- continue a journey of learning and transformation to deeply heal ourselves, for as humans, we are subject to wounds, traumas, limiting beliefs, ego-driven limitations etc. Humility, courage and self-awareness are needed for deep healing that gets to the roots of our challenges and reaches our darkest shadows.
- become adept in alchemy, transforming whatever challenge life gives us into the gold of deeper healing, personal transformation and service that comes from even deeper love, awareness and wisdom.
- face death with reverence for its ability to transform us, help us gain clarity on our priorities, deepen our love and service, and support us to live at the highest expression of ourselves.
- cultivate contemplative practices to deepen our transformation.
We are open to...
- relax into our playful spirit. This may emerge as humour, child-likeness, word-play and laughter.
- find joy in using our creative power. We feel empowered to design our lives in harmony with the highest good.
- express our uniqueness, our hearts and our seeing. We make that which has the signature of our soul.
What resonates deeply? When have I experienced their truth and power in my life?
What’s fresh and invites further exploration?
Where is my practice strong, and where might it grow?
Who could be part of my journey in cultivating inner wealth?
What does inner wealth mean to me?
A Different Kind of Ambition
Billionaires & Inner Billionaires
Many are fascinated with billionaires.
We believe it is time for another kind of billionaire to become intrigued by – an inner billionaire who embodies inner wealth.
We use this term, “inner billionaire” purposefully, playfully and provocatively to get people thinking in fresh ways about wealth, success and what we aspire to become.
The comparison below explores how financial wealth and inner wealth differ, and how they can complement one another. As more people cultivate both, financial wealth can increasingly serve the greater good, contributing to greater collective flourishing.
Financial Wealth & Billionaires
Inner Wealth & Inner Billionaires
Financial wealth is often a means to an end.
→
Inner wealth is the reward itself.
Easy to see markers of financial wealth.
→
Needs you to feel with your heart and inner sensing.
Financial wealth typically grows when it is stored somewhere to earn returns.
→
Inner wealth grows when we tend to the Inner Wealth pathways and when we serve others from it and others serve us from it.
Financial wealth can be generated and used in ways that are life-giving or harmful. If generated and used in life-giving ways, it can move one closer towards inner wealth.
→
Inner wealth has love at its core and is nurtured by being life-giving. Those who have worked with the dying or who are approaching death have said that at the end of life, how we have loved, served and learned our life lessons matters. Inner wealth is nurtured by living a life that matters in such ways. Accessing inner wealth can enable one to use financial wealth in ways that serve the greater good more deeply, and generate more inner wealth.
Money is uniform. If we look into each other’s wallets, we’ll have the same bills – in different amounts, that’s all.
→
Each person’s inner wealth is unique and discovering it is a wonder and adventure.
What determines a billionaire is net worth in monetary terms.
→
What determines an inner billionaire is a way of being, aligned with the five pathways.
Inner billionaires’ currency is love and service. They invest in connection and finally bank on their own inner growth.
When one encounters an inner billionaire, one may experience things such as feeling – accepted; seen and heard deeply; enriched, illuminated; served; safer to be vulnerable than one might usually be; inspired to learn more of how this person came to be this way; connected to at a deeper level; drawn to come closer; loved.
When inner billionaires meet, experiences such as the following can be felt: communion and a sense of oneness; indescribable, transcendental feelings; catalytic shifts; opened up to new depths of inner wealth.
Inner wealth is nurtured by living a life that matters in such ways. Accessing inner wealth can enable one to use financial wealth in ways that serve the greater good more deeply, and generate more inner wealth.
Inner billionaires' currency is love and service. They invest in connection and finally bank on their own inner growth.
When one encounters an inner billionaire, one may experience things such as feeling accepted, seen and heard deeply, enriched, illuminated and served; safer to be vulnerable than one might usually be; inspired to learn more of how this person came to be this way; connected to a deeper level; drawn to come closer in love.
When inner billionaires meet, experiences such as the following can be felt: communion and a sense of oneness; indescribable, transcendental feelings; catalytic shifts; opened up to new depths of inner wealth.
*Anyone can be an inner billionaire, including financial billionaires. They are not mutually exclusive groups.
“Inner wealth” and “inner billionaire” come from our own observations of people who embody these values. While there is research on many of the values and practices reflected in the five pathways, we believe that bringing them together into one overarching concept and archetype offers a distinctive way of understanding, cultivating and communicating this form of wealth