Knowing more words makes you smarter, and richer. Many studies have established a solid correlation between your vocabulary and real world ability. Yes, those extra “smarts” will earn you more income and help you gain wealth.
Would you like some evidence for the claim that word wisdom is correlated with wealth? Read some of the books by author and researcher E.D. Hirsch. Many studies use the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT), which consists of two verbal sections and two math sections. One study showed that a gain of one standard deviation on the AFQT raises your annual income by nearly $10,000.
The reason that learning new words is related to intelligence and real-world competence is because of the increase in working memory. We can all hold only a few items in our “working memory”. However, we can “group” items together in chunks, like we do with telephone numbers. Words turn out to be great “chunking” devices, allowing us to effectively work with a huge number of related thoughts and processes at the same time.
Each word is linked (in long term memory) to many ideas and concepts, and the word can stand as a “proxy” for all those other ideas. The more “proxies” you have, the better you can be at dealing with many life situations. Simply extend this to tens of thousands of words (representing entire spheres of experience and knowledge) and you can see that a large vocabulary is a powerful way of enhancing your real-world ability!
Another reason vocabulary is linked to financial success is by increasing the number of social and physical “contexts” you are able to understand (and thus act successfully in). You can operate successfully in a financial context if you know the financial words used within that context. The same is true for fishing, programming, relationships, parenting, woodworking, biology, health, mechanics, gardening, physics, construction, and thousands of other contexts.
This app isn’t meant to provide you all the words you need. The whole point is for you to add your own words in the contexts you need. So the words and definitions you add to Wealthy Words will be different than the words your neighbor adds. Don’t add words willy-nilly. Add the new words that YOU come across in your daily life, in your work, your play, and in the books you read the the TV shows you watch. If you pay attention, you will hear new words often. If you don’t think you are hearing new words daily, than maybe you need to get out of your comfort zone and expand your life.
The words that I’ve provided are just a start for you, though I did try to pick useful words and concepts that I feel most educated people should know and understand. Depending on your particular background and education, the words I’ve chosen may be too easy for you, or they may be new to you. More likely, some will be familiar, and others will not.
To add a word, just use the add button. The easiest way is to use your microphone to speak the word and definition. Many times you’ll have a vague idea what the word means. If you are on the go, you may want to enter the word and your simple idea of a definition. Then later on, you can look up the real definition and improve your own definition. Just the physical act of saving the new word into Wealthy Words will increase your brain connections to that word, and will help you to remember it.
Some of the “easier” words are those such as Apathetic, Adapt, Accommodate, and Analysis. Some of the more difficult (but useful) words are Aegis, Assuage, Esoteric, and Euphemism. We have gone to the work of giving you a good definition AND a sample sentence to give you context. The sample sentence will show you how to use the word. When you capture words from TV, books, or daily life, use the real sentence you heard it in.
Get Wealthy today by using Wealthy Words. Your mind will thank you as you literally increase your ability to think powerfully, focus, and create.