Wealth and Wholeness: Wattles on Life’s 3 Motives and Hill’s 6 Steps

Why Wealth Is About More Than Money

“There are three motives for which we live; we live for the body, we live for the mind, we live for the soul. No one of these is better or holier than the other; all are alike desirable, and no one of the three—body, mind, or soul—can live fully if either of the others is cut short of full life and expression. It is not right or noble to live only for the soul and deny mind or body; and it is wrong to live for the intellect and deny body or soul.” – Wallace Wattles, “The Science of Getting Rich” page 6.

At first glance, wealth might seem like a purely financial pursuit. But Wallace Wattles reframes it: money is not an end in itself but a means to feed the body, expand the mind, and free the soul. Without resources, one of these three inevitably starves and you cannot live a truly balanced or successful life.

This philosophy dovetails perfectly with Napoleon Hill’s six-step plan in Think and Grow Rich. Hill provides the method to achieve wealth, while Wattles provides the meaning behind why we must pursue it.

The Three Motives for Life: Body, Mind, and Soul

Living for the Body

Your body is the foundation of your life experience. Without health, energy, and vitality, you cannot enjoy success or contribute meaningfully to others. Proper nutrition, exercise, healthcare, and even rest often require financial resources. Wealth creates the ability to sustain and improve the physical vessel that carries you through life.

Living for the Mind

The mind hungers for growth through learning, reading, exploring, and engaging in stimulating conversation. Education, books, mentorships, and experiences that expand your intellect all require resources. Money becomes the key to unlock continual mental growth, keeping you sharp, adaptable, and visionary.

Living for the Soul

The soul expresses itself through creativity, purpose, and connection. To nurture the soul, you need freedom: time to reflect, opportunities to give, and resources to pursue passions. Wealth provides the space to explore spiritual practices, creative endeavors, and purposeful living.

Wattles’ point is clear: none of these motives is holier than the other. A complete life demands all three. To deny one is to cripple the others. And to fulfill all three, you must pursue wealth unapologetically.

Why Wealth Is a Moral Duty, Not a Guilty Pursuit

Many people feel torn between spiritual growth and financial ambition, as though money and meaning are at odds. Wattles reminds us this is a false dilemma. To neglect the body in pursuit of the mind is wrong; to neglect the soul in pursuit of the intellect is equally wrong.

Wealth is the tool that brings balance. By pursuing riches, you are not betraying higher values, you are empowering them. You can:

• Eat well and stay healthy.
• Invest in education and growth.
• Free your soul to explore its highest purpose.

Wealth is not greed. It is wholeness.

Napoleon Hill’s Six Steps to Riches

In Chapter 2 of Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill lays out six practical steps to transform desire into financial reality. Viewed through Wattles’ philosophy, these steps become not just mechanical, but deeply meaningful.

Step 1. Fix in Your Mind the Exact Amount of Money You Desire: Without a definite amount, desire is a wish. Wealth requires clarity.

• Example: “I will earn $150,000 within 24 months.”
• Connection to Wattles: That figure represents the resources needed to sustain body, mind, and soul fully.

Step 2. Determine Exactly What You Will Give in Return: You cannot get without giving. Value is exchanged through products, services, or ideas.

• Example: “I will provide transformative coaching to entrepreneurs.”
• Connection to Wattles: The act of giving enriches not only others’ lives but strengthens your own body, mind, and soul.

Step 3. Establish a Definite Date: Deadlines create urgency. Without a timeline, procrastination erodes desire.

• Example: “I will achieve this income by December 31, 2025.”
• Connection to Wattles: Growth delayed is life delayed. Deadlines protect the balance you seek.

Step 4. Create a Definite Plan and Begin at Once: Waiting for perfect conditions leads to stagnation. Begin immediately with what you have.

• Example: Launch a pilot program today, refine later.
• Connection to Wattles: Immediate action honors the natural drive toward expansion.

Step 5. Write a Clear, Concise Statement: This written statement should include:

• The amount of money desired.
• The deadline.
• What you will give in return.
• The plan to accumulate it.

Connection to Wattles: Writing creates alignment between thought and action, uniting body, mind, and soul behind your goal.

Step 6. Read Your Statement Aloud Twice Daily: Morning and evening repetition implants desire into the subconscious. Visualization makes it real before it arrives.

• Example: Picture yourself already living the balanced life you seek.
• Connection to Wattles: Belief transforms wealth from possibility into inevitability.

Wattles gives the why: You must pursue wealth to live fully, body, mind, and soul.

Hill gives the how: A six-step method to transform desire into wealth.

Together, they form a complete system. Philosophy fuels purpose, and structure fuels results.

Applying This Wisdom in Your Life Today

1. Reframe wealth as a moral and natural pursuit not greed.
2. Write your six-step wealth statement and keep it visible.
3. Evaluate your goals in terms of body, mind, and soul. Are you feeding all three?
4. Act daily in alignment with your written plan, beginning now.
5. Visualize success as more than money, it is the freedom to live whole.

When Wattles tells us we live for the body, the mind, and the soul, he is reminding us that success is not about sacrifice. It is about balance. To live fully, we must pursue wealth, not as greed, but as the foundation of wholeness.

Hill’s six steps provide the exact process to claim that wealth. Together, these teachings show us how to build not only a fortune but a life that is healthy, wise, and spiritually rich.

The science of getting rich is, indeed, the most essential of all knowledge because it teaches us how to live fully, in every dimension of life.