Wadzanai Nenzou, Founder of Herconomics
"I am 36 and when I was younger, I thought by this age I would be some multimillionaire with properties all over the world, have a husband and children and have everything figured out in a neat little societally acceptable box. I am not a multimillionaire, no properties all over and my finances are not perfectly in order, I am single and do not have any children. This is not what I thought my life would look like at this age. It is totally different and yet I absolutely love it 95% of the time.
There are times when I feel shame for not having things perfectly in order according to some over the top expectation I have bought into of how my life should be. I catch myself feeling like a loser who has achieved nothing and then I look closely at my life and realize my life is filled with so much that brings me joy. I have learnt what true wealth and success means to me and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote is how I define wealth and success and how I try to live my life. The quote goes as follows:
“To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
When I think of money, I see it as an important tool to help me live my life as per above Emerson’s quote. When I look at how I live my life right now in a wonderful country, in relatively good health, with wonderful humans as friends and family, filled with constant laughter, amazing conversations with interesting human beings from around the world, sharing the stories of lovely women on Herconomics, travelling this beautiful world of ours, enjoying art, food, drinks, music and nature, I am reminded how wealthy I am, and I try to remind myself of this on those very human days when I feel inadequate and a failure."