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Will More Money Really Improve Your Life?
By JLP | April 22, 2008
Last week I received this email from Joan Sotkin, author of “Build Your Money Muscles.” I thought it was worth sharing with you.
Will More $$ Really Improve Your Life?
I often hear people say, “If only I had more money, I could be happy/comfortable/satisfied (you fill in the feeling).” But the fact is, money does not determine your feelings. Those eminate from deep inside of you. They are your habitual response to the world around you and act as the bridge between your internal and external worlds.
If you were to suddenly be given a large some of money, you would probably be elated. But if habitual feelings of shame, aloneness, anger, and deprivation remain buried inside of you, that elation could easily be replaced by your habitual feelings. You would have more money, but you would also have your habitual feelings.
The Secret to Happiness
The secret to happiness lies not with more money but with learning how to be happy with what you have now, not in the future. People are often afraid that if they are happy or satisfied with what they have, they will never have any more. The paradox is that the more satisfied you are, the more life experiences you will draw in that
perpetrateperpetuate that satisfaction.Start by looking around you and seeing what you have that brings you some sort of satisfaction. Look in your home, at the people you know, at the vendors who serve you, at your pets. When you find something, take a deep breath and say to yourself, “I am satisfied.” Allow yourself to feel the feeling of satisfaction.
At the end of every day, before you go to sleep, take a few moments to think about the things that happened that day that brought you satisfaction. If possible, make a list. As you write down or think about each event, take a deep breath and feel the feeling of satisfaction.
To minimize habitual feelings of shame, aloneness, anger, and deprivation that you may be expressing through your life stories and your finances now, read Build Your Money Muscles.
Good stuff. I particularly like: “The secret to happiness lies not with more money but with learning how to be happy with what you have now, not in the future.” That is very true. It reminds me of this post I did back in January.
Anyway, if you like what you just read, you can sign up for Joan’s weekly newsletter.
Disclaimer: I am not an affiliate of Joan Sotkin’s Prosperity Place.
Topics: Personal Growth | 9 Comments »
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:11 am
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April 23rd, 2008 at 7:00 am
The reason money does not lead to happiness is because of the Rule of Some and More:
You have some but believe more will make you happier. But once you have more, then the “more” becomes “some,” and you are back to where you started, wanting more.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:25 am
‘Annual income 20 pounds, annual expenditure 19 pounds, 19 shillings and six pence, result: happiness. Annual income 20 pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds, ought shillings and six pence, result: misery.’ David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.
Personally, I’ve liked the take that Clason’s Richest Man I Babylon has. If you are not saving a fraction of your income, and you are living from paycheck to paycheck, you are a slave to financial worries.
On the other hand, if you are putting a sum away for yourself you are building up a kind of security. With that comes freedom, including the freedom to be charitable in ways you couldn’t before. To my mind, that reads as a kind of happy.
I’ll grant though, that it isn’t about the money per se.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:29 am
I recently read and article that stated money begats happiness to some degree. In other words going from poverty level to middle class money brings lots of happiness. From middle to upper middle it brings a bit more happiness but incrementally less than before. Above that level it brings little to no more happiness.
That makes perfect sense. Getting out of poverty would bring much happiness. But getting above average wouldn’t being nearly the amount that it did rising from poverty.
I can say personally that as my family has prospered I’ve become happier as its allowed me more time. I still have the same small house and nice used cars, but now I can afford more time (less work) to spend time with family. I’ve learned that being able to buy items doesn’t make me happy at all, it’s being able to afford time off work that makes me most happy. I’ve got my basic needs met, now give me the luxury of time.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:21 am
Great article, thanks. Just one note…in her third paragraph she states “the more satisfied you are, the more life experiences you will draw in that PERPETRATE that satisfaction” She is using the wrong terminology here. She really needs the word PERPETUATE.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
per·pe·trates
To be responsible for; commit: perpetrate a crime; perpetrate a practical joke.
per·pet·u·ates
1. To cause to continue indefinitely; make perpetual.
2. To prolong the existence of; cause to be remembered: The new library will perpetuate its founder’s great love of learning.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:33 am
I think there’s a more balanced approach. More money WILL make your life easier if you’re currently struggling to make ends meet while all your friends and family are doing very well financially.
But money and things are both subject to the Law of Diminishing Returns. Once you reach a certain level, it isn’t money you want, it’s peach of mind, relationships, health, worthy goals, and personal fulfillment.
Too many people think that success is wrapped up in things, but the truth is, success is wrapped up in how you see yourself and how you are able to enjoy your life. Money helps, but it isn’t the “be all and end all” of what makes you happy.
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:12 am
HB,
Thanks for the correction. I didn’t realize that she used the wrong word.
April 28th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Actually a large windfall doesn´t simplifies your life.
it makes it more complicated.
My family owned 4 supermarkets (Merpisa)(http://www.perublogs.com/tags/merpisa) in my country (Peru, visit http://www.peru.info) which we recently sold for $7,000,000.00, also my parents just divorced so I´m in charge of my mom´s money (nearly $3,000,000.00), by the way, I´m 24 years old.
The thing is, when you start managing such a large sum at first you think: “ok, lets just leave it on a high yield account, so it can pay me 6% a year (when you go to a bank with a lot money to deposit you can negotiate your interest annual rate) , that would make $180,000 a year tax free (here in Peru, interests earned on deposits are tax free)… the proble is that when you adjust that amount due to inflation you´ll notice you can´t live on it for the rest of your life (my mom is 45 years old, so she´s expected to live 30 years more AT LEAST).
So you start thinking: what should I do with the money? stocks? too risky, although a percentage of the money can be invested on them…
a business? that´s the answer, actually starting a few of them… that way you can live by keeping some money working for you (deposits and stocks) and working some money…
so, instead of stop working when we became millonaries we now work more… ironic uh?
(actually the improving thing is that we don´t worry if the business go bad because we have a big $1.5 million emergency fund)
April 28th, 2008 at 11:55 am
It really depends on how much you make. If you make $75K a year then going to $100K a year isn’t going to improve actual quality of life or make you happier. If you are going from $30K a year to $50K a year, not having to worry as much if you can make next months bills will actually lower stress and improve health. So it’s relative to the situation I guess.