True Wealth

The greatest value of Quadrant II as it applies to both money and time is in the wealth it generates—not just in terms of financial security and growth, but also in terms of inner wealth and fulfillment.

Each time you act in ways that demonstrate that your commitment to your goals, your future, your spouse, and yourself is stronger than your moods or whatever is pushing you at the moment, you make deposits in your own “Personal Integrity Account.”^[14] This is your most important “trust” account. It reflects the amount of trust you have in your relationship with yourself. The higher the balance, the greater your reservoir of personal strength and the greater your ability to do what matters most on a regular basis.

In addition, the more you act with integrity to the value you place on your family, the more you build the “family trust,” or the “Emotional Bank Accounts,”^[15] you have with the members of your family. As we observed before, time and money are the language of value. Where we spend our time and money—and how we make time/money decisions—communicate what’s important to us. That’s why time/money issues and decisions are often so frustrating and emotionally charged.

In a marriage, they become symbolic of the importance we place on shared vision, unity and communication, on our spouses’ needs and desires, on the true degree of equality and partnership in the marriage, and on our own integrity and trustworthiness in making commitments and following through. In the family, they become symbolic of the relationship between parents and children and the value given to children’s needs, desires, and input. That’s why the way we deal with time/money issues on a day-in and day-out basis has such a significant impact on the quality of marriage and family life. It tends to either build or destroy the most important “family trust” in which we can invest.

^[14]Covey, Stephen R.; Merrill, A. Roger; and Merrill, Rebecca R. First Things First, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1994, see esp. pp. 137–138.

^[15]Covey, Stephen R. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Simon and Schuster, New York, 1989, pp. 188–203.