The Kind of Wealth That Doesn’t Break You

What Proverbs 10:22 Teaches About a High-Performance Life

“The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, and He adds no trouble to it.”

Most people chase wealth like it’s a sprint. A year-on-year sprint that is fixated on the performance cycle of their organization that results in a five to six digit financial reward. But, our bodies and minds remind us, slowly at first and then suddenly, that a life filled with stress, sleep debt, disconnection, and emotional pressure isn’t wealth. It’s a high-interest loan disguised as success and passion.

When we look at wealth from the ancient languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, we see a very different picture from what we see on Instagram or in corporate KPIs and OKRs.

They describe a form of richness that expands your life without adding pressure, anxiety, or pain. And honestly? That’s the conversation today’s high-performance leaders need. 

Pause for a moment and reflect on this!

Wealth Isn't Money. It's Capacity.

The Hebrew word for “wealth” here, עָשַׁר (ʿashar), literally means “to be enriched, to flourish, to expand.” It’s not just about a larger remuneration package, a nicer postcode or a more impressive LinkedIn headline. It’s about having the capacity for betterment:

• Better sleep

• Better relationships

• Better health

• Better emotional balance

• Better decision-making (we become and look like the decisions in our lives)

 In Aramaic, the nuance is deeper: wealth is wellbeing, a life that is stable, peaceful, and free from relentless toil.

The Greek translation (πλουτίζω, ploutizō) pushes it even further: richness is abundance in every dimension, not simply financial.

Modern performance psychology agrees. Research from Harvard, Stanford, and McKinsey keeps repeating the same truth:

Wealth without wellbeing collapses. But wellbeing becomes the multiplier of every other kind of wealth.

The Wealth That Comes With Trouble vs. The Wealth That Comes With Rest

 Proverbs’ makes a bold claim:

There is a kind of “wealth” that destroys its owner. And there is a kind that lifts them.

Anyone in their mid-30s to 60s knows this instinctively. You can achieve success by force, grinding, pushing, sacrificing sleep, losing connection with people, and living in a constant stress response. That is “riches with sorrow.” Is this what it means to live and work? 

You can also build a life where your success grows as your energy, relationships, and inner strength grow. That is “riches without trouble.” Modern neuroscience explains the same idea:

• Chronic stress shrinks the prefrontal cortex (your decision-making engine)

• Sleep debt reduces cognitive performance by up to 40%

• Constant busyness produces shallow work and poor emotional regulation

In other words, if your success is costing you your health, mental wellbeing, peace, time with loved ones, or values, it’s the wrong kind of success.

Alignment With The High Performance Living Framework

Amazingly, when we focus on “richness that expands our life without adding pressure, anxiety, or pain” it comes to no surprise that it aligns to the High Performance Living framework of Sleep–Nutrition–Movement–Relaxation–Connection (SNMRC). Let’s take a look at what this “wealth” looks like this:

• SLEEP — Cognitive and emotional replenishment: Deep rest is not a luxury; it’s performance infrastructure. This wealth adds energy, not exhaustion.

• NUTRITION — Fuel for physical and mental clarity: Better eating patterns create metabolic stability, the foundation for sustained leadership and focus. “Trouble-free wealth” means the body works with you, not against you.

• MOVEMENT — Strength, mobility, vitality: Exercise is one of the strongest predictors of longevity and mental wellbeing. A rich life involves an active body, not a deteriorating one.

• RELAXATION — Stress recovery and calm capacity: High performers know: calm is a superpower. The Hebrew text literally says: “He adds no sorrow with it.” No anxiety. No collapse.

• CONNECTION — Strong relationships and anchored identity: Connection is the currency that stabilises everything. God-designed wealth builds your relationships; it never poisons them.

Wealth Is About Alignment, Not Accumulation

Wealth is a by-product of atonement and alignment with God:

• Good decisions

• Healthy rhythms

• Strong character

• Meaningful relationships

• A life not dominated by fear or striving

In performance psychology, we call this congruence, your life systems working together rather than fighting each other. Think of it like training. If your movement, sleep, nutrition, mindset, and recovery align, the gains come naturally. If any pillar is out of sync, progress becomes painful and inconsistent.

We see the same thing in Proverbs, wealth comes naturally when your life is in wise alignment. You don’t have to bleed for it.

What This Means for Busy Adults Living at Full Throttle

You are in the most stretched, high-responsibility decade of your life. Career pressures, family needs, financial commitments, complicated relationships, and the weight of personal expectations are all real. 

Here is the message in one line:

Stop chasing the kind of wealth that empties you. Start building the kind of wealth that strengthens you.

Pay attention to the paradigm you carry.

Typical High Performance Paradigm:

• Intensity

• More, stretch further

• Be more visible

Shift Happens Paradigm:

• Sustainability

• Lifestyle readjustments

• Spiritually-centred

And sustainability comes from a life that is:

• Rooted

• Rested

• Connected

• Aligned

• Spiritually anchored

That is biblical wealth. That is high-performance wealth. That is a life God blesses.

A High-Performance Takeaway You Can Use Today

Here’s a simple reflection:

Does the success I’m chasing enlarge my life or squeeze it?

If it enlarges you, i.e., your joy, your capacity, your health, your peace, keep going. If it squeezes you, i.e., your sleep, your integrity, your relationships, your peace, your time with God, pause and reset (adjust). This is a paradigm shift toward longevity.

Success is healthiest when God is the one building it, through your daily habits, not a once in a lifetime transformation.