The Four Pillars Of Well-Being

Distributing your time and energy

This article was adapted from the book Entrepreneur Wealth Management Made Easy by Michael Zhuang.
  
Over the years, I’ve developed what I call my four pillars of well-being. They are very simple: (1) personal growth, (2) business growth, (3) relationships to loved ones, and (4) giving back to the community. Underlying these pillars, of course, is the foundation of health.
 

People talk a lot about finding a “work-life balance,” but I do not like that term because it implies that work is somehow not a part of life. I think my four pillars are a much better way of thinking about how to distribute your time and energy.
 
Each pillar carries meaning and purpose as a component of the whole structure, and each should be both a result and a cause of your happiness. 

I do not consider personal growth as a “nice to have” for the entrepreneur. Indeed, I think your personal growth is directly related to your business growth. And of course, as an entrepreneur myself, I know that if your business is not growing, you will be unhappy for sure.
 
Personal growth means that as a person, you are becoming more mature, acquiring new skills, expanding your horizons, and broadening your abilities.
 
I actively attempt to achieve some personal growth every year. For example, I know I grow every time I go to San Francisco, take a musical improv class, and then perform. Who would have thought that someone from China could go on stage, make up English songs, perform reasonably well for an audience, and receive applause? I am keenly aware that my improv and storytelling have not just improved my English but directly worked to improve my rapport with clients and my ability to present my ideas in a compelling and comfortable way.
 
That is huge for me. What would be huge for you? 

The next pillar is business growth, which explains itself.
 
Like you, perhaps, I started my own business from scratch. My language skills were still wanting. Over time, however, I’ve grown my business enormously. That growth and the effort to overcome many obstacles required a great deal of creativity on my part, as well as initiative, perseverance, persistence, and consistency. All these traits exercised together have resulted in enormous satisfaction, not to mention provided abundantly for my family and me.
 
Once again, I do not like the term “work-life balance.” The growth of my business is not separate from my life; it is an enhancement to my life. 

The next pillar of well-being is formed by the relationships you have with your core family members, including your spouse, children, parents, siblings, and extended relations. I need not explain how important these relationships are in shaping one’s happiness and providing meaning to one’s efforts.
 
If I don’t have a good relationship at home, it doesn’t matter how well my business runs. I won’t be very happy, and my well-being will suffer.
 
Relationships always require mental energy and genuine effort. You will find no shortcuts or ways to delegate this effort. I am a busy man, but I always stop my work when my kids want to play Horse, that is, riding on my back. We also play improv games. I never fail to find time to put them to sleep, telling them bedtime stories. I also set specific times aside for my parents, taking them for doctor visits and shopping trips, even though I dislike both waiting rooms and supermarkets.
 
No one can substitute for me in these endeavors. No one. 

The final pillar of well-being involves your effort to give back to your community, and surely this provides the highest order of happiness.
 
Martin Seligman’s books teach that whatever we do to achieve the highest level of well-being, it must be meaningful and purposeful; however, at some point, that purpose must go above and beyond ourselves. Business and career goals, and even relationships with loved ones, ultimately focus on ourselves. Giving back to the community offers a clearly higher purpose without any direct personal benefit. Without this highest level of meaning, we miss a vital piece of our lives.
 
For many, the opportunity to give back comes during retirement.
 
I know an entrepreneur who successfully sold his business and retired very comfortably in his early sixties. Then an opportunity arose, and he moved himself and his wife to Africa to start a business providing low-cost seeds to farmers in Kenya. Life in northern Virginia was much more comfortable than in the countryside of Kenya, but they sacrificed those comforts in favor of something more meaningful.
 
Indeed, this couple has found meaning on two levels. One, they are elevating many farmers out of poverty. Second, this man and his wife are devout Christians, and they also see their work as part of their evangelical drive. They live a harder life, but are they happier? Yes, because despite the difficulties, they ultimately have a higher level of overall well-being in Africa. They are doing something consistent with their belief as opposed to what they called “wasting time” in northern Virginia.
 
Another client, who hails from Iran, told me of the many Iranian girls in the countryside who don’t get a good education. In retirement, he and his wife are going to set up a non-profit to help those girls get proper schooling.
 
Bill Gates devoted the first half of his life building Microsoft and becoming, for many years, literally the wealthiest person on the planet. In those years, he was obsessed with his business, and at the zenith of Microsoft, people often criticized Gates for not giving to charity. During those years, he was actually famous for his lack of philanthropy.
 
In the second half of his life, however, Gates has devoted himself to giving away his money. He has focused on eradicating diseases, particularly in Africa. And he has said many times that this work has a deeper meaning and gives him even more satisfaction than building Microsoft.
 
We may be seeing something of the same arc in the astoundingly wealthy and once famously cynical Mark Zuckerberg (see the movie The Social Network), who seems to be mellowing since his marriage. His horizons seem to be opening up, and he does seem to be seeing more to the world than making money or outdoing his competitors. Along the way, I hope he finds happiness.
 
You may, at first, find it hard to believe that giving back to the community is not merely charity or an obligation but a vital part of your own well-being. I can only encourage you to try it and find out for yourself.
 
By incorporating these four pillars of well-being into your life, you’ll find a source of happiness that complements your success in business and expands your definition of “wealth.”