They say “data is the new oil,” but let’s be honest—oil is greasy, flammable, and gets stuck in your hair. Gold is cleaner, shinier, and more likely to fund your digital dreams. So let’s upgrade the metaphor: Data is the new gold.

And businesses? They’re in full-on prospector mode. Every brand with a product to sell wants a nugget of your personal data—your likes, your clicks, your coffee preferences. That intel is refined and sold like a high-value commodity. With it, companies target you with laser precision (and weirdly accurate ads for socks you didn’t know you needed). But here’s the kicker: these companies don’t like to share. Microsoft isn’t handing over its treasure chest to Meta, and Meta would rather eat kale than share with Google.

Data is valuable. So we guard it. Encrypt it. Lock it down.
But let me ask you this:

What about your real gold?

You know—your health, your peace of mind, your relationships, your time, your energy, your sense of purpose. The stuff no algorithm can sell you back once it’s spent.

Take Jackie Joyner-Kersee. She didn’t grow up with privilege or perfect circumstances. She battled asthma in college—a pretty inconvenient diagnosis for someone chasing Olympic greatness. She could’ve quit. But instead, she became a student of her own body and mind. She protected her health, fortified her mindset, and nourished her purpose like it was treasure. Because it was. And still is. That kind of focus turned her into a legend: three Olympic golds, six total medals, and a legacy built not just on talent, but on stewardship.

So yeah—data is the new gold.
But the real treasure? That’s you.

How are you protecting what matters most?
How are you guarding your joy, your purpose, your focus, your mental bandwidth?

You can’t outsource this kind of security. You have to choose it. Daily.

“Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.”
— Proverbs 4:23 (Christian Standard Bible)