Chapter Content
Okay, so, let's talk about something a little different today, something I'm calling "Social Wealth." And, you know, when you first hear that, you might think, "Oh, is this about networking, like, for business?" But it's actually much deeper than that. It's really about the richness and quality of your relationships and connections.
I think the big question, and it's a bit of a heavy one, but really makes you think, is: who's gonna be sitting in the front row at your funeral? I mean, who are the people who are truly invested in your life and who you are as a person?
And, see, Social Wealth isn't just about how many followers you have or how many business cards you've collected. It's about three key things, or pillars, really.
First, there's depth. And that's connection to a small circle of people with deep, meaningful bonds. These are your ride-or-dies, the people who really *get* you, you know?
Then there's breadth. This is the connection to a larger circle of people for support and belonging beyond just yourself. This could be individual relationships, sure, but it could also be a community, a religious group, a spiritual practice, a cultural thing... anything that makes you feel connected to something bigger.
And finally, and this is important, there's earned status. Now, this isn't about fancy titles or material possessions. It's about the lasting respect, admiration, and trust you earn from your peers. It's about how you treat people and the contributions you make, not what you own, you know?
So, how do you even, like, measure your Social Wealth? Well, you can actually give yourself a bit of a score. Think about these statements and just kind of rate yourself:
* Do I have a core set of deep, loving, supportive relationships?
* Am I consistently able to be the partner, parent, family member, and friend that I *want* to be?
* Do I have a network of loose relationships I can learn from and build on?
* Do I have a deep feeling of connection to a community or to something bigger than myself?
* And, this is a big one: do I *not* try to achieve status, respect, or admiration through material purchases?
For each of those, give yourself a 0 if you strongly disagree, a 1 if you disagree, 2 if you're neutral, 3 if you agree, and 4 if you strongly agree. Add 'em all up, and you've got your baseline score. It's, like, a snapshot of where you're at right now.
Now, what do you *do* with that information? You can actually set some goals for yourself. Think about it: What Social Wealth Score do you *want* to achieve? And what are the, say, two or three checkpoints you need to hit along the way to get there?
But also, think about the anti-goals, right? What are the outcomes you want to *avoid* on this journey? Like, maybe avoiding superficial relationships or neglecting existing ones.
And then, think about what actions will actually make a difference, what systems you can put in place. Maybe it's scheduling regular calls with loved ones or joining a new community group.
And, to get started, there's this thing called a Relationship Map. Basically, you list out all the core relationships in your life. And then you assess them based on two things: whether the relationship is supportive, ambivalent, or, uh, even demeaning, and how frequently you interact with that person.
So, you can, like, draw a grid, you know, with Relationship Health on one side, from demeaning to supportive, and Relationship Frequency on the other, from rare to daily. Then you plot your relationships on that grid.
And the idea is to prioritize the relationships that are already in the green zone – the ones that are healthy and frequent. And also, to see how you can spend more time with the relationships in what we can call the "opportunity zone"—the ones that are healthy but you don't see as often.
So, yeah, that's the gist of Social Wealth. It’s about building a life rich in meaningful connections, not just chasing after things. Food for thought, right?