Can money buy happiness?
Will hitting a certain salary level, receiving a promotion, or reaching “millionaire” status make you happy?
In the entrepreneurial world, there are lots of opposing viewpoints on whether money can truly bring people happiness.
Since our first year of marriage, Brandon and I have set and achieved some pretty big financial goals. We’ve been blessed with opportunities, worked incredibly hard and made some wise decisions along the way. But has making more money made us happier?
Eight years ago, Brandon and I lived in a 500 square foot apartment, had significant student loan debt and made minimum wage working 70 hours per week. We had very little money in the bank.
And we were happy.
Our first year of marriage was full of adventure, new friendships, fun employment opportunities and contentment.
Since then, we’ve been able to pay off our school loans, are building our second dream home, have gone on several family vacations and have been able to make some big purchases on items we’ve really wanted.
And we are happy.
….just as happy as we were in the 500 sq ft. apartment.
When asked, “Can money buy you happiness,” successful entrepreneur Marc Cuban responded:
“It’s creating a goal for yourself and accomplishing a goal and setting a dream, and living that dream through your effort that can make you feel a whole lot better about yourself [and happy].” He says. “It worked for me…”
I love this quote from Marc Cuban and would add the following to where I’ve landed on the money and happiness issue: “Inspiring and empowering other women to set and accomplish goals and fulfill their dreams, in addition to setting and accomplishing my personal goals, while staying balanced with family and career, is what truly makes me happy.”
Happiness comes in the form of living out your God given purpose with passion, intention and balance.
Through the years, I’ve discovered what makes me ‘happy’ is empowering women to do what inspires them. As a business coach, nothing gives me more joy, satisfaction, and happiness than watching another woman build a successful business.
Want to know what else makes me happy? A sense of balance.
I am no stranger to hard work, and will never preach a 40 hour work week. Most entrepreneurs work more than 40 hours a week, hustling to make things happen. However, there is no monetary value I could ever put on having the flexibility I have to work from anywhere and schedule things around the needs of my family. I love being able to go to Emma’s class to read in the middle of the day. I love creating workouts by the pool. I love being able to work from home, on my own terms. Having some balance fuels the flames of happiness in my life, in a big way.
Working excessive hours is an expense I can no longer afford. My focus is now on building passive or scalable income streams that allow me to get more bang for my buck in terms of time investment. I’ve also learned that if I am working in alignment with my core values and toward a purpose greater than my own wealth, happiness always follows.
I am a firm believer in the fact that money doesn’t buy happiness…because I had happiness long before I had money. Living a life of balance and purpose though…that’s where happiness is easily found.