In healing through a life-altering tragedy, Keisha Blair witnessed the power of vulnerability. She discovered the positive contributions she can make in the world by being courageous enough to share her real life story. Her husband was diagnosed with a rare, quickly progressing illness, and passed away just eight weeks after the birth of their second child. Keisha Blair later went on to publish an article online about 40 life lessons she’s learned from her husband’s sudden death, and it was viewed by over 50 million people worldwide. The undeniable interest in that piece lead her to delve deeper into these lessons and complete her first book — Holistic Wealth: 32 Life Lessons to Help You Find Purpose, Prosperity, and Happiness.
Holistic Wealth, defined by Keisha, is “wealth that comprises of various elements — financial savvy and independence, a life purpose and mission, spiritual connection, and a generous demeanor — all of which lead to a greater sense of wholeness and resilience in times of difficulty, and to happiness and joy.” This book features a framework for decision-making called Motivation From Within which is a vision and mission that encompasses the six laws for life:
- The Law of Abundance
- The Law of Spiritual Self-Renewal
- The Law of Purpose in Life (service to humanity)
- The Law of Reciprocity
- The Law of Natural Harmony & Balance
- The Law of Continuous Learning
If you’re like me, and pay attention to the teachings coming from spiritual artists like Nipsey Hussle Tha Great, you’ll be familiar with these laws and how we can apply them to our own lives as artists… Even more so, to our lives as humans healing from losses, heartbreak, tragedy, and setbacks so that we can prevail and continue our marathons.
After being inspired by Keisha Blair’s story of resilience and gained wisdom, I was granted the opportunity to speak with her about the book, her personal approach to writing Holistic Wealth, building mental strength, and more. We started off the conversation discussing her concept of daily deposit/withdrawal transactions from our Holistic Wealth “Bank Accounts,” and how each of our decisions can an affect our overall well-being.
Grab some tea and get into our interview below! You can invest in a copy of the Holistic Wealth book here.
The Interview
(note: the content of this interview has been edited for clarity.)
Victoriadrianna: What is a Holistic Wealth Bank Account? How does it work?
Keisha Blair: I came up with that concept because when I think about the Holistic Wealth method, I think about it with regards to our decisions in life. We make a lot of decisions each day, and how we make decisions can either add to our life or have a negative impact. When you think about your actual bank account and adding to it, it increases… But then when you deplete it, it decreases. So I came up with that [Holistic Wealth Bank Account] concept to basically illustrate to people that the decisions they make, no matter how small they are, can either add or deplete. And if over time, we keep making decisions that deplete, then we’re going to see that we’re not achieving what we want to achieve, and we’re not making the impact that we want to make in life. If over time we add to that, then we’ll see a marked difference. That’s how I came up with it and why I needed to illustrate this. I feel like the best way to do it is by thinking of [Holistic Wealth] like a bank account. As a bank account, that’s how it becomes more obvious and more meaningful to people.
V: To my understanding, Holistic Wealth was written over the course of 10 years… What Holistic Wealth practices supported or inspired your writing process?
KB: Yes it was! I wrote a chapter on intuition — that was one area. It was a combination of different things, but I’ll start there because I normally write in the early morning. I started this practice while I was on my sabbatical where I got up early in the morning, meditated and then different ideas would just come flooding to me. It was unbelievable! It would be so good, I’d have to grab my laptop and start writing. That’s how I started writing early in the morning; that’s when I’d get nuggets of wisdom. That was a combination of [in Holistic Wealth] when I talk about mindfulness, when I talk about meditating, when I talk about listening to your intuition, because my writing process starts really early in the morning and it ends by about 11. After that time it’s like I can’t anymore because at that point things, for me, are not as free-flowing anymore as they are in the early morning. So in terms of the writing, those are the things that inspire me along with spending time with family. You’ll see quotes from my kids in the book, you’ll see things that they said. I remember one day, just to give you an example, I was staying at home with my son who was sick. During that time we had an intimate moment with a very wise line coming from him that ended up in the book. So spending time, real quality alone time, with family and people close to me have also inspired my writing process that way, in terms of Holistic Wealth.
V: Can you offer any advice to approach setting goals with wisdom?
KB: When we think about goals, we often hear about that smart paradigm of, like, setting smart goals… But we don’t always think, ‘What about detours?’ So in goal setting, one of the things I always think about is, ‘How do I plan ahead for any setbacks. And if there is a setback, what am I putting in place? What’s the contingency?’ It’s great to set smart goals, but how do we deal with detours? Those life-altering detours can really railroad our goals and so, I say this in the book — plan knowing that there are detours up ahead. Put things in place to kind of eliminate that risk, or lessen the impact or blow of whatever happens. So if the detour comes along, you’re ready. You have a Plan B, you have a Plan C, and you have a good solid plan to still be able to execute your goals even in the midst of life-altering setbacks.
V: Why is spiritual self-renenweal such an important element to achieving Holistic Wealth?
KB: That’s a good question because I found that after my husband died, I just kept saying, ‘Why? Why?’ And you know, we do this when something bad happens… We ask, ‘What could I have done better? What could I have done differently?’ It becomes like a narrative; a play or a thing in our brains that keeps going over and over again. No matter how much time has passed, if we keep going over those roles — the regrets, things I should have done better, things I should have done, things I should have said… And we go throughout life with that script, then it becomes a part of us and it prevents us from achieving Holistic Wealth because it becomes negative. It’s a chronic type of script that holds us back because then we think, ‘I didn’t do enough, I’m not good enough,’ instead of thinking positively. Spiritual self-renewal is really getting rid of that, getting over that. It’s looking back and thinking about all of these things and really trying to flip the script, trying to tell us the positive things in order to move forward. Because in order to move forward, we’re going to have to get rid of these negative scripts. Whether it’s through prayer and meditation, or whatever it is, that time spent really reflecting and putting ourselves in a position to really move forward or move on from something that happened… That’s the real value of spiritual self-renewal, it’s really delving deep. On my sabbatical I prayed a lot, I started to spend more time in nature. All of that forms part in whatever spirituality is for someone else… Whatever it is they do to renew themselves spiritually, that’s what spiritual self-renewal is.
V: How does financial independence contribute to Holistic Wealth?
KB: A lot of people struggle with financial decisions. I find that if we’re not feeling confident or doing the things we need to do to put ourselves in a position where we’re financially stable… Then it really impacts our emotional lives, impacts our relationships with others, impacts our families… And so having a goal to become financially independent is a good thing because it puts you on that path to actually achieving it at some point. The goals are what will allow you to do the things to achieve [financial independence] — whether it’s saving more, investing more, cutting down on debt, or not buying things that aren’t needed. I found that when a setback comes your way, being financially independent allows you to take the time you need to really get through that. Whether it’s extra time off, whether it’s spending more time with family and friends, whether it’s seeking out coaching… Being on a solid footing financially enables you to weather the storms. When you think about somebody who’s in debt, living paycheck to paycheck, it might not be a very good state to be in when there’s a fallout or something life-altering happening. And so, one of the lessons for me was, ‘If anything happens, you need to be on solid footing, so you can weather the storm, so you can become more resilient and, you can get through it much more efficiently than if you weren’t.’
V: Chapter 30 focuses on the idea of building a Platform That Represents You. What do you believe is the key to aligning your brand, message, and mission?
KB: It’s a combination of your story of self — I feel like that’s very important. Using that story, you can translate it to connect with other people who might be going through the same thing. If you can connect emotionally, then that’s where that connection is made in terms of your platform; in terms of people feeling like your story relates so much to them that they become not only your followers, they become part of your tribe… That’s what I mean when I talk about building a platform that represents you. ‘What is your story? How does it resonate publicly in terms of connecting with other people? Then, in terms of your brand, how do you use that to impact the world? How do you use that to help others through your brand, your messaging, in terms of being consistent?’ Because once you have that story, it’s easy to have a consistent message. It’s who you are, it’s what you do. Your story of self is YOU, it’s uniquely yours. It differentiates you and it makes you easily connect emotionally to other people who are going through the same thing in their lives. People want to be a part of that because it’s a part of their story. So when you use that platform for good, and to help others, then the brand and messaging comes naturally. It’s not forced; it just becomes who you are. People relate to it easily because it’s authentic, it’s believable.
V: What role does love play in Holistic Wealth?
KB: I talk about that a lot in the last chapter, and I think it plays a big role. Especially with my story, you can see it, and if somebody else has been through something terrible that caused some sort of setback… I think the power of love, whether it’s from platonic friends, family, or from a spouse or relationship… I think the power is so deep that it can help us to overcome these type of setbacks because love is about sacrifice and it’s about giving, and giving more. When love is unselfish… When it’s coming from that very authentic place, where it’s like, ‘How can I help you more? And I’m not even thinking about what I can get from you, but how can I give you more?’ then love has the power to heal. It has the power to bring people together. That’s why I end the book on that note… Because I feel like love is the thing that energizes all of us. It’s the thing that brings that spark! It’s the thing that allows us to go on. Even when there are still challenges, and even when things still aren’t a movie… We have that to hold on to. I’ve seen it with me, and you’ll see it in the book with my mom and her being there for me. That type of love where she gave up everything to help me in the days that came after [my husband’s passing], and you’ll see it in the last chapter in terms of remarriage… But whatever type of love it is, it just has that power to unite, to bind us. You see it all the time when there are natural disasters; big hurricanes, the Amazon fires… When we come together out of just sheer love and respect for each other, then great things happen. That’s why it’s a crucial part and why I had to make it a part of the story. It’s because it really stems from Holistic Wealth and helps us to overcome challenges.
V: What do you want the Holistic Wealth book to represent to humanity as a whole?
KB: That’s why I have that Holistic Wealth Index at the back of the book; that was my question when I finished writing! ‘What do I want this to represent to humanity? How do I want people to use this as a framework, not only to our daily lives, but as a society, as a world, for humanity?’ That’s kind of what I was thinking about… And I think we can use Holistic Wealth as a guide in terms of making progress as a society at large, or an organization, and to see how we’re doing as a group. My aim through this was to have people become more aware that holistic wealth is something we should have as a goal for each other, for our lives, as a society, as a country, as a world, globally… So that every man, woman, boy and girl can have access to it at some point in their lifetime. I feel like if we encourage each other to overcome setbacks, then we’re more resilient. And if we’re more resilient, then we have a more resilient society and a more resilient world.
V: For sure. I feel like the lessons included in this book would be great to learn in school. This concept covers so many areas of life and really shines light on the importance of mental strength.
KB: Yes, and it’s great that you’re saying that because I thought about that too. I agree, there’s not enough of this taught in schools.
V: What is some advice you’d give to a younger version of yourself in need of motivation to push past negativity and the ‘naysayers,’ as you call them?
KB: Focus on what you want. Focus on your goals. Don’t let other people’s opinions of you, and what you are capable of doing overshadow that. It’s like I tell my kids, who are young, ‘You know what you want. You know who you are. Don’t let anybody put you in a box. Don’t let anybody tell you that this is what you can and should aspire to, and this is what you can and cannot do.’ I’d say the same thing to my younger self. That’s something very, very important. We get all of these negative messages sometimes and we’re constantly trying to make sense of them, constantly trying to say, ‘Okay well so-and-so said this, so what’s reality?’ And that’s why that chapter [on naysayers] and the chapter on taking measured risks, where I talk about fake and real constraints, are very interlinked. We can really decide what is fake and what is real by saying to ourselves, ‘Some of the things that they are telling me are completely fake. I have to decide for myself what is real.’ So it’s realizing that they’re putting out all these fake constraints, but we have to decide it’s fake; we have see it for what it is and call it out.
V: How would you spend a free, ideal Sunday of self-care?
KB: A Sunday of self-care, wow. I think that would be a combination of relaxation, meditation, lots of spending time with family, getting out in the outdoors for an hour or two, eating a good healthy meal, and really just using the time to reflect. And spiritual self-renewal, as well. Saturday is when we do the chores and rush to get everything done… But Sunday is that day to rest and lay back, spend time with family and friends. We cook a good meal on Sundays. Sometimes we get out in nature to go biking, walking, or what have you. That to me would be ideal in spending that time.
Holistic Wealth is now available in bookstores + on amazon.com. Follow more of Keisha Blair’s Holistic Wealth work, including an 8-Day Challenge designed to enhance motivation from within at keishablair.com!
