In this empowering episode of Next Act Ninjas, host Rachael Van Pelt dives into the often-overlooked key to longevity: inner wealth. While we frequently focus on financial success, Rachael reveals why nurturing your inner well-being is the true secret to living a long, fulfilling life. Discover the four pillars of inner wealth—intellectual growth, emotional resilience, spiritual connection, and social bonds—that form the foundation of your inner well-being. Learn how each pillar plays a critical role in improving your overall health and extending your lifespan. Through powerful stories, practical tips, and real-life examples, Rachael provides actionable steps to help you build inner strength and resilience. From practicing mindfulness and gratitude to embracing a longevity mindset, you'll gain the tools needed to unlock your full potential and live a richer, more meaningful life. Whether you're navigating the challenges of midlife or looking to enhance your emotional and spiritual health, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in to discover how inner wealth can lead to not just a longer life—but a more vibrant, joyful one.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Inner Wealth
01:47 The 4 Key Pillars to Inner Wealth
05:21 The Impact of Inner Wealth on Longevity
06:23 Fortifying Inner Wealth
09:49 A Story of Inner Wealth Transformation
14:03 Conclusion: Nourishing the Riches Within
Welcome back to Next Act Ninjas, the number one podcast for mastering your health and wealth longevity. I'm your host, Rachael Van Pelt, and today I'm going deep on a topic that I think is often overshadowed by financial wealth, but is equally important, if not more important, to your Next Act, and that's inner wealth. We're going to explore what inner wealth even is, why it's the missing piece to your longevity, and some practical steps you can take to nurture this vital asset so you can massively improve your long-term quality of life.
But what exactly is inner wealth anyway? Inner wealth refers to the intangible qualities and virtues that contribute to your character, your wisdom, your overall well-being. It is the internal resources and states of being that contribute to your grit and resilience, as well as your ability to find fulfillment and sense of purpose in life. You can think of it as wealth you can't see or touch, but that you carry within you throughout life's ups and downs.
It's about the richness of your inner life. And unlike material wealth, which can be lost or diminished, inner wealth is enduring. Even better, it grows when you share it with others. And when you invest in growing your inner wealth, you create a reserve that you can tap into throughout life, especially when things get tough. Inner wealth is built through purposeful learning, self-discipline, and reflecting on life experiences. It's built when you get clear about your values and beliefs and when you engage in practices that sustain your mental and emotional health. There are four key pillars to inner wealth. These pillars are the foundation upon which it stands.
The first pillar is intellectual wealth. Of course, we all hope to get wiser with age, but wisdom is not an inevitable consequence of age, is it? We probably all know someone who's advanced in years but still acts like a child, don't we? So building this pillar requires lifelong learning and curiosity. It's that accumulation of knowledge and experience and insight that leads to good judgment and an ability to discern what's true or right. And as we age, it becomes more and more essential that we continue to challenge our minds because keeping our mind sharp is a key to longevity. Intellectual growth keeps our brains active and agile and it also gives us a sense of accomplishment and purpose.
The second pillar is emotional wealth. Emotional intelligence and resilience are just as important as wisdom to our inner wealth. This pillar involves understanding and managing emotions, cultivating self-awareness, improving capacity to bounce back from life's challenges. When you build a strong emotional foundation and resilience, you can navigate life's inevitable ups and downs with much more grace and poise.
The third pillar is spiritual wealth. This is about finding peace, purpose, and connection to something much greater than ourselves. It's also about finding compassion, forgiveness, and contentment with life. Whether you do that through religious practice, mindfulness meditation, or deep contemplation, doesn't matter. Nurturing your spiritual side can lead to a profound inner peace and a much greater appreciation for life. I'm not talking about a kumbaya stay positive sort of appreciation. I'm talking about a deeply satisfying existence. One where you're happily going to shed any of those disempowering values and beliefs that keep you running on that hedonic treadmill. It's an inner peace that allows you to forgive yourself and show yourself compassion so that you're then able to turn around and do the same for other people.
Finally, the fourth pillar is social wealth. Humans are social creatures and meaningful relationships are a vital part of a rich life. Not just a rich outer life, but a rich inner life. Building and maintaining connections with family, friends, community, it's not just about having people to socialize with on the weekend or avoiding loneliness. A strong social network provides us intellectual stimulation, emotional support, a sense of belonging, shared joy. In fact, inner peace is magnified when we share it with other people.
And what's even better, each of these four pillars supports each other. For example, intellectual curiosity can lead to new social connections or improved spiritual practices. Emotional resilience can deepen your relationships and give you more peaceful moments to contemplate. If your social network includes a religious community, it can support your spiritual growth too. In other words, the four pillars are highly interconnected.
Now you might be wondering how does all of this inner wealth stuff actually affect our longevity, as I alluded to earlier. Well, the research is pretty compelling. People who invest in their inner wealth tend to live longer, healthier lives. Emotional resilience can lower your stress levels, which reduces your risk of chronic illnesses. Social connections have been shown to improve mental health and increase lifespan. Even intellectual and spiritual practices contribute to better overall health. They improve cancer prognosis and reduce the risk of conditions like dementia and depression.
Inner wealth creates a strong foundation for physical health. When we nurture our minds and spirits, our bodies often follow suit. This holistic approach to longevity where we care for both the inner and outer self can lead to a more vibrant, fulfilling life, well into our later years. I think we know this intuitively, yet it's easy to neglect our inner wealth, isn't it? That's why I want to take a minute to address how we can begin to fortify these four pillars.
The first thing I always tell my coaching clients is to embrace a longevity mindset. Longevity mindset is where growth mindset intersects with thinking long game. It starts by acknowledging that you can grow, change, and improve at any stage of life and at any age. In fact, your lifetime of experience is a major asset. But that's only if you take the time to reflect on that experience and you learn something from your failures, your flops, your strong finishes. Longevity mindset also means letting go of grudges and practicing forgiveness, so you can clear emotional clutter and create space to move forward. This simple mindset shift will help you stay open to new experiences and stay willing to learn from them.
Of course, once you've shifted your mindset, then you can take action. You can add daily or weekly habits that will fortify each of those four pillars bit-by-bit. For example, if you want to build your intellectual wealth, stay curious, Incorporate a daily practice of reading more challenging books and asking creative questions, taking new courses, or learning new skills. Continuous learning will not only keep your mind sharp, but also instill a sense of purpose and achievement.
If you want to build your spiritual wealth, maybe you add daily practices like meditation and journaling or gratitude exercises that will cultivate more mindfulness, reduce your stress, enhance your emotional well-being.
If you want to build social wealth, get in the habit of regularly talking to new people and fostering those existing relationships that you have. It could be as simple as getting to know your neighbors better. But don't be afraid to stretch yourself a bit. We naturally all contracted our circles during the pandemic, but let's not make that a permanent new reality.
Get involved in your community, doing something that you're passionate about. That might mean volunteering, joining a club or participating in a group activity. Regardless, whatever you do, staying connected with others is going to enhance your intellectual, social and emotional wealth. Community involvement will also deepen your sense of purpose and belonging.
You don't have to add a bunch of new things all at once, just start little-by-little. Experiment, find what suits you best. There's a good chance you'll even find something that builds multiple pillars all at once. For example, joining a Bible study group that stimulates you intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually while also giving you social connectivity. Even better, if that group gets out and does something for the community, then you're paying it forward.
But here's the thing, I can't tell you precisely how to grow your inner wealth. This is a deeply personal journey for each of us. All I can do is remind you (and myself) that this is a very critical piece of the longevity puzzle and hopefully inspire you to get on the road to building character and a sense of purpose that's going to sustain you for the rest of your life.
I want to end with a quick story about a client that I worked with in my Healthspan Mastery program, who had a beautiful breakthrough when she started working on her inner wealth. When I met her about five years ago, Linda had just turned 60, she was recently separated from her husband, and was taking care of her 80-something-year-old mother, whose health was declining rapidly.
Of course, she came to me initially to get on top of her health. She was stress-eating, not sleeping very well. She was worried she just might beat her mother to the grave. Honestly, I was worried too because the laundry list of cardiovascular and metabolic health issues that she was struggling with was far too long for a 60-year-old. But before we went down the rabbit hole of health, we started tackling those two simple things I just talked about.
First, shifting to a longevity mindset, and second, implementing a few of those daily habits to build up her inner well-being. Linda already had plenty of intellectual stimulation from her job, so she focused on the social, emotional, and spiritual pillars that she'd been neglecting.
She started with just 10 minutes of prayer and meditation every morning. That's it, 10 minutes. We can all find 10 minutes, can't we? Then she added a mid-afternoon deep breathing and contemplation walk outdoors before she would go take care of her mother. This was impactful because it helped her to get centered before going into what was an emotionally charged environment for her. Then a few weeks later, she joined a weekly women's group at her church that was super supportive. And wow, I have to tell you, it was remarkable how fast just these few simple things started shifting her mindset, her emotional resilience and her focus. I noticed her self-awareness and authenticity improve immediately. Before that, she was stuck in people-pleasing mode. She was completely unaware of how her coping mechanisms were numbing her feelings and sabotaging her sleep.
As she became more mindful, her negative self-talk diminished and she got much better at articulating her emotions rather than simply drowning them in food. So the stress-eating stopped. She no longer needed sleep medications to get through the night. She was able to talk to her husband again without getting paralyzed with anger. And she found the joy in just being with her mother in her final days. It was beautiful to watch. And honestly, it only required a little bit of attention on her part. It didn't take earth-shattering changes. She just needed to make a few simple, albeit powerful, shifts to set the ball rolling in the right direction.
Now, five years later, Linda summarizes it this way. She says, "I was a mess. I was angry at my husband. I was grieving my mom's final years and feeling like I was right behind her. I was holding it together at work, but I was crumbling at home every night. I was empty inside, but I just thought I was overweight and sleep deprived. Now I know better. I just needed to feed my inner self. Once I did that, I wasn't hungry and tired all the time. I forgave my husband, mostly, and stopped being afraid to face mortality. I just was lighter in so many ways. When mom died, I was so sad, but had no regrets. I knew that I'd been fully present with her those final days."
Wow. So powerful. I love Linda's story. I think it is a powerful reminder that our health span and wealth span starts within. When we invest in our lives, our inner lives, we build reserves of strength, resilience, and peace that enrich not just our own life, but also the lives of those around us.
What's your story? Are you nourishing the riches already within you? Your character, your wisdom, your passions, your relationships? Remember, these are the things that will truly sustain you and improve your overall quality of life. So take a little time each day to improve your inner wealth longevity.
Thank you for joining me today on Next Act Ninjas. If you found this episode helpful, don't forget to subscribe and share it with someone who might benefit from today's message. Until next time, live well, love more, age less, my friends.