“We humans are unhappy in large part because we are insatiable; after working hard to get what we want, we routinely lose interest in the object of our desire. Rather than feeling satisfied, we feel a bit bored, and in response to this boredom, we go on to form new, even grander desires.” William B. Irvine, author of the book “A Guide to the Good Life”
You will find that the real joy and happiness often comes from the pursuit of destinations, rather than the destinations themselves.
Freedom to choose is the friend of natural happiness. Financial independence gives you the ability to design your day in such a way that you can spend mornings doing work you love and evenings being around people you love.
Practices like:
- Meditation,
- Gratitude and
- Making time for social connections
…have the biggest effect on our happiness and well-being,
One of the things that is important to understand is the freedom that money affords. It provides you the means to make some of your own choices and not feel like you’re locked into a job. It was once said that if money is not making you happy, then you’re not spending it right.
“Money doesn’t buy happiness.”
“Money doesn’t increase happiness in the way that we think”, said William B. Irvine, author of the book “A Guide to the Good Life”. “Our minds are lying to us about how much of an impact extra cash will have on our happiness.”
Money gives you more control over your life; the freedom to retire early, the security to support yourself and your family, the comfort of buying things and experiences that excite you, the option of saying “yes” when your friends invite you to dinner…I could go on and on.
Harvard study from 2018 suggested that “great wealth does predict greater happiness” — for millionaires. Researchers found “consistent evidence that somewhat higher levels of wealth are not associated with higher well-being, but substantially higher levels (net worth of $8 million or more) are linked to modestly greater well-being.” (While the majority of us aren’t millionaires, there’s still a good amount of data to imply that happiness, to some degree, is tied to money.)
The class called “The Science of Well-Being,” is taught by Laurie Santos, a professor of psychology and cognitive science.
Money ≠ happiness.
Money is the tool that we can all use to buy more time to spend on these things. A phenomenon called “miswantings,” refers to the idea that people sometimes “mispredict” how much they’ll enjoy something in the future, according to Dr. Santos.
Dr. S antos references several “annoying features of the mind” that influence us to chase after things that don’t really make us happy. Many of the materialistic goals we strive for make little to no lasting impact on our overall life satisfaction, Santos argues. One of the the main misconceptions she addresses is money.
References:
- https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/13/i-took-yales-most-popular-class-ever-and-it-completely-changed-how-i-spend-my-money.html
- https://fourpillarfreedom.com/chop-wood-carry-water/
Dr. Mike Evans is a staff physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and an Associate Professor of Family Medicine. He is a Scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute and has an endowed Chair in Patient Engagement in Child Nutrition at the University of Toronto.