Apart from monetary assets, what other life assets appreciate over time?

Introduction 

The book "Rich Dad Poor Dad" repeatedly emphasizes a core concept:
If you want to become rich, you must constantly purchase assets rather than liabilities.

Assets can provide you with a continuous cash flow, while consumption only brings temporary satisfaction.

The truly smart approach is to use the income generated by assets to pay for your life, enjoy it, and continue to reinvest.

It is precisely this point that led me to ponder a larger question:

Why do some people become more valuable over time, while others are constantly being depleted?

If we view life as a "balance sheet",besides real estate, stocks, and cash flow,
do we also possess some "life assets" that not only do not depreciate but continuously appreciate over time?

I have identified four such assets that are closely related to our lives.

01 、A healthy body- The most fundamental and rewarding asset

I have a deep understanding of this.

After I started running by chance, I persisted for 7 to 8 years.

During these years, colds almost disappeared, and my body's resistance significantly improved.

Many people sacrifice sleep and rest time for work or studies, staying up late.
In the short term, it seems like they are "working hard", but in the long term, they are depleting their lives.

Once health is lost, no amount of money can fully make up for it.

Naval once said:
The methods and processes of forming habits are not important. Even what you do is not important. What matters is to keep exercising every day.

There are many ways to exercise,
but the truly effective one is the one that you can stick to for a long time.

For me personally, the best form of exercise is the one that I can consistently do every day.

I enjoy dancing and playing sports, but what I can stick to in the end are:

• Running
• Yoga
• Not relying on others and not being limited by the venue
  

Now, I will gradually incorporate planks and push-ups into my daily training. Integrating them during yoga sessions is to prevent them from being forgotten and to develop the habit of persistence.

• Eating on time,
• maintaining a regular schedule,
• and continuous exercise,
  

These seemingly ordinary habits, are the highest-return long-term investments in life.

02 、Financial Management Skills: Determine Whether You "Get Easier as You Age"

Why do some people have high incomes but still struggle to make ends meet?
Why do some people with low incomes never worry about their livelihood?

The answer often isn't the income gap; it's the gap in financial management skills.

The older generation often says:

Three meals a day won't make you poor，Daily expenses won't make you poor， What truly makes you poor is your failure to plan and control your spending.

Here, "daily expenses" refers to reasonable basic expenses, not unrestrained consumption.

What is repeatedly emphasized in "Rich Dad Poor Dad" is actually financial intelligence.

In simple terms:

Income - Expenses = Disposable Assets

But in reality, many people do the opposite:

• When income increases, expenses immediately expand
• They mistake "having money on hand" for "true profits"

I have seen many small business owners:

• Don't pay attention to financial planning
• Don't listen to professional advice
• Buying luxury cars and engaging in high-end consumption first

The result is not to spend profits but to increase costs.

Finally, they can't even pay suppliers' payments or employee salaries.

What truly makes people get richer is not earning a lot, but understanding management and delaying gratification.

03 、The ability to continuously learn: The timeless core competitiveness

Knowledge becomes outdated, skills are phased out,but the ability to continuously learn never loses its value.

When a person possesses the ability to continuously learn:

• He can quickly adapt to new technologies
• He can constantly update his cognitive structure
• He won't be easily eliminated by the times
  

I have seen two examples that impressed me deeply:

• A 23-year-old high school dropout, through continuous questioning and learning with AI software, he was enrolled as a researcher by OpenAI, with an annual salary of 700,000 US dollars.
• A 8-year-old girl from the Zhangjiajie scenic area, practicing English with videos for three years, can have fluent conversations with tourists from all over the world

  

The common point of these two is not extraordinary talent, but having a certain ability:
the ability to continuously learn, continuously correct, and constantly "oh, that's how it is".

Imagine, if we keep going on this path, what kind of power will accumulate over the years?

04 、Emotional Management Skills: Determine How Much "Internal Struggle" Your Life Has

Nowadays, many people:

• Getting sleepless over a single critical remark from the leader
• Self-doubt due to a colleague's accusation
• Doubt their entire life due to a single failure

In this highly stressful era,Emotional management skills have become a core survival ability.

Negative emotions can affect everything you are doing:

• Decisions will be worse
• Actions will be delayed
• Judgments will be distorted
  

When a person is emotionally stable and has a positive mindset, they tend to achieve more with less effort.

Emotions should not be suppressed;instead, they need to be understood, seen, and guided.

Don't let emotions control you; instead, learn to coexist with them.

When you stand above your emotions instead of being carried away by them,life will become much more calm.

Conclusion ： True wealth is the long-term compound growth of one's life assets

If we view life as a long-term investment, then every choice we make every day
is determining whether our assets are increasing or decreasing.

Money is just a part of it,while health, financial intelligence, learning ability, and emotional management are the core assets that determine whether you become "more valuable as you age".

When you continuously invest in these assets, your life will gradually reveal its power over time, like compound interest. 

----The article was last updated on Feb 06, 2026.

 

-------Extended Reading and Resources

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