You’re Richer Than You Think

“A dog can’t be anything but a dog. A tree can’t be anything but a tree. But a human being can be whatever he wants to be.” — Les Brown

You hold more power in your hands at this very moment than the wealthiest, most powerful person alive had just a hundred years ago.

Consider this: whenever you want, you or I can instantly reach millions of people at the press of a button through social media.

On top of that, we have the power to find any answer to any question in seconds with a simple Google search.

We have more entertainment at our fingertips than any king, any queen, or any ruler throughout the history of mankind.

These are pleasures of life that were historically afforded only to the top one percent of the one percent — the veritable elites of humanity.

In fact, billions of people have died never knowing even a fraction of the quality of life that many of us take for granted today (myself included).

But not anymore. Today, everyone has access to these things. Even extreme poverty cannot escape the wonders of our world; we are that lucky.

And yet… it’s still not enough. Most people want more.

More..? you’re asking. What more could we possibly create?

One of humankind’s core virtues is our constant desire for improvement. Wherever you go, whatever you do, wherever you look, you will find human beings working to improve their condition.

You can see this on an individual level — from our careers, to our relationships, to even our physiques.

And you can also see it on a societal level — from politics, to social media, to technology. We’re constantly getting better, and our need for progress is insatiable.

Some believe this is what will destroy us in the end.

That overconsumption, overpopulation — the unstoppable growth of mankind— will be our demise.

But I think that it’ll be our salvation.

We’ve already overcome problems that people previously thought were impossible.

We’ve traveled to the Moon. And less than a few hundred years ago, people didn’t even know what the Moon was. Soon, we’ll walk amongst the stars.

We’ve eliminated crippling diseases that used to claim the lives of millions of people. We’ve developed vaccines, mass health programmes, and hospitals.

We’ve enabled the lives of billions, perhaps trillions, of future human beings. And we did it all in less than the most recent one one-hundredth of our collective lifespan.

(Talk about a growth spurt)

What’s next?

The world will be a very different place just twenty or thirty years from now. Even moreso in one hundred years.

If you thought the difference between 1920 and 2020 was big… you haven’t seen anything yet.

But the best part is, the future is yet to come. You and I have the amazing opportunity, right now, to help shape it.

To produce the next iteration of reality, with our words, our actions, and our motivations.

Choose with me, now, to shape it well.