If you’ve ever sat down and talked to any hardworking adult and asked them about their struggles I can almost guarantee that a few of them have to do with wanting or “needing” more money. Maybe you yourself have had that same thought. Money causes so much pain, ache, stress, and worry it’s a wonder why we all want so much of it, myself included at times.
But the problem is once we have enough to live off of we don’t stop wanting it. No one ever gets to a point where they say “No, thank you” to more money. We are living a perfectly good life but think that having more money will always, without a shadow of a doubt, make it better. Lately I’ve been wondering why that is. I think it has something to do with the title of this post. I think we believe that more money will fix our problems.
The thing is, at first glance you might think that more money would do just that. If you have debt, more money could help pay it off faster. If your car breaks down, more money could pay for that. If you want a bigger house, more money could help get you one. The list goes on and on. But looking closer you need more than just “more money” for these issues and the others that we face. Then, if you look even closer than that, you’ll realize that some of those are not really “problems” as you may view them.
If you are in a rhythm of spending the money that comes into your bank account, that is not going to change when more starts coming in. If you always use a credit card for big purchases, having more money won’t make you cut the card up. If you continually buy things you don’t really need because you “have the money” then having more money will just increase that cycle.
You can’t do the same thing and expect different results. More money doesn’t automatically mean you are a different person, that you will act different or spend your money different. You have to change the habit first and then making more money might actually effect you positively.
If you are a mean person with few friends, when you get more money you will be a mean person with few friends that makes more money. Your paycheck does not define your worth, change your character or make you a better person.
Let’s say you get more money and so you give more money to the poor, that doesn’t make you a better person. You gave to poor before and you give to the poor now, the amount doesn’t matter, the heart does. The same is true that if you are not kind to people now, you will not be kind to people when you make more money. Again, more money changes your bank account not your personality or how you treat people. (And lets be honest, who wants to be known as the rich jerk?)
I’m sure by now you’ve heard of the study that was done that showed that after the basic human needs are met, more income didn’t really increase people’s satisfaction in life or well-being. So essentially, if you have a roof over your head, clothes on your back, and food in your stomach, more money isn’t really going to make you any more happier.
Happiness comes from contentment and enjoying life. You are not content if you are hoping for more money and you can’t enjoy life if you are just working for that extra money. These things do not correlate nor do they work together. Simply put, in the pursuit of happiness my friends, more money will not be the key.
In my mind, there are two different definitions of rich. There is the money rich, and then there is the life rich. If after all this you are still wanting the money rich regardless of your character, habits or happiness then can I tell you a secret? You most likely already are.
If you make $35,000/year, you are in the top 1% of richest people in the world. If you make only$18,000/year you are still in the top 5%. So money rich isn’t really a hard goal to achieve if you live in a developed country. At that point wanting more money doesn’t really make you “rich”.
Now if you want life rich, which in my opinion is the only “rich” there is, then money has nothing to do with it. Life rich means you enjoy the life you are given and have time and freedom to pursue interests and dreams or goal. You have a family that you get to spend time with and a home with dinner to come back to every night. Now this, in my opinion, is a noble goal to have but you don’t reach it by simply “making more money”.
If you have personal issues, problems or struggles that you are dealing with, more money will not solve those. More money will not make you get out of a depression. Nor will it stop the anxiety you struggle with. More money will not restore broken relationships, nor give you a purpose in life. Those are the things that will affect you all your life no matter your income and can only be worked through on the inside.
Peace, purpose and forgiveness can only come from the one who created you, not the one who writes your checks.
I hope some of these resonated with you friends as money is such a touchy subject but obviously always talked about on this blog. I wanted to dig a little deeper today and get some thoughts turning for you guys!
The elite lady is elegant in her stride. She remains focused and poised when all around her is crumbling down. The elite lady functions in positive vibrations of knowing herself. She loves the crest of her breast and the arch of her silky back. Her body is a temple filled with summer glow. She dances effortlessly with life daily and sings her blues away. The elite lady is focused and determined to share her authentic self with the world. She works hard and loves herself enough to have a rest and pamper her mind, body and spirit. The elite lady knows her destination and drinks fearlessly from the cup of life. She kisses the hurt away as she melts into tomorrow’s sunrise, she is strong and knows her worth. She shows compassion to society and always has a smile to give. The elite lady recognises her power is stored in her ability to function in her passion whilst utilising her gifts. She is fearless and bound for success she no longer hides insides other people’s opinions of her, she is her own boss now and stands in her greatness. Her savvy spirit is one to remember this elite lady is YOU!
We are calling all elite ladies to step up and embrace your feminine essence in a business world, join us Thursday 7th March 2013.
Join Lyrical, for an empowering ladies consortium and Devontras Creations for a holistic health workshop. You can look forward to an evening of:
05 Feb	This entry was published on February 5, 2013 at 11:20 pm and is filed under Leadership, Motivation, Uncategorized.	Bookmark the permalink.	Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.