The Seasons of Life

Happy spooky szn.

During maternity leave as I tried to think of ways to entertain myself during long and frequent nursing sessions, I came across Sahil Bloom’s The 5 Types of Wealth, a book I’ve been curious to check out as a longtime Twitter/Threads follower of his. More of a rehash than a reinvention, the book mostly just catalogued common self-help concepts into 5 distinct pillars: time, social, mental, physical, and financial. Many of these frameworks are familiar territory to anyone who’s dabbled in self-help.

However, one concept struck a chord. Bloom pointed out that throughout life, we go through seasons that ebb and flow, characterized by different wants, needs, priorities, and challenges. In different phases of life, the ideal approach and balance of pillars will change based on different pursuits. Each season is just one part of the greater multi-season war of life.

This got me reflecting back. How have these pillars of wealth changed over the course of my adult life so far?

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Time Wealth is making the conscious decision to focus on what matters and the freedom to choose however you want to spend your time.

Time, the most important type of wealth, has fluctuated over the seasons of my life. In college I begrudgingly got through a time-consuming major I didn’t love and traded remaining time for numerous part-time jobs. In 2020 we collectively lost our freedoms as the pandemic started and we physically could not spend time the way we wanted to. In the past few years, I’ve taken advantage of a job that grants me work-life balance to buy more time.

Reflecting back, there is an inverse relationship between time and financial wealth, especially during early adulthood when finances can’t yet be leveraged. (More on this later.) I also noticed that the eras when I have most control over my time were the years I was happiest. This year, as Simon and I become parents, I’m choosing to sacrifice my time over the next however many years to build something more meaningful.

Social Wealth is your community. It’s what matters most at the end of your life. Early on I figured out that home is not a geographical place; its your people .

Ten years ago, college was full of friends and social life. Post-grad and moving away to the East Coast meant being away from friends and family in pursuit of a dream career. While in New York, I worked for a big name photographer who had an illustrious career you could only dream of. He lived and worked out of a beautiful, spacious 3-story property in the West Village, and spent every other week traveling around the world to shoot magazine covers and well-paid commercial jobs. However, he had no one to come home to in the middle of the night. His closest people were people who worked for him.

Ultimately, my community was a big deciding factor in moving back home, which helped me deepen my relationship with Simon and revive my “village.” Meeting new people at work, getting married, having a child also brought new sets of people into my social circles. In 2024 I even forwent a promotion to rejoin a team with colleagues I liked. At the end of the day, it’s who you spend your time with that makes the journey worth it.

Mental Wealth is about growing your inner child. Developing the curiosity to explore, find your purpose, and learn new things and grow.

I define mental wealth as clarity and curiosity of mind. When I’m at my richest, I’m in a state of flow. That comes from my creative work, writing, meditation, and opportunities to learn — essentially “play” and “rest.” In college I was fueled by my dedication to my creative work, trying my hardest to define a professional identity. In post-grad that focus shifted to learning to be happy, despite a pandemic quarantine and a job prospect that didn’t land. In the past few years, as I’ve moved away from an emphasis on financial wealth, I’m making more time for creative projects that give me a reason to jump out of bed in the morning. Why have money if you can’t spend time doing things that inspire and recharge you?

Physical Wealth is about taking care of your health. It’s the most tangible type of wealth.

It’s something I took for granted in my early 20’s, like most young people do. I ate whatever was inexpensive and free and pulled all-nighters at the drop of a hat. The defining moment when I felt like I truly matured into adulthood was when I started cooking for myself and eating healthy. This lifestyle snowballed to include one of fitness these past few years, where motivation came from measurable goals like completing races, adventurous travels, and improving at a sport. However, it wasn’t until pregnancy and childbirth when I truly understood the full potential of this investment in my body. As I recover (and my hormones settle), I look forward the regaining my strength and reclaiming my body for myself. Starting with sleep.

Financial Wealth is your net worth. But it’s also about figuring out how much money is “enough” and working towards that.

The most volatile asset, financial wealth is a means, not an end. During college, I traded time for freelance jobs and gigs that provided me with spending money. After college, I scheduled targeted sprints of time focused on job hunting, which generated additional income that I’ve used for big purchases in life. As my financial wealth compounds through long-term investment, I can escape time-for-money model of my early 20’s, and instead leverage finances to buy wealth in other areas, like a house for my family, a wedding that united our communities, and time to spend on new priorities like raising kids.

The 20s are truly a transformative time, where circumstances and fluctuating priorities led me all over the place, but ultimately built the foundation for my life today. Reflecting back on these years was a fun exercise — and sharing it here on the internet may have been too personal — but I believe mistakes are our greatest teachers. The good, the bad… there’s beauty in all this chaos.

Looking at the overlapping graphs and the relationships across them, it’s clear how priorities have shifted between different aspects of my life, trading off one for another as the need arose. It’s now clear why I was depressed in 2017, when all levels were low. It’s also trending downward as of this year, reminding me of the sacrifices I’ve made as a new mother as we start to build a family. It may be hard now but it’s an investment towards an even more fulfilling and thriving existence.

Alas, no winter lasts forever, and no spring skips its turn. Embrace the current season in all its imperfections, and know that it’s only a piece of the continuous journey.

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