Happiness is not always measured with dollar signs. When we spend time explaining the reasoning behind Financial Life Planning with people, our conversations lead to the underlying objectives of such a Plan, and that for many, happiness in life is often measured with so many other metrics.
Sure, for many concentrated clientele, hard-driven entrepreneurs and others, happiness sometimes feels like it can be only measured in numbers of dollars. Such as a personal monetary gain from selling real estate, this quarter’s profits, or the deal you just landed. But in fact, research is very clear that money doesn’t equate to happiness and getting more of it is unlikely to make you happier.
For example, let’s look at what happens to people who win the lottery. Research shows that at the end of a year, they’re back to baseline. Some are less happy. This is because of a psychological phenomenon called hedonic adaptation. You may buy, say, a beautiful house and the car of your dreams but at the end of three months, it’s a nice house, it’s a nice car. You get used to it. If you’ve ever spent time longing for a beautiful object or an article of clothing and then finally obtained it, you may have experienced hedonic adaptation yourself. In time, you may still love your purchase, but it will likely lose its power to lift your spirits just because you own it.
So, as we define with our clients, if money won’t make you happy, what will? Here are some of our favourite answers.
Purpose
Happiness is tied up with the idea of dharma, a term with no exact equivalent in English that is sometimes translated as virtue or merit. Happiness can be attained by human endeavour. Happiness and virtue are inextricably linked. The ancient Greeks actually did not use the word happiness; they used a term called eudaimonia which literally translated means human flourishing. The idea is that humans are happy when they are flourishing. Fulfilling their purpose to do something meaningful in the world.
Giving
Remember that research on lottery winners? There was one group who did seem to gain lasting happiness from their windfall: those who gave some of the money to charitable causes that they cared about. I don’t know what their destiny will be but one thing I’m certain of. The ones amongst you who will be truly happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.
A fascinating experiment seems to bear out this thinking. College students were given a small amount of money and some were told to spend it on something they wanted, while others were told to spend it on someone else. At the end of the day, those who’d spent it on others were measurably happier.
Gratitude
Research has also shown that if you express gratitude on a regular basis you’ll be happy, you’ll be more creative and you’ll be more fulfilled. You might even live ten years longer. Studies of twins have shown that 50 percent of our happiness is determined by our genetics. Astoundingly, only 10 percent is living conditions. The other 40 percent is dependent on factors such as purpose and giving described above.
The set point, as in the final point in a tennis match, of happiness can be improved through things like regular exercise, behavioural cognitive therapy, meditation and by expressing gratitude on a regular basis. Again, research shows you can increase set point happiness through the regular practice of expressing gratitude. That may be reason enough to try to feel grateful every day.
The bottomline
In our conversations, many people tell us that few things make as big a difference to their lives as a regular gratitude practice. Amazingly, gratitude has even been shown to work as an effective painkiller when you’re ill. This magical state of mind can help you in countless ways, and science is always discovering more of them.
So even if your don’t take any of our advice, please do try practicing gratitude. The changes it makes to your outlook and mood may surprise you. And it will definitely make you happier than winning the lottery could. That’s what is really in the cards for Keeping Life Current.