A recent survey showed that many consider themselves poorer compared to last year.

I think this is a wrong impression, an incorrect conclusion. I dare say most of us have become wealthier and increase our net worth every single day. Many of us are probably millionaires several times over. It’s just we are using an incomplete balance sheet.

The traditional mindset for wealth includes the things you own and the things you owe: Your house, money in the bank, your business, precious collections such as paintings, real estate; loans, debts, operating expense, etc. Get the difference and you get either a loss (negative) or a gain (positive).

How about considering the following as part of your assets?

Your knowledge and skills. Many bloggers write about themselves and rarely see how much their talent is worth. Often, this never gets highlighted in a resume. I have an officemate who is a deep thinker and writes excellently to pursue this avenue. I encounter a lot of people who know they are talented yet seem to discount these as capital. Singers, musicians, leaders, great with kids, have a way with people, can look at the big picture easily, can work methodically, likes the nitty-gritty, can act, is good with numbers, can fix anything, speaks well in front of people… Any of these yours? They are greater than gold in value.

Your successes. The awards that you got in grade school and high school certainly count. Graduating from college. Passing the board exams. Promotions and commendations in your work. Getting praises and expressions of gratitude for helping out. Having been featured in a magazine, newspaper or website. Being tapped as a subject matter expert in your field of expertise like technology, elearning or personal development. Putting up a blog and keeping it active and attracting traffic. Developing the reading habit (or any good habit), focusing on positive thoughts and passing the things you learned. You do not have to get a medal, a plaque or trophy. There are successes big and small, you just have to look back and take stock.

Your Experiences (specially the bad ones) and Failures. Failures and bad experiences as wealth? Yes, if you’ve learned the lessons. Any new thing you learn increases your portfolio.

In 2004, I started web publishing with hard coding html. It was a disaster as i struggled and almost gave up. I thought I’d have to get a costly software but learned that there was Wordpress: it does what I want and is free. I’ve used it ever since. There were two things I’ve learned from that. First, the knowhow I gained in coding still helps me to this day. Second, now, I always do my research first for a free and/or easier solution to any web-related application I need, even at work.

At one point during high school, I went to school without breakfast nor allowance. That experience I still treasure and still ground me. Though I would not wish it to happen again to me or anybody, that phase is one of my most valuable treasures. I will not exchange it for a million dollars.

If you ask most millionaires who went through hard times before becoming achieving success, the times they were at their lowest were also the times that have helped them succeed later. Failing forward ring a bell?

Your Connections. Though it sometimes has a bad impression, having connections or a good network is part of your wealth.  I’m glad I met Bo Sanchez and consider him a mentor. My brother-in-law surgeon-oncologist was heaven-sent for my mother. People I consider brothers and sisters in our covenant community also have helped me come up with solutions. Relatives and classmates are people i can rely on too. People I wrote to (but didn’t know) and responded. People I met even once. Their collective knowledge, skills, talents, experience, failures and success are potentially at my disposal.

With these assets, I’m a billionaire many times over if I put even just a minimum amount on each of these.

All of us have our skills, talents, knowledge, successes, experiences and connections. They are part of our wealth.

Each of us is wealthy beyond our wildest imaginations.