Traits of Emotionally Wealthy People

Which would you rather be—financially wealthy or emotionally wealthy?

You might not realize it, but having mental strength—or an acute awareness of the power behind your emotions and how best to use them and act on them—is much more worthwhile than having a cushy bank account.

Don’t believe it? Here are five characteristics of emotionally wealthy people that might just make you re-evaluate your idea of the good life:

1. They are positive.

To be wealthy in something, whatever surrounds it has to be healthy first. Just as someone might have healthy investments that are growing as a healthy living thing should, so should you be nourishing your emotional self.

What does this really mean? Are you feeding yourself with positive things, focusing on the good thoughts that lead to growth? Or are you focusing on the negatives and anxieties of life that give no emotional nutrition and can hinder growth?

It’s been said a joyful heart is good medicine. In what areas do you need to medicate your emotional self?

2. They are investors.

Looking for that ever-elusive dollar tree you can plant? Bad news, it doesn’t exist. But emotionally prosperous people can help grow their own wealth. How? By being willing to invest in other people’s emotional growth funds.

By intentionally planting and investing your own emotional wealth in others and trying to grow it, you’ll also grow, seeing the fruit of your investment. More people than you know would benefit by a little purposeful investment by you.

3. They are risk takers.

The people who have successful careers or thriving relationships didn’t get there by playing it safe—they knew they had to take risks. Emotional wealth is no different. Emotionally wealthy people invest and give their wealth to others, and realizing the liability involved, they never give so much away that if they were to lose it, they’d become unhealthy themselves.

The key is not giving away more than you can handle losing and, before giving it, accepting the fact that it might never come back to you. But it’s not all scary, because the upside to a little risk is a great reward—like a booming business or a happily-ever-after marriage. How can you take a calculated emotional risk today?