2021-03-12 On getting rich

When I mention to people that I follow Stoic principles in my life, they often assume I live very frugally and have no desire to grow. I don’t know why people have that perception. I think Stoicism and trying to improve your life and career can go hand in hand.

Epictetus, who always advocated a very simple lifestyle in his teachings, said this about money: “If you can make money remaining honest, trustworthy, and dignified, by all means; do it. But you don’t have to make money if you have to compromise your integrity.”

You see? We can do both. The thing about our society is that we often feel like it’s all or nothing. You either live frugally and save, or you chase money and squander it on your desires. And I get it. We always read and hear about extreme cases. On Netflix, we either see documentaries that talk about how greed leads to destruction. Or, we see stuff about how you should give up all your possessions and live a minimalistic lifestyle.

That pain often remains in us for generations. My great grandfather passed his thriftiness to his son, then he passed it on to his children, but fortunately, not to my mother. While all her siblings are always talking about how expensive everything is, my mom never hesitates to spend money on the“expensive” stuff she values like Chanel perfume or buying groceries without ever looking at the prices. “As long as I can buy these things, I will.” That’s what she says. To me, this shows that she is actually less fixated on money than her more frugal siblings; she’s less attached to the idea of wealth, which suggests that should she lose some of her wealth, she could deal with it more resiliently.

She knows she wasn’t in that position for the majority of her life, and that she might not always be in the future. We need to remind ourselves that we’re not around on this planet forever. Life’s too short to let money dictate our lives to an extreme. If you want to get rich, go for it. And if you don’t, that’s fine too. The key is not to get too attached to the outcomes or to link your self-worth to whatever external trappings your life has at any given moment. Whichever way you go, recognize that money is not everything; but your values and character are. All the best.