What If Wealth Isn’t What You Think It Is?

Over the last two decades, I’ve worked with thousands of people—visionaries, executives, single parents, spiritual seekers, and high-performing professionals. And across all of those conversations, a single truth keeps revealing itself:

Wealth is not the number in your bank account. It is a consciousness.

Yes, money matters. Let’s not bypass that. I have goals. I invest. I track income. I enjoy being well-resourced. I believe in generating, receiving, and circulating financial abundance.

But here’s what I continually witness, in myself and in others:
You can have six figures in savings and still feel anxious and empty.
You can have just enough and feel spiritually and creatively wealthy.
Wealth is not a number. It is a way of seeing. A way of being.

When you shift your perception about wealth, the external world starts to shift too—including your money.

The Myth of the Number

Our culture loves to use money as the measuring stick. Net worth became shorthand for value, a scoreboard for life. The number on the screen as proof of safety, success, or worldly maturity.

But here’s the thing—I’ve worked with numerous clients who have millions in the bank and still feel anxious, disconnected, or deeply dissatisfied. And I’ve lived through seasons when my checking account was overdrawn, while my days were overflowing with connection, beauty, creativity, and presence.

In 2005, I traveled to Havana, Cuba, and stayed with my then partner’s family in a small apartment where the plumbing was disconnected and the shower dated back to the 1950’s. We boiled water on the stove, poured it into a bucket, and used a ladle to bathe. It was inconvenient. It required significant coordination.

It was also the most mindful, reverent shower I’ve ever taken. I was fully there, and I felt more alive than I ever have showering at a five-star resort.

That moment taught me something I’ve never forgotten: Wealth is not about conditions. Wealth is about consciousness.

Your Version of a Mansion

Ancient wisdom is a great teacher of this: “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” —John 14:2

Traditionally, this points to the vastness of divine space—a reassurance that there is room for all. But metaphysically, I’ve come to understand it as a profound reminder that there are infinite expressions of wealth, joy, and fulfillment—and each of us gets to define our own.

Your mansion might be a minimalist retreat in the woods. Mine is a rustic garden in the heart of Chicago, with a weathered brick carriage house. A giant mural on the exterior of the building painted by a friend. The string lights are hung to create just enough twinkle. We have hosted local musicians, community meditations, and even the city’s most sought after circus entertainer. The people I love are nearby. The space is alive. It’s beautiful. It’s the place I call home.

Someone else might look at this setup and think: How could you live here?

They might see the fast food restaurant or the gym across the street, or hear the cars on the nearby expressway and feel only chaos.

But I look out and feel magic. That’s wealth.

Not because it’s impressive to someone else. Because it feels right in my body. Because it reflects my values, my story, my joy.

This is the mansion I’ve built—yes with money, but beyond that: with meaning.

The Inner Shift That Changes Everything

In 2006, I was a single mom carrying $90,000 of debt—and not the kind of debt anyone would envy. These were parking tickets, medical bills, and survival expenses. I kept my bills in a giant teal Urban Outfitters bag and brought them everywhere, convinced I could somehow solve the problem through sheer effort and proximity to someone, anyone, that may know more than me.

I would log into my online banking account multiple times a day, watching the negative numbers refresh as if they might change on their own. They didn’t. So I had to try something new. I started taking classes on “spiritual economics” and began relentlessly working on my consciousness. I read every book I could get my hands on that might help me unlock a new perspective and experience.

One day, sitting at my desk as a young professional at Bank of America, while staring at the overdrawn account balance on the screen before me, something shifted. I felt this new sense of awareness: “THIS is not the truth of who I am.”

I was no longer held captive by an external marker. I was on a new found path to freedom. I could not yet declare, “I am abundance.” But I could begin to question the belief that my bank account was the ultimate truth of my identity.

That was the opening. That was the beginning of a new relationship to wealth—not as a destination, but as a way of being.

Integrity: The Invisible Infrastructure

Wealth is not just about mindset. It is also about alignment.

Integrity is the structure that holds wealth. Without it, nothing works—not your body, not your relationships, not your finances. When you restore integrity, you restore the consciousness that attracts wealth.

And let me be clear: integrity is not morality. It is not about being “good.” It is about being in alignment with your word, your values, and your vision. It’s about doing what you say you’ll do, the way you said you’d do it, or renegotiating consciously. It’s about creating the conditions that enable that which you desire to come forward.

When I track the biggest breakthroughs in my life—including financial ones—they almost always followed a season of restoring integrity.

Because integrity is what allows wealth to land. Integrity creates the container for your abundance to be held.

Scarcity Is a Lie We’ve Agreed To

In the book The Soul of Money, author Lynne Twist emphasizes that the issue humanity faces isn’t lack—it’s how we distribute and relate to what we have.

“We live in a world awash with food. We currently have on earth more food than we need to feed everyone several times over. Yet hunger persists.”

Our culture is addicted to the myth of not enough. We hoard. We tighten. We contract. Don’t believe the lie of scarcity. We are not short on money. We are short on trust, presence, and collective imagination.

The truth is: there is enough. Enough time. Enough money. Enough love. Enough space.

When you shift out of fear and into sufficiency, your nervous system softens. Your creativity returns. Your generosity increases. And surprisingly often, so does your income.

When All the Boxes Are Checked…Then What?

You may have “made it” on paper—the house is secure, the trips are booked, and the business is stable…yet you may be asking: “What is this all for?”

It’s a common question that high achieving leaders ask, for without a wealth consciousness, even the most impressive outward success can feel hollow.

When wealth is reduced to acquisition, it loses its soul. But when wealth becomes an expression of your values, your relationships, your impact—everything begins to shift.

Asking yourself why you are on this planet at this moment in time is a sacred question. When honored, this can become a portal, not into more doing, but into deeper being. Not into accumulation, but into alignment.

A Practice for Becoming (Truly) Wealthy

Whether you are looking for more meaning or more money, or both, here is a three-step practice to experience a deeper, more sustainable wealth consciousness:

1. Take an Honest Inventory
Use the Five Pathways to Transformation: Health, Relationships, Work, Wealth, and Truth. No judgment. Just facts. How are things really going? This is not about shaming yourself. It’s about facing reality.

2. Fast from Complaining
Track your inner monologue. Notice the default loop of lack or comparison. Even just 24 hours of no complaining can shift your awareness. Choose power over pity.

3. Orient Toward Appreciation
This is not about toxic positivity. It is about attuning your nervous system to what is already working. Make eye contact. Bless your meals. Appreciate your body. Thank your money. Watch what changes when you treat your life as already abundant.

Let This Be the Shift

What if this was the moment you stopped chasing a number, and started cultivating the consciousness of wealth?

What if you gave up the idea that wealth is a result of working harder or becoming “good enough” and replaced it with wealth being a way of relating to life, a commitment to integrity, presence, and truth?

When you change how you see, how you feel, and how you move—your world starts to reflect that transformation.

You become trustworthy with more. You become a magnet for resources. You become the true wealth you’ve been chasing.

Today I invite you to practice feeling rich in your reality, no matter what it looks like, and remember that wealth is not the number in your bank account; it is a way of being.