In a world obsessed with hustle and high performance, what does it really mean to live a rich life? For many, wealth is equated with financial abundance—a bigger house, a better job, a larger bank balance. But there’s a quiet shift stirring in the hearts of those who are no longer satisfied with material success alone. One such voice leading this gentle revolution is Sahil Bloom, whose new book, The 5 Types of Wealth, is less about building fortunes and more about building a fulfilled inner life.
Sahil Bloom is not your typical finance guru. Yes, he was once the youngest investment banker in a prestigious firm, managing over $2.5 billion in assets and becoming Vice President at age 27. But rather than ride the tide of conventional success, he chose to pause, reflect, and reroute. What followed was a radical act of alignment: he left behind the lucrative world of private equity to pursue writing, creating, and teaching – what he calls doubling down on himself.
What drove this decision was a deeper calling – one that many spiritual seekers will recognize. He realized that true wealth cannot be measured in digits. It must be felt in the body, lived through relationships, cultivated through presence, and grounded in meaning.
What makes a life rich?
In The 5 Types of Wealth: A Transformative Guide to Design Your Dream Life, Bloom introduces a soulful framework for abundance. He names five pillars that make a human life truly prosperous:
- Time Wealth – The freedom to spend your time how and with whom you choose.
- Social Wealth – Deep, nourishing relationships and community.
- Mental Wealth – Peace of mind, clarity, purpose, emotional well-being.
- Physical Wealth – Health, vitality, and care for the body.
- Financial Wealth – Yes, money matters – but only as a support for the others.
The most powerful thing about this list? Money comes last. It’s not neglected, but it’s rightly dethroned. Sahil doesn’t preach renunciation – he simply offers a more holistic vision of what wealth can look and feel like when led by intention, not insecurity.
“Time is wealth.”
Sahil Bloom invites us to reclaim time as the rarest form of abundance. Time to sit with your parents. Time to hold your child’s hand. Time to walk without a destination. Time to breathe, to be, to live.
In a world that steals our time with endless busyness, he reminds us: what you give your time to, you give your life to.
A life-altering realization
One of the most poignant moments in the book is when Sahil reflects on how often he would realistically see his parents in the years ahead. If he saw them once a year, and they had 15 years left – that was just 15 visits. That sobering calculation became a pivot point. It whispered to him what many of us already feel but often ignore – life is now. And the time to be with those we love, to live according to our values, is not some future chapter. It is this one.
This seed of urgency – not fear, but loving awareness – began his inner journey. He began writing, not just as an outlet but as a service. His newsletter, The Curiosity Chronicle, grew from 100 subscribers in 2020 to over 800,000. His social media presence blossomed organically, rooted in insight rather than performance.
From peak to path – The courage to reroute
When Sahil left the world of finance, people were shocked. Why leave a high-paying, high-status job for something so uncertain? Even he wasn’t sure – until a friend pointed out that he was choosing between something he no longer enjoyed and something he loved. That clarity was all he needed.
This moment is a call for all of us, especially those climbing fast and hard, to pause and ask:
“Am I on the right mountain?”
Life designed around meaning
Today, Sahil’s life revolves around a few simple but profound things. He coaches his son’s Little League team. He begins each day with a plunge into cold water—a ritual that strengthens his mind and spirit. He walks daily, without headphones or distractions, letting his thoughts breathe and settle. It’s on these walks, he says, that he has his best ideas.
His values have also shaped his spending. He invests generously in health, travel, learning, and people. And he saves on what doesn’t bring him closer to his purpose – the shiny distractions, the comparison traps, the need to impress.
He often says, “Find your version of enough.” That may be the heart of his philosophy. In a world driven by more, he invites us into the peace of sufficiency.
“Sometimes, you’re climbing the wrong mountain.”
In his book, Sahil Bloom gently challenges our attachment to linear progress. He suggests that strength is not in enduring misaligned paths, but in walking back down, with humility, and beginning again.
Real courage, he writes, is not in the grind – it’s in the course correction.
A soulful legacy
Sahil’s roots run deep. His Indian mother, who arrived in the US alone with just a scholarship and no safety net, and his Jewish-American father, a Princeton scholar from the Bronx, gave him the values of grit, education, and humility. Their story is interwoven into his own—a quiet reminder that our legacy isn’t what we leave behind, but what we carry forward.
Despite early success, Sahil admits that for years, arrogance masked his insecurity. What changed? He began accepting himself as he was, and slowly built a life that felt true.
He writes not to impress, but to express. Not to preach, but to remind.
And perhaps his gentlest reminder is this:
90% of life is out of your hands – luck, birth, timing. But the other 10%? That’s where your power lives. Focus there.
Final thought
At A Lotus in the Mud, we believe that true growth begins with awareness. Sahil Bloom’s book is not a manual for external wealth – it’s a soulful guide back to the treasures you already have. Time. Breath. Presence. Connection. Choice.
In a noisy world that constantly tells us we are not enough, his voice is a quiet, steady one that says:
You already are.
Design your life from that place, and you will never feel poor again.
Sahil, his name in Urdu, means the end of journey, he says.
The 5 Types of wealth- A Transformative Guide to Design your Dream Life by Sahil Bloom, published by Random House, 400 pages, paperback $12.50
Ideal read for: Spiritual seekers, conscious entrepreneurs, burned-out professionals, or anyone longing for a fuller, freer life.
