The Ancient Stoics believed that resilience is one of the most important traits we can develop over the course of our lives. That’s certainly the case for investing — there’s no sense in abandoning a sound strategy at the very first sign of a downturn — but it also holds true for life in general. Those who can weather the ups and downs in life will be able to learn from a wide variety of experiences and come out a fuller, more well-rounded individual.
The Stoics practiced an interesting technique for building resilience that I wanted to spend some time discussing. It’s called “Practicing Poverty,” and I think there are some valuable lessons we could all learn from it.
What practicing poverty is — and isn’t
I know what you might be thinking: Poverty is something to be eliminated and avoided, not practiced.
While it’s certainly true that the work of eliminating poverty around the globe is a very noble enterprise, that’s not really what the exercise of “practicing poverty” is about. Practicing poverty simply means embracing a style of living — perhaps only in the short term — that is below your means. The Stoics believed that this exercise was a way to train your mind to not become too attached to material possessions, and to learn that you can live on much less than you think you can.
How to begin practicing poverty
First, begin by thinking about the luxuries in your life both big and small. Maybe it’s the delivery you order once a week for dinner, or maybe it’s the coffee you pick up after work that you don’t really need. It might be something like the TV show you watch before bed that helps you relax.
Once you’ve come up with a list, slowly start to eliminate each item from your daily life. Remember, this won’t necessarily be permanent, and you don’t need to eliminate everything all at once. But try going without that coffee for a day, or try skipping the delivery for a week or two. Some things may be harder to go without than others — but that’s exactly what building resiliency is all about: overcoming adversity, even if it’s self-imposed. And by paring back certain aspects of your life, you may realize you never really needed them at all.
How gratitude comes from resilience
The ultimate point of practicing poverty isn’t to deprive yourself of the things that make you happy. There are two main benefits from this exercise:
- Proving that you can survive without these luxuries if you have to — building resiliency
- Helping yourself appreciate these luxuries once you add them back to your routine — building gratitude
The financial connection
What does any of this have to do with financial advising, you might be wondering?
Here’s how I think it ties in. As an advisor, I love nothing more than working with clients to build their portfolios and help them achieve their best lives. But I also don’t think money should be the end-all, be-all in life. There’s no point in having wealth unless you can appreciate it for the gift that it is.
That’s why I think practicing poverty — even if just for a short while — can help lead to some powerful realizations. Because the more resilient and grateful we are as people, the happier lives we will lead.
About VALUABLES
Many financial advisors focus on communicating with clients to provide complex analysis of the investment markets and economies. However, we have learned that most clients are not particularly interested in this complex analysis. Most clients hire an advisor for their knowledge of the markets, not for their ability to explain that knowledge. Most want to know what time it is, not how to build a watch.
Experience has taught us that wealthy families care most about using their wealth as a means to a desirable end, which is to achieve a more satisfying, fulfilled and impactful life, and to fulfill their most important Life Values.
VALUABLES is a periodic article series focused on the concepts, systems, and habits which we have observed among families who have been successful in this quest to use their wealth as a tool to live a life of significance. The most successful families share a set of habits, systems, and insights which enable them to use their wealth as a tool to fulfill their Values and what is most important to them.
We named this article series VALUABLES, because it provides an exploration of those habits, systems, and insights. We hope it will help you to consider your assets and possessions which are most valuable to you, and how you can use your financial wealth to enhance and cultivate your true “Valuables”.
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