Relentless self improvement as a way to build natural wealth

What is wealth?

I will for this post define it as the assets you own minus the liabilities. So what is an asset?

An asset is a useful or valuable thing, person, or quality. So a person has qualities which others value and these are their assets. These assets could be anything, from good looks, to being physically fit, to being smart or having a lot of knowledge, to being skilled, or being able to play a sport, make people laugh, run fast, or just get attention. Anything which others find useful, amusing, or which is a cherished quality a person has intrinsically, is an asset.

In financial accounting, an asset is an economic resource. Anything tangible or intangible that can be owned or controlled to produce value and that is held by a company to produce positive economic value is an asset. Simply stated, assets represent value of ownership that can be converted into cash (although cash itself is also considered an asset).

Wealth is something people have intrinsically. If you are reasonably healthy, if you can communicate, if you can learn, if you can make others smile or influence others, then you've got some wealth. Simply being entertaining is a way to turn natural wealth into cash and many people make a career out of that.

Liabilities are the flaws, the costs, the aspects of you that hold you back. These could be mental or physical, this could be reputation, it could be anything which is perceived as a negative against your ability to generate wealth. Liabilities are disadvantages and some people are born into the world with more disadvantages than others to overcome.

Advantages vs disadvantages

Simply knowing yourself and your advantages vs disadvantages can help you realize how much wealth you have. The equation of wealth being your (advantages) minus (disadvantages) can be useful in guiding self improvement. Just as a professional fighter would for example know they have long arms and this can be an advantage, but they might also have a weak chin which is a disadvantage. This professional fighter or martial artist would have to compensate for their weakness by developing their strengths.

In some cases weaknesses aren't so weak and can be turned into strengths. In some cases due to circumstances strengths become weaknesses. So this is fluid and always changing which is why it's important to monitor the current wealth you have starting at the most direct kind of ownership which is that which you have the most control over.

The human body as a direct source of wealth

You are the owner of your body and you get to determine what you do with it because you have the most control over it. The human body is the most direct source of wealth and merely keeping it functioning, healthy, fit, is a way to increase wealth. Anyone who has been sick will know just how important health is to wealth. Any aspect of a human body which can be sold, blood, semen, eggs, all are monetizable and so these are also forms of wealth as determined by market demand So every body which is reasonably health is by definition a source of some wealth just on that.

Legal ownership wealth

The difference between the control you have over your body and the control you have over property which is outside of your direct control is legal. Property rights determine your ability to have legal ownership over securities, real estate, accounts (bank or other), even possibly your Steemit account could be defined both technically and legally. This legal ownership allows you to license content in the case of Steemit, charge rent in the case of real estate, and through these means you can transmute wealth (ownership rights) into money. So whether it's digital such as with art, or it's physical, whether it's tangible or intangible, if you legally have ownership of it then you've got a legally owned asset.

Conclusion

Just to be clear, I am not an expert on wealth generation. I am not one of the most wealthy people, and barely get by. Knowledge itself is a form of wealth, and I simply possess knowledge and some street wisdom. That said, the point is that self improvement is what matters and is more important than any particular job. If a lifestyle does not trend toward improvement of the individual then true wealth is not being generated because true wealth comes from assets minus liabilities.

Productive assets such as cars, farms, AI, all can help people to generate wealth through ownership. This can free people from having to do stuff such as sell their bodies (blood, semen, etc), or sell their time (9 to 5 employment), and allow people to focus on becoming the best person they can be.

References

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1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liability