#032 - The Wealthy Poker Player & Farmer (Transcribed from Video Recording)
A dad, husband, poker player, farmer, & fitness enthusiast gives a peek into what "true wealth" is in his life.
Don’t want to read? No problem! You can listen to me reading the article to you by clicking the play button above.
Welcome to the 32nd edition of The Wealth Letters, a crowdsourced Anthology on how to find enough in a noisy world.
The manifesto is a great place to start to better understand the who, what, & why of The Wealth Letters before diving in to the collection.
Video credit: @tyromper on Twitter
Below, is a transcribed letter from Tyler’s video he created for the 8th edition of The Wealth Letters on February 23rd, 2023 where he gives us a glimpse into what true wealth means to him.
The letter has been lightly edited for clarity.
About Tyler Romper
Tyler is a #1 dad & husband, poker player, farmer, fitness enthusiast, and personal life coach.
He has written three books: Maximizing Fatherhood, How I Made $1.7 Million Playing Poker, and 9-5 Fitness.
What is Wealth?
Tyler Romper
February 23rd, 2023
(Transcribed from original video recording)
I was recently asked the question, what does it mean to be wealthy? What do I think wealth is? I think, like most people, when you hear that question, the first thing you think of is money. I think we've seen 100,000 commercials by the time we're 18 that tells us being wealthy is about driving a certain type of car, having a certain kind of watch, having fancy clothing, and having all kinds of stuff.
And I definitely think when I was a youth, that's what I chased. I had a pretty unique experience. By the time I was 22-23, I was making several hundred thousand dollars a year playing poker.
By the time I was in my mid 20s, I had made seven figures playing a card game. And so to me, being wealthy really didn't have anything to do with creating margin in my finances, buying assets, or creating freedom of my time.
It was trying to look wealthy. I think that's a big distinction we need to make, looking wealthy and being wealthy. I looked really wealthy. I had a brand new Mercedes Benz. All my clothes were Armani and Gucci. I had awful looking Prada shoes that were like 1200 bucks. Everything was fancy. Everything I did was fancy. And people would have said, man, he's probably wealthy.
Truth is I was one changed law away from ruin. And that's what happened. They changed the law back when I was playing online poker overnight. I went from making a couple hundred thousand bucks a year to having no income.
I had created this lifestyle that I couldn’t keep up with. That's the kind of “dream” (more of a nightmare) that a lot of people, especially in the West chase nowadays.
Money is a fantastic tool, and allowing your money to work for you is how you really become financially wealthy. I make less money now than I ever did back then, but I am much wealthier now than I was.
True wealth, first and foremost, is your health. If you don't have your health, you have nothing.
We often see people making this trade of their health for money. They'll grind late hours, they'll sacrifice their body, they'll sacrifice sleep to grind a little bit more. They're always on this grind mode. Ultimately, to make money, they'll trade their health.
It's always a poor trade. There is a saying that says:
“A healthy man desires a thousand things, a sick man only desires one.”
I think there's so much wisdom in that. No 90 -year -old billionaire is going to swap lives with me right now. I've got youth. I've got health. I can get around. I can do anything I want. I can go run, lift, jump, explore, and travel. Somebody who's got a billion dollars but is near the end of their journey probably would much rather go back.
We have this misconception that stuff = wealth. Right now, I'm wearing a free sweatshirt that was gifted to me and K-Mart shorts. I have no more fancy clothes. I drive a nine -year -old soccer dad SUV that gets me from point A to point B.
Most people that would see me would think, man, he probably isn't wealthy, right? To me, I think I'm the richest guy in the world. I'm surrounded by family and a home that loves me. I have all my basic needs provided for. I have freedom of time.
I never have to drive to a meeting I don't want to go to. I don't have a boss telling me what to do. I am wealthy with time. I think that's what we all really want. Money is a tool that buys time. Money comes and goes; time doesn't. Once it's gone, it's gone forever.
I think wealthy people understand this, and is why we purchased 70 acres of farmland back in our hometown. Half of our basic needs are met completely passively through our farmland.
I'll never have a car payment again. I'm going to invest that money into more assets that buy my time back.
True wealth is health, loved ones, and freedom of time.
Every day, I work with people I want to work with. I choose to only work on the things that I want to work on that I'm passionate about. I get to be around my family as much as I want. I think those are the things that really make us wealthy.
Take it from a guy who had all that fancy stuff and fancy lifestyle in his early 20s. I was miserable trying to keep up with the Joneses… trying to buy the next thing. Once you realize that happiness comes from within, it has nothing to do with stuff. You realize it's the simple things.
A cool exercise I did many years ago that led me to this definition of wealth was I asked myself, “What does a perfect day look like for me?”
I really started to break this down. I said, What do I really want to do every day? What do I want my weeks to look like? It had nothing to do with stuff. It was the time I was spending with my loved ones. The time I had to go to the gym, sit in the sauna, take a walk every day. That stuff matters a lot to me.
I think we all need to look inside and ask ourselves the question, “What does wealth mean to me?” I've had the opportunity to hop on calls with guys who are billionaires, and wealth looks different to them than it will to me.
To them, they feel like they have a different mission; a different calling. I don't downplay anybody else's definition of wealth, but I do think we need to be honest and take a hard look at what it means to our own selves. I urge you to take a moment and do what I did and map out what your perfect day looks like. What's your perfect week look like? What kinds of things are included in there?
Take a look at your budget and see what tweaks are needed to achieve those things, because again, we don't get time back. That's the number one resource. Nobody gets to their deathbed and says, “I wish I would have made more money.” Nobody gets to their deathbed and says, “I wish I would have got that promotion.”
Most people say, “I wish I had more time. I wish I had taken that risk. I wish I had spent more time with my family and loved ones.”
I'll leave you with this. I'm really big on gratitude. I've done a gratitude journal for over four and a half years in a row without missing a day.
When I am feeling down, I go back and I read that gratitude journal. There isn’t one thing that had to do with stuff or money. It’s my daughter wrapping her arms around me and just giving me a hug and whispering in my ear, “I love you, daddy.” An awesome moment that my wife and I had on a date night. Adopting our son and hearing him speak for the first time. Getting our second son. These are the things that make up my gratitude journal.
I challenge your thinking. I think society programs us to think more money and more stuff. Oftentimes we're just working to buy things we don't need to impress people we don't really care about. I realized I was on that hamster wheel for a while.
What is wealth? What's it look like? Ask yourself that question today.
Further Resources:
To view Tyler’s books and coaching opportunities, visit his website.
Tyler also shares insights daily with his Twitter audience at @tyromper
Thank You for Your Support
Would you consider sharing The Wealth Letters with a friend? That would be so much appreciated:
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If that sounds interesting to you, here is a link to write your letter for the collection.
If you would like to voice record your wealth letter, you can do that easily by clicking here (your voice recording will then be sent to me directly, and I will transcribe it into written format for your review before publishing).
I always appreciate any feedback, ideas for letters, or just to chat!
Reach out via email: support@thewealthletters.com or by commenting on this post.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Jordan
Ty, so much appreciate you sharing your story with us!
What stuck out to me most was the quote:
"I am wealthy with time. I think that's what we all really want."