Wealth = Have ÷ Want

Derek Sivers · 27 Sept 2024

A change of mind in this piece

Looking for ways to make more money is how you get to feeling well off.

Recalls holdingI used to look for ways to make money, but I haven't done that in years. Now I keep looking for ways to want less.

Read the piece on sive.rs ↗

3 korrents from this piece · 1 of them a turn ↓

Derek Sivers did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Wealth is what you have divided by what you want, so the reliable way to become wealthier is to want less.

Their wordsOnce you have some, the easiest way to increase your wealth is to decrease your needs.
Our reading
Earning more is an outer game you do not control; wanting less is an inner game you do.

Their wordsMaking money depends on other people, so it's harder. It's not entirely under your control. It's an outer game.
Our reading
Looking for ways to make more money is how you get to feeling well off.

Recalls holdingI used to look for ways to make money, but I haven't done that in years. Now I keep looking for ways to want less.

Keep reading

The other pieces are the ones whose claims are worded most like this one's. That measures language, not agreement: they may argue the opposite.