Wanna Be Rich?

Watch the episode here:

• Wealth doesn’t have to be flashy
• Inner peace is the new success
• Health is a new wealth, mental or physical
• Being kind shows a lot about you

What’s shakin’! Hey, I’m Rick Jordan, and today we’re going all in. We’re gonna talk about today what defines rich for you. Everybody has different thoughts and different processes that they go through to try to figure out what that means to them. And a lot of people correlate this to money, right? I was reading that the average millennial, and I, I think I mentioned this a couple of episodes ago, feels that they need to make a million dollars a year to actually feel like they’re rich. And I’m gonna challenge this to you today because being rich and, and having wealth is not a physical, tangible thing, okay? You may see numbers in your bank account, you may see whatever defines or, or an amazing car or, or a crazy cool watch and, and all these materialistic things. I’ll tell you where this came from because I was at a restaurant just the other night and I’m taking a look around. 

You know, it was a, it was a higher-end restaurant and just an amazing time with siblings. We, we go out for, uh, for Christmas dinners kind of after the holidays with, with myself and my siblings in order to just celebrate together rather than getting each other gifts. This is just something that started a few years ago and it’s pretty cool. And I’m taking a look around the restaurant and I’m seeing people who are, are like in big parties, small parties, whatever, but some of, some of them are like dressed way up. Right now I’m in there in my black jeans, my black t-shirt. I always wear a fun watch just because I like these. I think I’ve told you before that watches for me are, are milestone pieces, you know, and I, I’ve got some hubs, some tags, uh, Brightling, Bulgaria, and some even eclectic pieces too. 

And I’ve always purchased one of these things to celebrate a milestone in my life. So it’s something that means a lot more than just having a couple of thousand dollars on my wrist because I don’t see this as being rich or wealthy, the ability to have these things, or having other materialistic things with the number in the bank accounts. And as I’m looking around this restaurant, I see other people that, that kind of have the same thing, but you see this one group, right? And this one group is dressed up crazy. I mean just, just like out. And it was almost like, uh, a 30-something-year-old prom night. That’s what it looked like, right? And I’m taking a look and you see all the, all the smiles or the nods, you know, and the conversation going around. And then I, I contrast this to a table that’s sitting on the other side of the restaurant and it’s just four people, you know, probably all in their sixties and just looking around and really having a good time. 

I’m, I’m, I’m looking at the difference in the smiles between these tables and I’m seeing one that just doesn’t seem genuine. Can you guess which one? Ju Just curious. Can you guess which one? Because I see this group o of people that are probably all in their thirties that are just dressed up crazy, right? And, and showing off everything. They probably wore every good piece of jewelry that they had, both men and women. And then I look over at this other table o of four people, four people in, in, in their sixties or so, and seeing what they’re wearing, right? And seeing the interactions that they’re having comparing all these things, right? And they were dressed nicely too, don’t get me wrong. They were dressed nicely too. You know, the one of ’em had a Rolex on, and I’m taking a look around the table, but the interactions were the things that told me what’s up. 

And one table I’m seeing, it’s like they are all out this table of 37. They are trying to like outdo each other. This is the impression that I got. They were trying to outdo each other and like we’re the best that they possibly could and show people that, hey, you know, I’m having a successful life. Have you ever been in conversations like that? I know you’ve been in conversations like that to where it’s like, let me tell you about me. Let me tell you what’s going on in my life and what I’ve done, right? And sometimes it can happen actually, at family events for the holidays too. We just got out of ’em. You might have experienced this to where the conversation is all about the good that’s going on in your life and how much you were able to accomplish the last year. 

You know, and it’s, it can just feel so superficial when you have these very surface-level conversations. And that’s what I was seeing in this big party, because I’m watching the other ones in, in this, this table of four people that are a little bit older, you know, like maybe two generations beyond me. Three gen, we’ll tell you four generations. It makes me feel younger, right? <laugh>, uh, and taking a look at them. And then at the end, you know, they’ll stand up, they ask the server to take a picture, and I’m looking at their smiles and oh my God, they were so genuine, so genuine. And I’m taking a look because it’s like my thirties were just three years ago, you know, and, and I’m taking a look at this other group to where they’re, they’re like 25-ish years beyond me. And I’m like, I wanna be like them. 

I really want to be like them. I want to get to that point in my life where I can help other people because I always say that I’m not gonna retire. I’ll just move to a different phase of my life to where it becomes a mentorship phase of my life to where, you know, I, I have all the resources, financial relationship, everything, all the resources available to me that I want for nothing so that I can just pour myself into other people. And, and I try to do that now as much as I possibly can too, in the midst of building what wealth looks like for me. And I want to tell you what, what, what this should be because it, this inspired me when I started thinking about this and started seeing this the other night, going back and forth, right? Between these two different tables. 

And of course, there were plenty of other examples in this restaurant of the table of a dozen people, but there weren’t too many of the small group of four to where you could tell that there were just bathing in happiness and fulfillment in the point of their life that they were at right there. So I’m gonna challenge you today to think of a couple of things. So first,, what does rich mean to you? What does rich mean to you? Is it a number? Is it things, is it a car? Is it something around your wrist? Is it something around your neck, something around your finger? Maybe a ring finger, right? You know, a big fat diamond, a  six-carat diamond, whatever. What is rich to you? Because I’m gonna challenge you today because I believe that happiness truly like I’m looking over at this table of four, that happiness is the new rich.

I’ve been places to where I’ve had lots of money. I think I’m doing pretty well for myself and seeing a lot of other people. And you know, they say that money doesn’t buy happiness. I’m gonna con I’m gonna confront that a little bit. You know, it sure helps <laugh>, it really does, you know, but, but it sets you up in a foundation for an environment. That’s the thing, is that money is a tool to help you create this environment that can provide you happiness. Because the first thing that I’m challenging you on today is rich really is happiness. Happiness is the new rich. All right? The second one I’m gonna challenge you on is because I’m talking about fulfillment. As I’m looking at this table, of four people that are just sitting there having a good time, they’re not tense at all. That was the crazy thing, is that I’m seeing this table of 12 people and they look pretty tense. Like, like they’re sitting up straight. They don’t really look like they’re relaxed too much. They’re just there to present a mask. 

It’s like, here’s the question, right? Th this mask is the mask of success I was talking about. So here’s the second question for you. What does success look like to you? I’m telling you, what I saw success look like to me is this table of four people. Because inner peace is a new success. Inner peace is a new success, not this mask o of fakeness and surface-level stuff. And everything else. As I’m looking at the table of four people just relaxed, smiling, just content, inner peace is a new success. And then I’m taking a look, okay, I’m looking at this, this table of four again, all right? And I’m taking a look around and no joke, like 75% of them are overweight, 75%, three-quarters of the people at this table are overweight. And I realize that this is like most of America, this is the state of this country if that’s the case, right? 

And this is not coming from a guy, by the way, this is not coming from a guy who has never struggled with weight. I have photos, I have everything else where I was 80 pounds heavier than I am right now. I’ve told my weight loss journey, my health journey, and my fitness journey. So many times this is coming from a guy who has struggled with weight and I’m taking a look at this table and I see 75% of them, whether they’re ignorant, whether they’re stupid, whether they’re just not paying attention, don’t care, or just living in the temporal rather than for longevity. 75% of ’em are overweight. And I’m taking a look at this table of four people over there in their mid-sixties, right? And I’m looking, I’m like, wow, they actually look really healthy. They all look looking like pretty much right where they should be as far as may be BMI or just visually, or whatever. 

You, you judge that visually anyways, and I’m taking a look at them. I’m like, that’s incredible because I, this table of 12 people over there where they’re in their thirties and 75%, three-fourths are overweight. I start to think how many of them are gonna actually make it another 30 years to be at the other table of four people over there? And how many times at that table of four people actually participate in a group of 12 like that 30 years prior? They’ve probably lost some friends, some family in the meantime because a lot of ’em probably were like that. So I’m gonna challenge you because what is wealth to you? That’s the third question. What really is wealth to you? To you? I’ll tell you what it is for me as I’m looking at these two tables, and I decided this for myself a long time ago, is that health is a new wealth. Listen to that. Health is a new wealth. 

Why? Because when you’re healthy, you can think of a hundred thousand things that you want. You can think of 10 things, 20 things, a hundred things, a thousand things that you want and a thousand things that you can do, and a thousand things that make you happy. And I’ll tell you this, unhealthy per person, they just want one thing. That’s it. The unhealthy person wants one thing, and that’s just to be healthy. I will challenge you on your view of wealth when you ask yourself that question because, to me, health is a new wealth. 

Now I’m taking a look at this table, o o of 12 people, right? And I’m looking around again because this is the fourth one I’m gonna give you today. This, this table of 12 people. And I see that this towards the end of one, there was like two people, and then kind of in the middle of the table, there were two other people. And they’re not really looking at each other. I’m observing them. I was at this restaurant for like two hours. I’m observing them and they’re not really talking to each other. They’re talking to other people at the table. But those, those two people, and they weren’t really couples, you know, I don’t think so anyways, but they weren’t talking to each other. They’re on their phone, you know, and, and you see just kind of those looks in the conversation to where you can see like some daggers coming out of their eyes. It points and, and I’m like, what is going on? What is going on with these people that they, that they have these issues with some others that are at the table, but yet they’re out with them because this is a group of friends or family or whatever it is? And you might have experienced this even this past holiday season when, when you took a look at other people, they might have given you tho those looks of death. 

And then I see how they treat their server, right? They’re like kind of brushing off their server as the server comes around. I had a whole episode about that before too. I was noticing this happen right before my eyes, that they’re treating their server like a servant, like a slave, not like somebody who’s there to enhance the experience for ’em. And I look over in contrast to this table of four people again and how much fun they’re having with their server. It was similar to the amount of fun that I had with our, with our server, you know, and my server came up to me. I was just like, thank you so much, Mr. Jordan. I really enjoyed having you guys. You guys were so much fun. I get that a lot because I engage ’em, they’re there for the experience. And I take a look over at the table of four people, very, very similar to where that server does not even mind is like even joking around with them. 

And then is like, Hey, I’ll take a photo of you guys too. Do you want a photo? And then they get up, you know, and the server’s laughing with them. They’re all having an amazingly good time versus this, this like separation between the server and the table itself and even between this co these two sets of people that were there. And I don’t know, because with this mask of success that they’ve put on and all of these other things that they’re trying to show off this fake wealth that they have, whatever, you know, that seems to be like, man, look at me. I’m cool. Look at how much of a badass I am. Look at me, I’m cool. Well, you know what, shrugging people off that way. Not engaging with people who are there to help you, and looking at people in a disrespectful manner that’s not fucking cool. 

What is cool to you? I’ll tell you what it is to me. That’s the fourth question is, what is cool to you? To me being kind is the new cool. I love engaging with people in conversation. I love hearing their stories. I love seeing how I can help them. I love just no matter what, smiling at people, even if it’s just starting up a conversation with the Starbucks barista, which I do all the time. If you’ve ever been out with me, anybody who’s ever traveled with me, who’s been with me sees that I am kind to everybody. I will always ask people pretty much the same. It’s like, Hey, how’s your life today? Hey, how’s it going for you today? Because I want to hear, I wanna know what’s going on. I wanna engage with them and be kind to them in the moment. Just like that table of four people I didn’t get a chance to, but I would’ve loved to just sit down because they had a story, I’m sure of it. That they could just impart wisdom to me too. And you know what? They probably would’ve, because I, I saw their hearts. I saw, their genuineness. Everything else that they just emanated from that table was just so positive. They were so kind and being kind is the new cool. 

Take this because redefine these things for yourself. What is rich to you? What is success to you? What wealth to you and what is being cool to you? Use what I have presented to you today and just imparted to you today. Just filled you up with some possibilities for you to continue going through life and make it, actually make it from your thirties, your twenties, wherever you’re at. Into that table of four people that just look so amazing. And I’m like, I wanna be that because that is ALL IN.