Russell Simmons On Being Rich

Russell Simmons is the founder of Dej Jam & Phat Farm clothing. He's inspired and set new styles for the "urban" youth. Black, white...it doesn't matter when it's green.

But he had something fascinating to say on Adam Carolla's podcast in regards to being rich.

See Simmons was rich at a young age. Not by being born into it, but by creating it brick by brick. Mad respect for the guy who earns a living. Even though it's in music I could care less about, it's amazing his reach. On being rich, his advice is...it won't make you happy. Not that he isn't happy having money, but his feeling is that you only have one ass and one comfortable chair. You can buy as many high end thousands of dollars worth of chairs but you can only still sit in one. What did I take from this statement? Be at the content in which you can respect yourself.

Money while buys you certain luxuries can only find short term joy. YES, it purchases comfort. A lot of that comfort (if you really dissect it) has nothing to do with your own comfort, but for someone else's. A lot of guys could live lower than their means, but a lot of their children do not want to.

I love this attitude. It's not hippie dippie socialist garbage. It's actually telling you to find your level of wealth or success that you can live with. To extend yourself causes a hole that may never be filled. Or that you gauge it on others' success. This movie industry is sickened with it. Your failure is my success type attitude. That's poisonous only to you, if you think like that. Simmons is very clear that being rich didn't make him the man he is now. Understanding his wealth did. His extension of wealth at this point is to do good with it. Help others who have ambition. And lead good men into pushing forward to do more good. This is a legacy.

The point of being rich, isn't just to satisfy your own wants. A Ferrari satisfies you for a few minutes, until you realize the hill you climbed to get it. Most people love the journey and don't really care for the destination. All our lives are a journey and we can learn much from this.