Money Makes You Happier…

Mone makes you happier, does it? For years we have asked the question, does money buy happiness, or can you pursue money and be happy at the same time?

Well it appears the research is in, and it suggests that money actually does make you happier.

According to the United Nations World Happiness Survey, published in 2015, throughout the world, income is the #1 predictor of happiness, and the more you make, the happier you become.

While no single study has yet settled the argument once and for all, most of the new research suggests that richer people tend to be happier, and poorer people experience increased happiness as they move out of poverty.

The other significant finding, is that your sense of well-being and life satisfaction also increase.

So why do I bring this up this week?

Well the good news from this research finding, is that if you combine your happiness, or pursuit of happiness, with your long-term goals – you have greater chances of being both happy and rich.

Leading neuroscience researcher Mark Waldman says:

“Having a long-term vision of a great goal and desire appears to bring the greatest sense of satisfaction, along with our willingness to pursue that ‘big dream’ or ‘goal’.”

Which Comes First – Money or Happiness

The research indicates that the more money you have the happier you are, but what comes first?

The pursuit of happiness or money…

As you can well imagine, this is a complicated debate.

But the important point to make is that money, or the pursuit of money, is not the only contributor to your happiness.

According to the World Happiness Report mentioned above, the six most powerful indicators for happiness (in descending order of importance) are:

1.     Spending power (economic capital)
2.     Friends, family, and community support (social capital)
3.     Healthy life expectancy
4.     Freedom to make life decisions
5.     Financial generosity to others
6.     Absence of corruption in business and government

The World Happiness Report identified another essential quality of happiness: well-being.

Well-being is defined as a life that is filled with enjoyment and feelings of safety, coupled with the absence of anger, worry, sadness, depression, stress, and pain.

Your well-being is clearly improved when you are free of money stress or worry.

When you consider these findings, it is clear that the evidence concludes there is a very close correlation between money and happiness.

Money Goals That Motivate You

Now that we know that our happiness improves as we have more money, it’s a good idea to identify some money goals that motivate us.

Make a list of your money goals, and make this a fun exercise…

Break your goals down into short, medium and long term goals.

What do you want to achieve, why do you want more money, what will get your juices flowing?

It could be something off your bucket list. Now if you don’t have a bucket list, you need to fix that straight away.

Maybe it’s the dream trip you’ve always wanted to take, an experience you want to have or your ideal home…

Be big and bold and notice the goals that you really get excited about, these are the ones you are going to want to pay particular attention to…

These goals that excite you will be the ones that will motivate you when making money becomes difficult. Nothing in life worth having comes easy, and there will be times when you contemplate giving up…

This is where focusing on your goals that motivate you will be crucial. These are the goals that will keep you going.

Positive Money Mindset

Become aware of any non-conscious, self-sabotaging beliefs that may be lurking around holding you back from reaching your financial goals.

Become aware of your personal “money story.” You can start now, by asking the following questions:

• What story am I telling myself right now when it comes to my ability to grow income in the next 6 months?
• Do I feel that I deserve to be financially successful?
• Do I feel I’m smart enough and good enough to earn more?

Okay, if you’ve not done it before, this might be a little unusual to think about, but this is a very powerful exercise.

Research shows that by becoming aware of your very specific feelings around money and self-worth, you’ll start to make room for new thoughts.

Over the years I have become more and more convinced that affirmations are a way to instill a positive money story, or a positive money outlook. And since we are working to change your money story and happiness around money, affirmations are a great way to make it happen.

Start developing your personal money story by reading these affirmations on a regular basis:

• Money is good.
• I love money.
• Rich people are generous.
• Money is the source of much good in the world.
• More money means more freedom.
• More money means I can do more good in the world.

Now ask yourself:

• How do I feel?
• What am I thinking?

Make a note of your responses. Did you find yourself resisting?

If so, it’s highly likely you have latent self-sabotaging beliefs around money. This is normal. The good news is you can change this by being aware of it first, then retraining your thinking to create empowering positive thoughts around money.

Remember, we now know that money makes you happier, so train your mind to understand this fact.

These affirmations will help you become comfortable with your desire for more money. And before we go on, I need to clear up one thing. It is totally okay to want more money, you have permission to want to improve your money situation.

Money Makes You Happier

We’ve often heard it said, “money doesn’t buy happiness,” but it’s not really true is it?

We have ample evidence to prove we’ve been wrong about the relationship between money and happiness:

Money is essential to happiness. Material prosperity predicts life satisfaction,

And the more economic status we achieve, the more we’ll feel satisfied with our life.

Not only do our measurements of happiness rise as our income rises, so does our sense of well-being and satisfaction with our lives.

So, by choosing to focus on money goals that motivate you, while also embedding a positive money mindset, you’ll help to achieve both increased wealth and happiness.

Conclusion

Remember . . . and this is so important for all of us: it’s never ever too late to start.

You are on a journey of realizing your financial goals, and of finding happiness.

And whether or not it is clear to you, you have been working toward achieving both in the best way you know how throughout your life.

However, sometimes you have been working toward your goals in the dark.

Without challenging your old habits, fears, and thought patterns you can be blindly driven to make unnecessary errors along the way – but it’s not how you have to do things anymore.

Happiness and money! It’s a huge subject, and now you know it is perfectly reasonable to pursue more money to achieve greater happiness and the goals that excite you. Because money makes you happier!

Let me know what you think, leave a comment below.