Let's start with a word often thrown around: "wealth." We chase it, we quantify it, yet its true meaning has been subtly distorted over time.

According to Google, the word "wealth" originates from the Old English "weal," meaning "wealth, welfare, and wellbeing." It's rooted in "wel," signifying "a state of good fortune, welfare, or happiness." Over centuries, this broad, holistic sense of prosperity narrowed, becoming almost exclusively synonymous with material possessions and financial abundance.

My mission is to refocus our attention on the origin of wealth – the powerful intersection between wellbeing and genuine prosperity. You see, there is no true prospering without well-being.

Yet, we often fall into the trap of believing that "more" will enhance our sense of wellbeing: more money, more possessions, more striving, more information, more interactions, more likes. We outsource our innate resources, mistakenly believing that what we can purchase will fill our well of being.

Like many, I too once traded my inner wealth for the pursuit of more. The relentless drive for personal betterment, for status, and (let's be honest) for greater financial success. But what is financial success, really? Most of us have never truly defined its metrics.

Through countless client meetings as a Chartered Financial Planner, I've found these definitions wildly differ: for some, it’s being mortgage-free by 40; for others, seven rental properties; for some, the investments to retire at 50; for others, the legacy they can leave.

These financial pursuits are often subtly driven by societal fears. We find ourselves keeping up with imaginary 'Joneses,' following a default path (there’s a great book on that!), and hopping onto the hedonic treadmill, constantly chasing happiness without ever reaching a satisfying destination.

Believe me, as a seasoned running enthusiast, there's no view worth savouring on a treadmill. You're only truly happy when you're finished, perhaps do a couple of obligatory sit-ups because there’s a yoga mat nearby, and then you're back in the outside world, genuinely engaging and relating.

The treadmill is a perfect metaphor for the artificial solutions we apply to deeper, man-made problems – like our current sedentary lifestyles or, in this context, the superficial fix for discomfort with acquiring more. Burying ourselves in the hustle of professional progress and money creation only leads us to completely miss our true destination because we weren't looking where we were going.

So, what am I proposing? A momentary pause. And the autonomy to choose your own definition of wealth.

As your Life Coach and a Health Researcher of the Human Experience, I am uniquely positioned to guide you back to your inner riches – to rediscover well-being, authentic prosperity, and true good fortune. It's about recognizing that everything is already here and joyfully receiving it. My number one professional aim is to improve your experience of life itself.

This leads us into our next crucial question: What are you truly working for?