What is "Foundational Wealth?"
People often associate wealth with money and possessions, but wealth is much more accurately defined as the leverage or power to consistently experience the type of existence you prefer. Money and possessions have come to be associated with wealth because—among other reasons—money is often necessary to participate in the types of activities many people assume they want to experience (leisure and luxury), and possessions are often indicative of a surplus of said money.
However, it could be easily argued that a practicing Buddhist or ascetic could consider themselves enormously wealthy/successful without any money or possessions whatsoever. To highlight this distinction, I like to use the terms Foundational Wealth and Foundational Success instead. I define Foundational Wealth (in pseudo-economics terms) as the currency you value at the deepest level, and Foundational Success as having a strong equity position in said currency. If you’re honest with yourself about your personal definitions of Foundational Wealth, you can more precisely and consistently trace your motivations to their deeper roots. This will help you to better understand your goals and decisions, and make intentional choices that serve those motivations. This exploration can be both immensely valuable and profoundly humbling.
What’s your definition of Foundational Wealth? Most don’t tend to think about this too often or too deeply, so it can be difficult to get started. For many, the hardest part is being completely honest with yourself and shedding any concerns about how you may be perceived. Free yourself from this burden up front; as you explore this question, do so knowing that you and you alone will hear the answers. Here are some questions to help prime your reflection:
Of what accomplishments are you most proud? Why?
Of what attributes, traits, or characteristics are you most proud? Why?
How do you want to be remembered? Why?
What are you doing at your happiest?
If you could affect or help two groups of people, who would they be? Why? (Interpret groups in any way you’d like.)
What would you do if you never had to earn money again? Why?
Who is dependent on you, and in what contexts? What do you like and dislike about the nature of that relationship?
To whom (or what) do you currently have to answer? To whom are you accountable?
What did you want to do when you were five? Ten? Seventeen? Do you still feel a connection with those desires, forged from a more innocent mindset?
Think of individuals you admire; what about their lives, ideals, or careers do you see as worthy of admiration? What do you think Foundational Wealth might mean to those individuals?
These questions are also captured in a printable worksheet.
Think about these questions on the scale of your entire life and being, and answer them without any goals in mind. First, write your answers down quickly and associatively. Don’t overthink them; just write what comes naturally. Then, go back and take your time. Labor over each question and try to dig into why you answered each question the way you did.From your answers, I encourage you to craft two related definitions of Foundational Wealth:
An intensely personal, self-focused definition
An externally focused definition that centers around your effect on society
The first should essentially be selfish. It should seek to furnish you with aspects of the life you imagined when answering questions like, What are you doing at your happiest?, and What would you do if you never had to earn money again?
I’ve asked myself these questions many times over the course of my adult life and have come to recognize (and—over time—refine) what I value. To illustrate this concept, I’ll share an aspect of my personal definition of Foundational Wealth: While I value many of the same things many individuals my age tend to value (quality time with family, career challenges and fulfillment, etc.), I felt those answers came too easily and challenged myself to articulate more precisely what’s novel about the things I value—to identify the common threads among them and explore them more deeply. After a good deal of reflection, I concluded that my personal definition of Foundational Wealth revolves in many ways around diversity of experience. Life is short, I’m a high-energy individual, and I think consistency, relaxation, and routine are overrated. I love to travel, experience new things, gain insight into others’ perspectives, meet new people, learn, and push the boundaries of my comfort zone. Whenever I’m experiencing something new, I succumb to a childlike sense of excitement and feel as though time slows to a crawl. I feel better able to focus on the present.
It was a major realization: Whether or not I was consciously aware of it, this simple idea has been a huge motivator throughout my entire adult life and has directly informed my risk tolerance. As I reflected on my past, I was reminded of example after example of professional, financial, personal, or lifestyle goals, and realized how diversity of experience (either immediate or deferred) has been the primary currency in which I’ve framed decisions and the potential for decisions to provide me with personal value. I came to understand that diversity of experience serves as a connective force between seemingly disparate motivations. I love experiencing new things with my family and feel as though I learn something new and unexpected about them every time we find ourselves somewhere unfamiliar. I also love experiencing new career challenges and relish the discomfort and growth that accompany them.
To summarize: When I’m regularly involved in diverse experiences, I consider myself wealthy by my self-focused definition. As much work as it was to come to this realization, it was profoundly impactful and connected many dots for me. I now keep my personal definition of Foundational Wealth actively in mind as I make decisions and refine goals.
The second definition of Foundational Wealth—centered around your effect on society—should describe ways in which you’d like to contribute to a larger purpose. It should seek to furnish you with aspects of the life you imagined when answering questions like, Of what accomplishments or characteristics are you most proud?, How do you want to be remembered?, and If you could affect or help two groups of people, who would they be? Note that I used the terms your effect on society instead of your value to society and contribute to a larger purpose instead of contribute to the greater good; while most people’s definitions will naturally gravitate toward positive, society-benefiting behaviors—and while I certainly encourage you to consider the greater good when crafting this definition—your definitions of Foundational Wealth are intensely personal, so I want to be careful about limiting them with that wording.
To again illustrate this with a personal example: I think daily about how the next Elon Musk, Salman Khan, and Oscar Wilde may be out there in the world right now and could very well go to their graves never having shared their vision simply because they didn’t know what to do. Whenever my insight and experience can help someone execute on the things they believe they were meant to share with the world, I consider myself wealthy by my externally focused definition. My being consciously aware of this definition drives me to work hard and continue sharing my message (hence, what you're reading right now and Foundations of Execution).
If you only have a self-focused, personal definition of Foundational Wealth, I urge you to think of ways in which you can affect others; you’ll likely find that expanding your scope of influence enriches your self-focused definition and brings you increased fulfillment. On the other hand, if you only have an externally focused definition of Foundational Wealth, I urge you to identify self-focused things you value; you’ll likely find that you can engineer the former in order to achieve the latter. Referring back to my personal examples: While my self- and externally focused definitions of Foundational Wealth may seem unrelated on the surface, the work I’ve done and the decisions I’ve made in pursuit of my externally focused definition have furnished me with a staggering number of diverse experiences otherwise unattainable.
I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on your own definitions of Foundational Wealth. This can take quite a while, but you need to do it before pursuing complex, ambitious, or long-term goals. Dedicate blocked-off sessions of time to this endeavor and feel free to use this worksheet. Once you’re confident that you’ve come to understand them, write them down and keep them in mind as you explore personal, professional, or creative goals.
With Foundational Wealth at the core, I encourage you to learn how to define your goals by exploring CMV: Extreme Intentionality.
Foundational Wealth is just one of the fundamental concepts I explore in my book, Foundations of Execution.
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You’re ambitious. You’re driven. You’re creative, believe in your vision, and know what you’re capable of. But like most, you often find it difficult to make progress toward the things you value.
When it comes to accomplishing personal, professional, entrepreneurial, and creative goals, the world is bombarding you with bullshit guidance — coddling mantras of positivity and motivation devoid of practical action. Bullshit sounds good. Bullshit feels good. But bullshit will fail you in the long run nearly 100% of the time.
No more bullshit.
Let’s change tactics. Foundations of Execution won’t motivate you; it will give you the tools you need to execute despite the lack of motivation that will inevitably befall you. It won’t train you to abstain from excuses; it will give you the tools to strip all power from the excuses that will inevitably bubble to the forefront of your consciousness. It won’t argue the same tired case for self-discipline and convince you to work against your nature; it will show you how to circumvent your nature when it undermines your interests.
As shockingly simple as it may seem, three behaviors tend to separate those who struggle from those who consistently execute on their goals; and by the time you’ve finished reading this book, you’ll have mastered all three. You’ll come away with repeatable habits that address not just how you tackle complex undertakings, but also how you think, behave, and approach problems in all aspects of your life. It’s an irreverent, philosophy-first, whole-self approach to execution that will change you forever.
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