Money Cannot Buy You Happiness…Or Can It?
Michael Asadoorian - Apr 28, 2023
We have all heard the saying that money cannot buy you happiness…followed by it can sure help or the lack of can create more stress in our lives. NO shortage of everyone weighing in on the topic with a for or against position. The reality of the discussion begins with the obvious - we all need money to fulfill our basic needs and live….and even dreams. Yet…surprisingly, the endless pursuit of more money never creates lasting happiness or a sense of fulfilment. This may be due to what researchers call the Easterlin Paradox.
According to Wikipedia, "the paradox states that at a point in time happiness varies directly with income…but over time happiness does not trend upward as income continues to grow." An explanation for this – we become comfortably familiar or content with the concept of having money and "scarcity" does not dominate our thinking.
For many people living paycheque to paycheque may be their reality…no matter what that paycheque is today yet, after a big raise an initial boost of happiness may result in anticipation of being able to afford nicer or MORE things. Then a comfortable feeling of having the extra money or extra possessions set in and your happiness meter returns back to half tank.
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In terms of applying money for your happiness to a "thing" or purchasing an item…the feeling experienced may change over time and the search for happiness using your money may evolve from a "thing or item" to an experience where the memories and thoughts of happiness continue well after the initial event. This is evidenced by a 20-year study conducted by Dr. Thomas Gilovich who asked participants to rank their happiness after making major material purchases and experiential purchases (like vacations).
At first, participants ranking their purchases, "the thing" and "the experience" happiness results were about the same. Over time, their satisfaction with material things became less and less yet their satisfaction with "the experience" grew continually when measured over time.
Why might this be? Let us consider the experience such as a vacation or taking part in an event that is a change from our daily routines or rituals. The emotional and physical benefits become endless as noted here.
- Stress and anxiety relief – we all need to take a "pause" a divergence or rest from the daily grind of our digital worlds.
- Vacations take you out of your daily rituals and become excellent experiences for nourishing neuro pathways and brain function - setting the "clutter aside" fighting cognitive decay as you age while giving way to creative thinking with new experiences.
- Happiness before a vacation or to experience an event - increases before the trip or event (anticipation), during the trip/event (experiential) and well after the trip/event with fond memories nurturing the happiness endorphins released in our bodies as we reflect.
- The happiness felt during an experience extends to our relationships as we explore new ground with family and companions during these events.
How many more reasons do you need to book that next vacation or an experience? Our challenge to you for this week is to let us know what your favourite vacation has been – enjoy the trip down memory lane.
Our money Quote today comes from a Proverb:
"If you want to feel rich, just count the things that money can't buy."
And on vacations and experience…from Oliver Wendell Holmes:
"A mind stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions."
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