On inner wealth

Listen to Fuquan Bilal share his morning ritual, and you will see what wealth looks like. You do not need to know how much money he has to know that Fuquan is grounded in his own inner wealth and surrounded by things, people, and opportunities that make him rich.

In the video above, he takes us through his morning routine, his daily practices that bring his awareness to his inner wealth and his creative abilities. It is impossible to listen to his routine and not become a little enlightened yourself.

We chatted the other day about the ways he and his business support their community by teaching financial literacy. Fuquan is committed to revitalizing the underprivileged communities and peoples around where he grew up in New Jersey.

He is on the board of the New Jersey nonprofit Roots & Wings, which provides housing and teaches life skills to young adults who have grown up in group homes or foster home settings, and he’s personally involved in teaching them financial literacy fundamentals. His business NNG Capital Fund supports that mission through charity events as well.

Foster youth aren’t the only ones who would benefit from learning basic financial literacy. The truth is most schools do not teach any sort of financial health or literacy topics (I know mine didn’t). This means most people graduate high school and even college (like me) with a lot of fear and anxiety around money and many misconceptions about how to use it and how to build and grow wealth.

Fuquan says that financial literacy does not begin with a better understanding of money: “Mostly I start with, how do they see themselves. It’s all inner work. What is the mindset first… It goes a little bit deeper than that because I can’t work with someone who doesn’t have the mindset to be able to receive and understand, so now, it’s what type of habits do you have when it comes to money, like what does money mean to you?”

there are many forces in our society that would rather most people not become financially savvy

What you don’t learn in school

During our conversation, Fuquan asked me, “Do you think you not getting [a financial education] in school was done intentionally to make you be a worker?” I think it’s likely. I don’t believe the government has some secret agenda or doctrine against teaching financial literacy, but I do believe there are many forces in our society that would rather most people not become financially savvy. These forces are the entities that rely on lifelong wage laborers and faithful consumers to benefit the minority that understands the secrets to building wealth.

Regardless of the cause of the lack of financial education, the reality is that the majority of students graduates with little understanding of how to look after their financial well being (at best) and many misconceptions and unhealthy practices around money (at worst).

Even if there were basic financial literacy courses in schools (like ones that cover budgeting and how to manage credit use), there is still our culture of overconsumption and accumulation to work against. Wealth is about more than having a lot or having more than the person next to you.

When teaching financial literacy, Fuquan begins the discussion with deeply personal questions: How do you see yourself? and Who do you want to become?

He explains, “It all starts from what type of goals do you have? Who do you want to become? What do you want to do? Do you want to be an entrepreneur? If you want to work with somebody as an engineer or whatever, that’s fine. But do you want a family? Like, you need that tool [of] money to be able to support your family, to do the things you like to do.”

“Now, once we start to figure out what your why or your end goal is or what is that thing you’re chasing to give you your feeling of importance, now we work on just focusing on how do you achieve that from a service standpoint. How can you add value to others in that industry or that field or whatever you want to do. And once we figure that out, that’s the creative work… That’s the fun work. The tool money will come along as you’re adding value and providing service”

I think that’s beautiful. It’s important first to be clear on your non-money goals because then you start to see money more as a tool for achieving them. In our economy, money follows value, and everyone has some sort of skill that can add value to someone else in the form of some service. If you can connect with that opportunity and prove your value, you will be paid for that service.

Wealth is about more than having a lot or having more than the person next to you

Everyone has some value to offer; as Fuquan explains, success is just a matter of “cultivating that practice of thinking that you inherently have this value to provide and just always have your eyes open for the opportunity to offer it.”

This truth is important to remember: Money follows value; it does not create value.

When you start to think like this, you get a new perspective on every transaction in the economy: the price paid for a product or service does not make something valuable; rather, it affirms (and quantifies) the value the product or service already, “inherently” offered.

This reality means there is already value in everything, including yourself. You “just always have [to have] your eyes open for the opportunity to offer it.”

Our society and culture, however, resist that sort of thinking. Our capitalist society and consumerist culture would rather you believe your value comes from external things like money, cars and clothes. This lie keeps your thinking small (what you can buy), and your self-worth dependent on how much money you can make.

Fuquan explains, when people think this way, “they [are] a slave of money and go work to earn money, instead of being a master of it and providing [a] service for the field they want to be in or […] they want to be involved in, and then the money will eventually come.”

When money is your goal or when you believe money is necessary in order to be worthy of your goals, money is your master; it becomes an elusive entity that holds power over you and your future. Money limits your goals and aspirations. That limitation sounds (and feels) like, “I can’t afford…” or “I will be able to do/be… when I have X dollars.”

When you believe your value comes from money, money can become fearful: “Will there be enough tomorrow?”

When you remind yourself of your inherent value, you realize: Yes, there is enough; you will still be here tomorrow, and you will be just as valuable (if not more) than you were today.

Money Mantras:

• What you appreciate appreciates
• Pay yourself first
• Spend less than you make

This is a feature story of Zeneration Wealth — a platform for empowering Gen Z and beyond with new ideas of financial wealth and well being. As a community, we are creating a new paradigm of success. If you have your own thoughts on these topics, feel free to reply to this post to keep the conversation going.

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