Money and happiness

The time I was least satisfied with my life turns out to be when I was earning the most money. In retrospect it is easy to see why that was so – I was not paying attention to the things that were most important to me.

Money is very important of course. Unless you are dedicated to a life of poverty there are certain essentials that require money (Shelter, food etc.) There are also many things that make life a lot more comfortable such as possessions. I don’t mean to minimise these at all but have you ever asked what money gives to you and means to you? In other words what can money buy (apart from possessions!). How about:

- freedom
- respect
- power
- authority
- independence
- peace of mind
- time

All the money I was earning was going toward what might be called a better lifestyle, but was it really? I had a nice car and house but I was on the road most of the time, managing a stressful, pressured office start up for the parent company. I didn’t get time to see as much of my young family as I wanted – when people were sick in the household I didn’t have the flexibility to change schedules. When I was home I was tired and distant from the family so that time wasn’t great either!

The change was forced on me but my life got a whole lot better when I was office based, had more control over my work hours and pattern and here’s the rub, earned significantly less money.

This is different for everyone and for some the money gives them what they truly value. In my experience it was worth asking what these values are though, as having money with nothing to enjoy from it doesn’t work for me.