I’m now on Substack. Find me @seniyegroff.
Month: May 2025
“How to Die with Zero” by Bill Perkins.
Bill Perkins challenges us to rethink things…really big things. By aiming to die with zero, you will forever change your autopilot focus from earning, saving and maximizing your wealth to living the best life you possibly can. Perkins builds a case through examples from his own life when he was solely focused on making money but not truly living his life. He explains to the reader that experiences give us memory dividends that work does not provide. I agree with him that we should be rich in things that include:
- Rich in experiences
- Rich is adventures
- Rich in memories.
And so Perkins asks the reader to critically think about what meaningful and memorable experiences do you want to have? Once you know this, start mapping out time buckets in five-to-ten-year increments and list your desired experiences. Perkins helps with the math and addresses that people often fear running out of money or we operate on autopilot to continue to work and amass money that in the end we will never spend. He suggests that you donate to your beloved charities now and spend time and money on your kids and people you love now. Don’t be fooled to think you must continue to work and accumulate and then when you are finally able to retire, you no longer have the health to spend all that money you accumulated.
At the end of the day, Perkins asks, why people fear running out of money more that wasting their lives…a very good question indeed. Some concepts in the book include:
- Look at your fears and what is holding you back.
- Take more chances when you are younger.
- Every moment is a choice. Choices reflect priorities. Be intentional. Health and the ability to enjoy experiences.
- Fear wasting your life and your time.
- Peak ages are 45-60…so use it wisely. Plan accordingly. Peak is a specific date tied to your biological age instead of thinking peak as a dollar amount.
- Cost to live times number of years left to live.
- Overly delayed gratification and regret. People on their deathbeds regret not doing things, not spending time with loved ones etc., not working more or making more etc.
- Shifting balance of health, time and money. Young= great health, lots of time and less money. Middle age (31-60) time, money and health equal. 61+ money and time high, health low.
Life goal is not about maximizing your income and wealth but instead maximizing your life experiences and fulfillment and lasting memories of those experiences.
The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom
According to Bloom there are five types of wealth that ideally work in harmony that enable you to live your best life. “You’ve been lied to. Throughout your life, you’ve been slowly indoctrinated to believe that money is the only type of wealth,” Bloom said in an interview with People. “In reality, your wealthy life may involve money, but in the end, it will be defined by everything else.”
- Time Wealth: How many moments do you have with your remaining loved ones? This section teaches how to prioritize energy-saving tasks to unlock more time in the day.
- Social Wealth: Who will be sitting in the front row at your funeral? Learn how to create deeper bonds and build a powerful network.
- Mental Wealth: What would your 10-year-old self say to you today? This teaches how to engage your purpose, and spark constant growth.
- Physical Wealth: Will you be dancing at your 80th birthday party? Get advice on how to maximize health and vitality through three simple principles of movement, nutrition and recovery.
- Financial Wealth: What is your definition of enough? Learn how to achieve financial independence and define your version of “enough.”
The book is filled with helpful questionnaires, charts and examples to help the reader consume the ample information. But as in all things, taking action is what makes the difference so I suggest bite-sized goals to bring the tools to life. The book gives the reader a game plan for forming deeper bonds to grow networks, engaging purpose, maximizing health, and achieving financial independence. Some of the ideas in the book you already know, other concepts will be new and worth thinking about and possibly incorporating into your life.
Which wealth do you want to grow?
Article Published!
Getting published is no easy feat so when I was a book reviewer, even if the book did not resonate with me, I read it, I reviewed it and I tailored my review to have a positive focus. I have published my thesis, several business articles and an article in Adoption Today after I adopted my second daughter. But for the last six years I have focused on getting some of my creative nonfiction pieces published.
I started writing again during my divorce. Writing late at night helped me process the swirl of feelings I was experiencing during this turbulent time in my life. Last year I joined a writing group to continue to finetune my writing. It was an amazing experience writing, reading, getting immediate feedback and hearing the writing of others. This encounter was immensely helpful not only in my writing, but also in the thought of getting some of my pieces published. I had never really considered publishing articles of my most deepest, personal thoughts but once I read them to the group, it became easier to expose myself.
Any writer will tell you that getting a piece published is extremely difficult. I have received so many rejection emails, I have lost count. So imagine my disbelief when I received an email with the subject line, “Submission Accepted”. I actually read the email several times because I did not really believe it. I am happy to report is was true.
My piece was accepted <a href="http://<!– wp:embed {"url":"https://www.sfwp.com/sfwp-quarterly/issue-32-/spring-2025","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"embed"} –> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed wp-block-embed-embed"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.sfwp.com/sfwp-quarterly/issue-32-/spring-2025 </div></figure> here.
My piece is here.
Let me know what you think.
seniyegroff 