What does your rich life look like?

‘Imagine that in order to have a great life you have to cross a dangerous jungle. You can stay safe where you are and have an ordinary life, or risk crossing the jungle to have an extraordinary life. How would you approach that choice?’ This is a question from Ray Dalio’s ‘Principles’. What sits on the other side of the jungle is your rich life.

When asking people this question I have had a range of responses, these being the extremes:

• ‘Absolutely, I cross the jungle.’
• ‘I am not after what the world generally considers an extraordinary life.’
• ‘I don’t think I can cross the jungle.’

Let’s just say the point of the question is not one of whether are going to cross the jungle, but more how you approach the choice — as the question actually asks. Nonetheless the middle response is interesting to me, and I resonate with it a lot. I don’t particularly want to live by what the world defines as extraordinary. That either being famous, or having millions and a yacht to sail around on. I want an extraordinary life set by my standards. My idea of a rich life. And the journey of getting there is crossing the jungle.

What does a ‘rich life’ actually mean?

You might believe that ‘rich’ means having plenty money, and there may be financial realities to living your extraordinary life. But as Tim Ferriss says in the ‘4-Hour Work Week’, you don’t need to be a millionaire to live like one…