In my life, I have chased after people, relationships, ideas and material objects only to realize later that what I had hoped for did not happen. Then I began to ask myself: what experience did I really want and what symbol was I chasing instead? The big car didn't make me happy, and great material wealth could even cause my own inner emptiness to become particularly noticeable.

Aren't we all put on a "track" of how we should be? What is desirable? What the neighbors think of us? Doesn't peer pressure push us towards branded products at school just to gain recognition or compensate for a lack of love? In short: accumulating symbols instead of following our true purpose?

"We use money we don't have to buy products we don't need in order to impress people we don't like."

This sentence clearly shows what many of us do - and what I used to do. I had built an office building, at a prime address and with expensive furniture, because at the time I thought that was the way to do it. I had put up a lot of fronts and made a lot of money for others to impress them.

That's how I lived, with houses as well as cars: the first car dreams came from playing car quartets. Whoever had the higher horsepower number on the card won. Later, it was all about the exterior: Who do I impress and how? It took some time, but at some point I realized: the exterior is seen by the people outside, but not by me when I'm sitting inside! Once I understood this, I was able to buy cars or apartments more consistently, where the main aspect was: How do I feel inside, regardless of what others think on the outside? Because only then does the freedom of being and the opportunity to live yourself begin.

That might sound a bit like I'm against great cars and other material things. But quite the opposite: I am very much in favor of having what you really want! There is an important sentence in my goal achievement program The Goal Achiever:

"You don't have to justify what you want to anyone, not even to yourself."

... And certainly not in front of other people. Every success, every luxury is granted if it corresponds to your true inner self and fits your purpose. Not just granted, but much more: I encourage you to do exactly that!

Being rich for a better world means that we are committed to prosperity - meaningful, qualitative prosperity that brings us humans further into a society in which we can all grow holistically. At a societal level, this means not only looking at gross domestic product and bills written, but also at the quality of the business that underpins it.

In the next blog post, I will write a little more about the Human Development Index (HDI), which has been with the UN for over 20 years but has yet to "catch on", as they say. The HDI measures the prosperity of a country not only in terms of bills written, but also - among other things - in terms of the health and educational status of the population. Take this basic idea to heart for a moment and apply it to companies, families and us individuals. How can the application of the HDI transform these individuals, families and companies?

I am sure that in this way we are already getting closer to what the point of it all can and should be. What is it really about and what should it be about? What's the purpose?