One quiet morning, I was walking the streets of Nairobi when my phone buzzed. The name on the screen was one Mr Bill, who often graced every important headline of the Times Magazine. He was a rich guy, the kind of person who could buy a small country and still have enough left for a fleet of private jets.
But that morning his voice was totally different. It trembled, not with usual authority, but with something unusually fragile. “Job, I’ve built everything from scratch. I’ve built companies, brands, a legacy that towers like a skyscraper. But even with all these, I can’t sleep. I feel… empty.” he lamented.
I’ve heard these words more often than I can count. For twenty years, I’ve been sitting with the ultra-rich people; celebrity founders, headline-making CEOs, industry titans, and name them all. From the outside their lives glow with flawless looks, but inside them are hidden truths only few people are capable of imagining and can dare to speak about. Despite the enormous wealth at their disposal, their hearts are empty and bankrupt. And you might ask, why are they not happy to enjoy their wealth?
The simple reason is because their lives are full of clutter and noise. They are drained each day chasing wealth and money instead of peace of mind. Their calendars are crammed with activities; whether it's a meeting, or a new partnership engagement forging for connections. Their minds are always lit up with the next deal, the next expansion, the next achievement and next applause. To them, success is a closed loop, where one victory or achievement leads straight into the need for another. Where will one find a minute's peace of mind?
Their addiction for success cannot be quenched. Their longing to amass wealth and build business empires cannot be satisfied. At the end, they end up piling up these achievements as a monument for their followers until their reflection in the mirror looks like a total stranger to themselves.
Some wake up too late and wonder if the applause was worth the ache that lives with them every night. That's when they want to experiment new lives and find meaning of what they have achieved so far. Too often they discover, only after the trophies are boxed, that conquering the world doesn’t mean you’ve won yourself. That’s when I thought of something new, to teach the wealthy people what most business schools ignore: how to live well and enjoy their lives.
1. Delete the unnecessary clutter that steals your attention and joy. Focusing on many things can keep you busy doing nothing. Multitasking doesn't help too often either. Instead, it will be great to focus on a few important tasks, while you make arrangements to assemble your “Dream team” to handle extra work that could otherwise drain your energy. This can help you fix what will be bothering you most of the time and help you to find enough time to rest and to enjoy your life.
2. Build the inner architecture that refocuses our minds to live a life of purpose
We need to rebuild our inner architecture together: a resilient mind, a heart full of care and compassion, a healthy body for dissipating true energy, and a soul longing for meaning and purpose in life. This is what makes us feel and always remember that we're human. The irony of life is that if a rich person focuses on acquiring expensive private jets, exotic mansions, and limitless access and convenience that money can buy, their deepest feared will not be losing money, but losing meaning when you have acquired them. When life loses meaning, the quiet in a mansion can be louder than any siren. The silence of empty rooms in their palatial homes echo the absence of laughter in their lives. The realization that your success has not made you free, but instead has become a trapping gilded golden cage is a terror that money alone can’t fix any time soon.
Most often, I’ve met lowly janitors, fishermen, and taxi drivers who carry more peace in their hearts than the money billionaires own in their bank accounts. True wealth isn't measured by how much we have in bank accounts but by how much we live in contentment.
3. Seek wisdom, the ultimate treasure
Wisdom, not money, is the ultimate treasure that we need to toil for. While wisdom teaches us that our days are numbered and the end of our lives is nigh, it teaches us that we should spend our time diligently, seeking personal growth, serving others and loving others deeply with intention. It transforms pain into purpose, fear into faith, and ambition into artistry, which refers to something skillful and kind. Wisdom reminds us to work for priceless things which money can’t buy; our health, our relationships, gratitude, serenity as these are the only kind worth dying for or taking with you to your deathbed.
So I tell every person who comes to me for advice: “Don’t be the person who wins the world but loses your soul.” When your old days draw nigh and your final hour of life reckons, your company’s valuation that you tirelessly work for will not count. It will be the faces of those who loved you and the quiet moments that will make you feel alive again. So live your life in a way that, when the story of your life is told, they won’t be just narrating about your fortune, but your true values and your freedom.
You must be logged in to post a comment.