What Are You Building That’s Bigger Than Yourself?

Have you ever walked into a place that made you feel small?

Not insignificant.

Not worthless.

But small in the best possible way.

As though, for a brief moment, you were standing in the presence of something much larger than your everyday concerns.

Maybe it happened while looking across the Grand Canyon.

Standing beneath an enormous redwood tree.

Watching the sun rise over the ocean.

Listening to a piece of music that moved you in ways you couldn’t quite explain.

Or walking into a building where generations of people had poured their hearts, talents, and devotion into creating something extraordinary.

For a moment, the usual noise in your head goes quiet.

The bills. The deadlines. The arguments. The endless list of things you have to accomplish.

And something changes.

You feel connected to something beyond yourself. Something meaningful. Something that reminds you that your life is part of a much bigger story.

Here’s something remarkable about the state I live in, it's home to the 3 "...est" trees.

California is home to the largest living tree by volume (General Sherman, a giant sequoia), the tallest known living tree (Hyperion, a coast redwood), and the oldest confirmed individual, non-clonal living tree (Methuselah, a bristlecone pine).

Three extraordinary ways nature can remind us of scale, time, and how much bigger the world is than our daily concerns.

What if that feeling is a form of wealth?

We’ve spent this week exploring what it means to become genuinely rich.

• Physical wealth gives you the capability to experience more of life.
• Mental wealth helps you understand the world and solve problems.
• Emotional wealth helps you navigate difficult feelings and build healthier relationships.

Today, we’re exploring something a little harder to measure.

Spiritual wealth.

And you don’t have to be religious to possess it.

Do You Need Religion to Be Spiritually Wealthy?

Let me share something about my own upbringing.

I attended private school and received religious instruction every year for twelve years.

I learned about religious traditions, beliefs, and expectations.

But despite that education, I’ve never really considered myself a particularly religious person.

The idea of following a prescribed set of rules primarily because I might receive some wonderful reward at the end of my life never sat comfortably with me.

Now, I know that’s not how everyone experiences religion.

For many people, faith is a deep source of love, generosity, service, connection, and meaning. I respect that.

But I’ve always felt that being a decent human being should have value in itself.

Why help somebody? Because they need help.

Why treat people kindly? Because kindness makes life better.

Why contribute to your community? Because you’re part of that community.

Not because you’re keeping score.

Not because you’re trying to impress somebody.

And not because you’re hoping to collect a prize someday.

Because making the world a little better is already worth doing.

Maybe your understanding of spirituality comes from a religious tradition.

Maybe it comes from nature, philosophy, meditation, service, or family.

Maybe you’re still figuring out what you believe.

That’s okay.

For this conversation, I want you to consider spiritual wealth as your capacity to find meaning, live according to your values, experience connection, and contribute to something larger than your immediate self-interest.

You don’t need to agree with my beliefs to explore those questions. You simply need to consider what makes your life meaningful.

When a Building Becomes More Than a Building

One of the things Amy and I love doing when we travel is visiting sacred places.

Churches. Synagogues. Mosques. Temples.

We don’t practice the religion represented by the building.

And sometimes we don’t understand all the rituals or symbolism.

But we go anyway.

Because there’s something extraordinary about entering a place that people built out of devotion.

And as someone who spent thirty-five years working in construction, I find that particularly moving.

I understand something about the labor required to build things. The planning. The craftsmanship. The physical effort. The skills developed over years or decades. The coordination of countless people.

But some buildings represent something beyond simply providing shelter or demonstrating wealth.

They’re expressions of what people believed was worthy of their greatest efforts.

Consider some of the places we've visited like the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. Or La Sagrada Família in Barcelona. Or the magnificent cathedral Amy and I visited recently in Puebla, Mexico.

That cathedral absolutely blew me away. For me, its beauty and presence rivaled what I’d experienced at the Vatican.

I’m not kidding.

And I’m not offering an architectural ranking.

I’m describing how it felt to stand there, surrounded by the work of people who had devoted so much effort to building something they considered sacred.

People who might never have seen the finished result.

People whose names I would never know.

People who contributed their skills to something they believed mattered beyond their individual lives.

Think about that for a moment.

What motivates somebody to spend years creating something whose greatest benefits may be experienced by people they will never meet?

Money might pay for materials and labor.

Prestige might motivate a patron.

But for many of the people involved, there was also something else.

Devotion. Faith. Purpose.

A belief that what they were helping create mattered.

And when I enter places like these, I sometimes feel connected to that purpose, even when I don’t share the particular religious beliefs.

I can appreciate the devotion without having to adopt the doctrine.

And perhaps that’s something spiritual wealth makes possible. The ability to recognize meaning, beauty, and human connection beyond the boundaries of your own beliefs.

What Gives Your Life Meaning?

Now, you may never travel to Istanbul, Barcelona, or Puebla.

You may not particularly enjoy visiting religious buildings.

That’s fine.

The buildings aren’t the point.

The question is what they represent.

What are you willing to give your time, energy, attention, and talents to because you believe it matters?

Think about what makes your life worth getting out of bed for.

• Maybe it’s raising your children.
• Caring for someone you love.
• Teaching a skill to a younger person.
• Building something useful.
• Making art.
• Protecting your neighborhood.
• Practicing your faith.
• Training in a martial art.
• Preserving traditions.
• Or helping somebody avoid mistakes you once made.

Maybe it’s something nobody else would consider particularly remarkable.

That’s okay too.

Meaning doesn’t require a spectacular achievement.

Sometimes it comes from doing ordinary things with extraordinary care.

• A parent making dinner.
• A tradesperson taking pride in work nobody will see once the walls are closed.
• A teacher staying a little longer to help a student understand.
• A neighbor checking on someone who lives alone.

Those moments might never earn applause. But that doesn’t make them insignificant.

Because spiritual wealth isn’t necessarily about doing something enormous. It’s about knowing why what you do matters.

The First Community That Taught Me About Belonging

I grew up in Hawaii, where the idea of ohana — family — was part of everyday life.

And family didn’t necessarily stop at the people who shared your last name.

There were relatives, neighbors, family friends, and extended connections.

People who helped one another.

People who participated in each other’s lives.

People who understood that their circumstances were connected.

My mother certainly benefited from that when she brought my sister and me back to Hawaii and raised us as a single parent.

She worked tremendously hard. But she wasn’t entirely alone. Our extended family was part of the support system that helped make our lives possible.

That experience shaped how I think about the relationship between the individual and the community.

Because here’s something I’ve come to believe.

Very few of us become successful entirely by ourselves.

You might work incredibly hard. Make difficult sacrifices. Take risks. Learn valuable skills. Build something extraordinary. And you deserve recognition for those efforts.

But look closely at your journey.

• Who taught you?
• Who gave you a chance?
• Who encouraged you?
• Who created opportunities that you were able to use?
• Who built the schools, roads, institutions, businesses, and communities that supported your growth?

Maybe it was a parent. A teacher. A mentor. A coworker. A friend. A stranger who helped at exactly the right moment.

Your accomplishments are still yours. But they exist within a larger network of contributions.

Recognizing that doesn’t diminish your achievements. It gives them context.

And perhaps it gives you a reason to consider what you might contribute in return.

Individual Success or Community Well-Being?

One of the things I appreciate about many Asian, Polynesian, Hispanic, and Latin American communities I’ve encountered is the emphasis they can place on family and collective responsibility.

There’s often an understanding that your decisions affect more people than just yourself.

• Family obligations matter.
• Community reputation matters.
• Helping relatives and neighbors matters.

Of course, these are enormously diverse cultures, and not everybody within them thinks alike.

And community-oriented traditions have their disadvantages too.

If you’ve ever heard the saying about the nail that sticks up getting hammered down, you probably understand one of them.

Too much pressure to conform can discourage individuality.

It can make people reluctant to challenge tradition.

It can create obligations that become overwhelming.

Or discourage somebody from pursuing a different path.

On the other hand, the more individualistic attitudes I’ve experienced in American culture can offer tremendous advantages.

The freedom to pursue your own ambitions.

Challenge established expectations.

Create something new.

Build a life that reflects your individual values.

Those are important freedoms.

But individualism can also go too far.

When everything becomes about my success, my property, my rights, and my comfort, it’s easy to forget that our lives are interconnected.

You can see that tension in neighborhood politics.

People may support housing, infrastructure, public services, or other community improvements in principle, but resist them when they affect their own immediate surroundings.

The familiar NIMBY problem.​

And it’s not as though community-oriented cultures are immune to selfishness or individualistic cultures are incapable of generosity.

Human beings are much more complicated than those labels suggest.

The point isn’t that one cultural approach is superior.

It’s that both offer something valuable.

You need enough independence to develop your potential — and enough connection to recognize that your potential can serve something beyond yourself.

What if we became better at balancing those two ideas?

Become Wealthy. Then Put Your Wealth to Work.

Think back to Sunday’s article. I told you I wanted you to be rich.

Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. Spiritually. Socially. Financially.

And I meant it.

I want you to develop your capabilities. Improve your circumstances. Create opportunities. Become more independent. Experience the satisfaction of accomplishing meaningful goals.

But here’s where spiritual wealth gives those ambitions another dimension.

What are you becoming wealthy for?

If you become physically stronger, what will that strength allow you to experience or contribute?

If you become mentally sharper, what problems might you solve?

If you become emotionally wiser, how might your relationships improve?

If you build financial security, what choices and opportunities become available?

And when your own needs are sufficiently met, what might you be able to do for someone else?

Not because you’re obligated to sacrifice everything you’ve earned.

Not because your community has unlimited claims on your time, money, or energy.

And not because generosity should be a transaction where you expect something in return.

But because you’ve benefited from living among other human beings. And now you have the opportunity to contribute something back.

Maybe that contribution is money. Maybe it’s time. Maybe it’s a skill. Maybe it’s wisdom you’ve earned through difficult experience. Maybe it’s simply showing up for someone who needs a dependable friend.

There are many ways to be generous. And you don’t have to be wealthy in every dimension before you can begin.

You probably have something worth sharing already.

The Cycle of Wealth

Here’s the relationship I want you to consider.

1. You develop your capabilities.
2. Those capabilities help you create a better life.
3. Your improved circumstances give you more opportunities to contribute.
4. Your contributions help strengthen the people and communities around you.
5. And stronger communities create more opportunities for others to develop their own capabilities.
6. Then the cycle continues.

Community supports individual growth → Individual growth increases capacity → Capacity enables contribution → Contribution strengthens community.

Of course, real life isn’t always that neat.

• Some communities are inequitable.
• Some people contribute far more than they receive.
• Some forms of generosity go unrecognized.
• And some people face circumstances that make contribution difficult.

This isn’t an accounting system for measuring anybody’s worth.

It’s a way of thinking about what becomes possible when people recognize that individual well-being and community well-being can reinforce each other.

You don’t have to choose between having a good life and helping create a better world.

Often, those goals support one another.

And perhaps spiritual wealth is what helps you remember why both matter.

The Danger of Becoming Rich Without a Reason

Imagine somebody who has accumulated tremendous financial resources.

They’re healthy. Educated. Respected. Surrounded by accomplishments.

But they wake up every morning wondering why any of it matters.

What are they working toward?

What do they care about?

Who benefits from the life they’re building?

Now imagine somebody with far fewer material resources who has a deep sense of purpose.

They know what matters to them.

They recognize their place within their family or community.

They find satisfaction in contributing where they can.

Which person is richer?

It’s not a competition.

And poverty doesn’t become desirable simply because a person has found meaning.

Financial hardship is real, and purpose doesn’t pay the rent.

But material resources alone don’t guarantee a meaningful life either.

The goal isn’t to choose between material well-being and spiritual well-being.

It’s to develop both, so the resources you accumulate can support a life you actually consider worth living.

And that raises a question I think we could all benefit from asking more often.

Am I building a life around what matters to me?

Or am I simply becoming better at chasing whatever happens to be in front of me?

You Don’t Have to Agree With Someone to Recognize Their Devotion

There’s another lesson I take from visiting sacred places.

When Amy and I walk into a mosque, synagogue, church, or temple, we may not share the beliefs of the people who worship there. We may not understand every tradition.

But we can still approach the place with curiosity and respect.

We can recognize that it means something profound to the people who built it and the people who gather there.

And we can allow ourselves to appreciate that without needing to resolve every theological disagreement.

Imagine bringing a little more of that attitude into everyday life.

What if you could appreciate somebody’s commitment to their faith even when you don’t share it?

Or respect someone else’s cultural traditions without needing to adopt them?

Or recognize that someone can live according to different values while still being sincere, generous, and deeply committed to their community?

That doesn’t mean every belief or behavior is equally sound.

You can disagree. You can challenge ideas. You can maintain your own convictions.

But you don’t have to make agreement a condition of respect.

Sometimes spiritual wealth is the capacity to encounter something different from yourself without immediately needing to judge, possess, or defeat it.

And that’s a form of richness worth developing.

Your Call to Action: Build Something That Matters Beyond You

Today, I want you to consider two questions.

First: What gives your life meaning beyond your immediate comfort, success, or possessions?

Maybe you know the answer immediately.

Maybe you haven’t thought about it in a while.

Maybe you’re still discovering it.

Take a few minutes to consider what genuinely matters to you.

Not what impresses other people.

Not what you’re supposed to say.

What you actually believe is worth investing your life in.

Second: How could you use one form of wealth you already possess to contribute to something larger than yourself?

It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture.

• Maybe you could teach someone a skill.
• Support a local organization.
• Spend meaningful time with family.
• Help a neighbor.
• Participate in something that strengthens your community.
• Or simply show appreciation to someone whose contributions have made your life better.

Choose one action you can take this week.

Something specific. Something within your capabilities. And do it without expecting applause or a reward.

Build your wealth. Recognize what made that wealth possible. And find a meaningful way to contribute.

Because becoming rich shouldn’t have to mean becoming disconnected from the people and world around you.

Ideally, it gives you more ways to participate.

🥋 The Dojo Drill: Your Spiritual Wealth Compass

You don’t need a particular religion, philosophy, or set of beliefs to work through this exercise. You simply need a few minutes of honest reflection.

Consider these five questions.

1. What do I value most?

Name three things that matter deeply to you. They might include family, integrity, freedom, compassion, learning, faith, service, creativity, or something else entirely.

2. Where do I feel connected to something larger than myself?

Think about the people, places, experiences, or practices that give you a sense of meaning or belonging. Maybe it’s nature. A place of worship. A family gathering. Your work. Meditation. Art. Or being part of a team working toward something worthwhile.

3. Who helped make my life possible?

Identify a few people whose efforts, guidance, sacrifices, or opportunities helped you become who you are today. Don’t overlook contributions you’ve taken for granted.

4. Where might I be putting my individual wants ahead of something I also claim to value?

Perhaps you value family but rarely make time for it. Perhaps you value community but seldom participate. Perhaps you value generosity but keep postponing opportunities to help.

Don’t use the question to punish yourself. Use it to notice whether your actions match your values.

5. What’s one meaningful contribution I can make this week?

Choose something concrete. Then put it on your calendar or make a commitment to follow through.

And here’s one final question to consider.

If somebody looked at how I actually spend my time, energy, and attention, would they recognize what I say matters most to me?

If the answer is no, that’s useful information. It gives you somewhere to begin.

Because spiritual wealth isn’t merely something you believe. It’s something you can express through how you live.

See you on the mat,

Chuck

📚 From the Leader’s Library

​Think and Grow Rich — Napoleon Hill​

Why?

First published in 1937, Think and Grow Rich remains one of the best-known books on personal achievement.

While the title suggests financial prosperity, Hill’s broader philosophy explores desire, persistence, self-discipline, purposeful work, relationships, and peace of mind. His related work The Master-Key to Riches develops his twelve forms of wealth more explicitly.

It’s worth reading as a thought-provoking approach to personal development, rather than treating every claim as established science.

The question I’d encourage you to bring to the book:

What would becoming genuinely rich make possible in my life—and whose life might become better because of it?

P.S. Know a martial arts gym owner who’s stressed about money or student numbers?

Do them a favor: send them to The Leader's Dōjō, my website where I help owners get more students and keep them longer with simple systems.

One forward from you could change their gym: The Leader's Dōjō​

Chuck