If Money Doesn't Buy You Happiness, You Don't Know Where to Shop
Money will help you find happiness
Created with Midjourney.
How many times have you heard about how once you make above $75,000 a year, more money won’t make you any happier?
Yeah. That’s bullshit.
I bet if the person with that 75k salary could afford to go on a trip of their choice once a month, they would be happier (just an example).
Now, I’m not saying money will solve all your problems and make you happy 100% of the time… but it will solve your money problem, and I bet that’s most of them.
And the rest of your problems? It can definitely help with those too.
So let me repeat myself. If money doesn’t buy you happiness, you just don’t know where to shop!
Let’s get into it.
You can buy time.
No, you won’t live forever, but you’ll live longer, and have a longer healthspan!
But what do I mean when I say you can buy time?
Simple. You no longer have to work or do things you don’t want to do - that means you have more time. You can now do what you want when you want, even if that is nothing.
What will you do with this newfound time?
You can do anything you want, including, focusing on making yourself happy.
Time will trickle into the rest of this so let’s move on.
Spend money improving your physical health
There are a ridiculous amount of health products that money can buy you, not to mention the additional health care you can now afford.
Here are a few things money can buy you, to help your health:
Access to any gym
A private chef who only makes you the healthiest foods
All the tests you could possibly need to check on your health
The time to focus on your health
Stems cells
This list could go on forever, but I think you get the point… Money can help you improve your physical health.
You can finally get that AG1 subscription!
It should be noted that if being unhealthy makes you happy, you can also spend your money on all the french fries and cake that you want. I just don’t believe that’ll increase your happiness in the long run.
Don’t forget your mental health
If you win the lottery (for example), your mental health won’t be magically perfect out of nowhere, I’m sorry.
Do you know what you can do though? You can spend money and time on improving your mental health.
Think about it.
You can hire any therapist or professional you want, meditate as long as you want, afford any medicines you need, take breaks as you please, etc.
If mental health is why you are unhappy, you now have the time & money to make improving mental health your sole focus and hire someone to guide you so you know just how to do it.
That would help increase your happiness, wouldn’t it?
But family comes first!
Family is extremely important. So think about how much better your parents’ lives would be if you could help them retire and get them that vacation home in Florida.
What about how happy your brother will be when you can pay his University tuition?
Oh, and don’t forget about paying off your cousin’s ridiculous credit card debt and getting him a financial planner & some financial education to help him change his spending habits.
Not to mention the extra time you now have to get closer to your family and nourish those relationships.
Sounds great doesn’t it? Yeah, money is awesome.
People are suffering, so it can’t be all about you.
I hear ya! There are close to 700 million people who live in extreme poverty. (Apparently thanks to lockdowns it’s actually close to 75 million higher than it should have been, but that’s a topic for a different day.)
Now that you’re rich, you can actually help those people out!
We are always told about how if Elon Musk just donated a small percentage of his wealth then world hunger would be over. Well, guess what, if it was your money, you could solve world hunger!
In fact, if you had control of all of that wealth, you could stop quite a bit of suffering… right?
I know when I help people, that makes me happy!
What actually stresses you out?
Money won’t solve all your problems, but it will solve your money problems, and I bet that is the majority of your problems.
Have credit card debt? Problem solved.
Can’t go on a trip because you’re broke? Problem solved.
Can’t afford rent? Problem solved.
No time to spend with loved ones? Problems solved.
Can’t get a girlfriend? Hire a dating coach and gain some confidence. Problem solved.
I know that these are fairly common problems and that we have more problems that won’t be solved just by gaining money. The point though is that you will now have the time to focus on solving your real problems and you can stop stressing about the money ones.
That would make anyone happier.
Oh, and the selfish desires!
This one is pretty obvious.
You can buy that car, house, plane ticket (or plane), clothes, or whatever you want to buy, you can do it.
I know material possessions don’t really bring you long-term happiness, but I remember when I had a Porsche, anytime I was upset I just had to go for a drive to cheer me up.
Whether that happiness is temporary or not, it still brought happiness.
Let’s be honest about something else… if you had a pool and a hot tub, that’d make you pretty happy some days.
Don’t forget how much less stressed you’d be about flying now that you don’t have to be crammed into a Delta flight.
Happiness comes from purpose
Money will not buy you purpose.
You may win the lottery tomorrow, but you won’t find any more purpose in your life.
Want to know what you will have though?
The resources and time to figure out how to find your purpose.
You can now fly to India to find a guru, buy a one-on-one session with Tony Robbins, or spend time in solitude figuring out life without having to worry about your bills.
Money won’t give you purpose, but it will give you the resources to help you figure out how to find it, and that’s pretty damn close.
Conclusion
To be clear, you can definitely be happy without money, and unhappy with money. Both are entirely possible.
But when you know “where to shop”, you will have a far better chance of being happier.
If you gain a lumpsum of money the best thing you can do is figure out what would make you happy, and use your money to help you get there.
As you see from this article, it’s just about knowing “where to shop”.
Want to know the best way to know where to shop? You just gotta be self-aware.
Thanks for reading.
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