THINKDROP 29: What Is Wealth, Really?
- Pierre Stanghellini
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
>A minibus, a quiet question, and a 7-part reset for 2026.
🎤 From Me to You
A few days ago, I was riding the minibus from Stanley to Central, on my way to my weekly early morning Touch Rugby session with a good friend — a brilliant, calm, and lucid entrepreneur-investor.
We were catching up, and he told me about a recent project that turned into a major financial success.
Naturally, I smiled and said: “That’s amazing — you’re even richer now!”
But then he looked at me, paused for a second, and replied with one of the deepest energy I have seen from him:
“But what is wealth, really?”
At first, I thought it was fake modesty — something you hear a lot from people who’ve already “made it.”
I laughed — as if I were in his shoes today, I would be dancing the Macarena on the beach to celebrate this success.
But he wasn’t joking. He was dead serious. And somehow, that sentence stuck with me.
After a trip back to France to celebrate Christmas with my family, I finally understood what he meant.
💰 Is that what really matters?
In 2026, asking that question might seem ridiculous. Or even indecent — especially coming from someone who’s lived 15 years in Hong Kong and across Asia, where wealth is often the center of gravity.
But my friend was right.
So for this first Thinkdrop of the year, I won’t give you a strategy — just a perspective shift:
What if we started the year not by chasing more — but by redefining what important truly means?
Here are 7 types of wealth that money alone can’t buy. If even one is missing, the whole system cracks.
Let's dig in!
Pierre Stanghellini
HARi.wtf founder
🧭 7 Dimensions of Real Wealth
1. Wealth without health
You may have everything — except energy, breath, or a body that keeps up.
Without health, everything is fragile. And money can’t buy your way out.
>What’s the point of being rich if you’re too sick to enjoy it?
2. Wealth without love
Success, deals, dinners — but no one to really share them with.
No deep love. No shared silence. That emptiness grows louder than any luxury.
>What’s the value of wealth if, at night, you go to bed alone?
3. Wealth without friendship
Not followers. Not sycophants. Real friends who show up when you fall.
Without them, everything turns into performance. And success loses its taste.
>What’s the point of dining at Michelin-starred restaurants if you’re always sitting alone?
4. Wealth without stability
You might be winning big, but living in constant chaos. Financial highs, emotional lows. No roots. That’s not freedom — that’s golden anxiety.
>What’s the point of being rich if your inner world is total emotional chaos?
5. Wealth without values
Getting rich by betraying your own beliefs. Selling what you don’t believe in.
Building what doesn’t align. Yes, you’ll make money — but you’ll lose yourself.
>What pride is there in building wealth on manipulation, exploitation, or theft?
6. Wealth without fulfillment
Waking up without energy. Living without joy. Doing work that looks good but feels empty. That’s not success — that’s a golden cage.
>What kind of life is it if you wake up every day with zero motivation?
7. Wealth without transmission
Keeping everything for yourself. Hoarding. Never sharing. Never teaching. Never giving. What’s the point of having — if nothing outlives you?
>What’s the use of being rich if your wealth ends up in your grave?
💡 FINAL DROP — Wealth is not a number. It’s a balance.
Yes, money helps. It opens doors. It gives you options.
But if it comes alone — or costs you everything else — it ends up being a very expensive trade.
What my friend was saying, quietly, in that 7 am minibus, was this:
Real wealth isn’t about having more. It’s about having enough — across all dimensions.
And maybe in 2026, instead of asking “how do I get richer? ”, we should start asking: 'How do I feel whole?”
🙏 NEW YEAR INVITATION
As you plan your year, your projects, your targets — make room for more than growth.
Make room for:
Health
Love
Friendship
Stability
Values
Fulfillment
Transmission
Because if even one of those is missing…
The pursuit of money might cost you more than you think.
Just a quiet reflection to begin the year.
With gratitude,
Pierre Stanghellini
→ Let’s connect, drop me a line directly at pierre@hari.wtf .
P.S. Let me end with something personal.
This holiday season, I had the luck to take this photo of my father, André — 81 years old — smiling in our kitchen. Ten years ago, he survived colon cancer. Just recently, he beat lung cancer too.
Two years ago, we thought that Christmas might be his last.
And this year, against all odds, we were together again — all of us — celebrating the birth of Christ, around the table, in peace.
It wasn’t the “right” time financially to travel to France. But here’s the truth:
What’s the financial value of that photo — my dad, smiling in our kitchen, still alive? The answer: There is no price.
And no amount of millions could buy it.
That, too, is part of what real wealth means.
Thank you from the deep of my heart for your support and make this rights decisions for 2026!
With my love, Pierre
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About the Creator
Pierre Stanghellini is a creative strategist, systems thinker, and curator of mental rabbit holes. He created Thinkdrop Weekly to feed the brains that don’t want the same old Business advice. If you’re building something bold, beautiful, or strange—this is your corner of the internet.
About HARi.wtf
HARi.wtf is a creative strategy studio for businesses that hate business-as-usual.
Born in Hong Kong, in 2017, we work with restless founders, operators, and teams who’d rather break things thoughtfully than grow them blandly. We don’t do generic decks or bloated strategies—we build clarity, guts, and traction.
From street-level restaurants to global brands, from Asia to Europe, we help shape ideas that move fast when it matters, and slow when it counts.
→ Explore more at hari.wtf
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