Money is Not Everything

[Zen Focus]

Hi guys,

Thought I'd want to come in here today and share something I recently learned.

The topic is:

Money is not everything.

How many of us have read stories of billionaires, who when asked about how they made their billions, answered to the lines of: "I didn't even think about making a billion when I started"?

This may not be related to the Fast Lane. Or perhaps it may be. In either case, I thought this is super valuable to me and think it'd be nice to share it here with you.

Recently, I got to drive a GTR R35.

One of the top 5 fastest cars in the world. A friend of mine who has an incredibly wealthy family decided he's going to sell it. And the other day we spent time together, I got the chance to give it a drive. The reason he's selling it?

He said he was tired of it. What did he want in place of it? A Megane RS, manual. About 270 horsepower, compared to the 500+ horsepower GTR.

What? Going from a super car to a Renault?

And we're talking about a guy who if he wanted, he could have easily gotten a Lamborghini, Ferrari or Porsche instead. His reason? "I want something low profile, and it's a less overpowered manual so the driving experience will be more engaging."

You see, why did I want to share about this?

Every day, billions of people around the world think that money will give them happiness. While I think money can provide comfort, and yes, it's a tool that if used right can provide happiness, I don't think it is the key to happiness. I had to emphasize this again:

Money is not the key to happiness.

How many people out there living every day, will do whatever in their power to cheat, manipulate, play politics, and hurt others just to make money, thinking that if they've earned their fortune they would finally be happy?

How many people out there living every day, will admire that rich guy driving the Lamborghini, the Ferrari, the Porsche, thinking man, he's so lucky, and their hearts ache because they'd want the same for themselves too?

Little did they know...

That to the rich, on the next week or so when they first own these super cars and drive it, the thrill of the car has already dumbed down to just a cool new possession. We can ask MJ and the many other multi-millionaires on this forum to confirm it.

The car has never been the actual cause of their happiness, and is never the cause of their fulfillment. It has never been any of the rich's deepest happiness. If there's lasting happiness created by the super car they've purchased, it's only made available when as a result of having that super car - they were able to make others happy or there is a personal sentimental reason to it.

So what are we really driving at?

The reason why I'm writing this now, is to hopefully provide someone who've read this post a reason to pause and ponder, with a wish that you'd be able to achieve greater success in life. Even though the goal to Fast Lane is to make money, do also give a thought to the reason why you want to make money.

Maturity and wisdom is what will really help us to achieve what we want in life, and hopefully this post will be able to help you with that a little bit more.

Aiming to just make money blindly, will not only prevent you from making it, it will also prevent you from ever really enjoying it.

When I driven the GTR, what went on inside my mind? It was actually this: "Shit, this is one of the top 5 fastest cars in the world, a car that beats Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porsches - and that's it?" I didn't feel anything special. It was fast, sure. But the experience was not that far from driving a normal car that's amped up with more speed, or more control. I meant this from an experiential sense, instead of from a comparison or review point. Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches, I'd imagine that they'd be able to provide a more comfortable experience, but nonetheless they couldn't be that far apart.

Would I ever get a Lamborghini, Ferrari or Porsche? Sure, if I had more than enough then to just squander a bit. But will it really give me happiness to own any of them? At this point, I'd say it's like owning a iPhone 6. You'd think it's cool, but it's just another possession.

The wealthy has been saying this all the time. But very few really notice what they meant.

They meant it literally. Their possessions have never been anything special.

Rather, it's the little human things we appreciate like spending good and sincere time with friends, family, the people you love, offering value to others, leaving the world with something meaningful which are the things that really matters, and that contribute to happiness.

It's not your ability in leveraging your employees to accomplish your goal that's what will make you happy. It's things like even when working, you were able to allow employees to feel fun working, and you allow them to spend a good time working together with you and bond with you that's going to make you happy. It's chasing after a goal fervously and with great hunger together with your trusted team to make a powerful impact in others' lives, that is going to make you happy. It's the feelings involved throughout the progress, the progress, that's going to make you happy. It's how what you're doing going to positively affect others, on what scale, what kind of challenges you aim to trump over, and that whole process of doing it that's going to make you happy. It's a mother's love for her child, it's life experiences enjoyed with people who are sincere, and you get to live life as real and give as much effort to life as you can, that is going to make you happy.

It's your contributions. It's your being. That's going to make you happy.

So, what do you want money for?

Make it meaningful.

The more you can make real value available to others, the more happy you'll be, and the more abundant the money you'll receive.

Material wealth is cool, but what's even better, is that we can breathe out our last breath knowing we've had a most amazing life while we are alive.

This kind of happiness doesn't come from being selfish. It comes from maturity.

When you have this kind of maturity, you'll want to appreciate what's really nice.

Even if it's a Megane RS over a GTR, just because you know, you'll sincerely enjoy that even more.

 

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[Vigilante]

"I've been rich, and I've been poor. Rich is better." - Kevin O'Leary

 

[IceCreamKid]

The people who were able to appreciate this post were few. What I've shared was a valuable lesson to me, it was like a "click" of enlightenment when thinking about what made us successful, and how our mindsets have always been. In our retail brand, we've been breaking records and our employees are our best friends to hang out with. We take company trips regularly and it's always together with the team, and we're able to plot big plans and make them happen because of it.

This post is not about the unimportance of money. It is the importance of being aware during the strive for money.

This guy reminded me of the simple tweak that skyrocketed my biz into the 6-figure range. A girl found me on Craigslist and really liked my stuff so she started referring me to other commercial accounts and things went viral for me within the startup community. I ended up being the "go to" company for startups throughout the Bay Area.

This tweak can be broken down into an exact science.

If you look at an atom under a high powered microscope, you'll see that it is vibrating A LOT. Since we are made up of trillions of atoms, our body actually gives off a certain vibration that other people's subconscious can pick up on. Our conscious mind doesn't even realize it's happening.

I basically aligned my mindset with a position of pure love for others. No lie. This changed it all. My vibration changed over time and people began to view me as the guy who was willing to take a loss if it meant the customer would end up happy. Sales increased and more referrals came...all from this vibration of love in its purest form. It wasn't about being a cold cash taker. It was about heart.

99% of people have a vibration of fear, jealousy, anger, bitterness, envy, and disappointment. All of these vibrations, even fear, can reversed by mastering the idea of genuinely loving others. You can easily determine your vibration by observing your reactions towards others. How do you feel when you see someone becoming successful? How do you feel when you see someone fail?

I once hated picking up the phone to talk to strangers. It didn't feel natural to me. Over time, I started to realize that it didn't feel natural because there was a hint of greed in my heart that wanted to extract money from them. I wasn't in alignment with my heart and whenever that's the case, it's like fighting an endless battle because I was doing something that wasn't at peace with my core. At this point in my life, there is zero attachment to money. Just provide a quality product that gives REAL value and TRUST that the universe will take care of everything else.

When I chose to be in alignment with my heart and the concept of pure love for others, the idea of calling people was no longer a fear that had to be conquered. Instead of battling the fear and overcoming it, it was completely bypassed. The process of calling people became a PLEASURE because it felt the same as calling Aunt Sally to ask if I could help her mow the lawn. The process of calling people felt RESISTANCE FREE and it was all due to being rooted in love. Everyone in the world is viewed as my brother and sister. As cheesy as it sounds, love will free you.

Zen Focus Thank you for posting this thread, you are one seriously enlightened and conscious person.
I wonder if SteveO has thoughts on this spiritual side to business...

I also wonder if MJ DeMarco will be touching on the concept of alignment in his 2nd book.

Alignment is the secret sauce. I'm willing to bet money that MJ would've shut down this forum a long time ago if it wasn't rooted in his values and mission. It takes an incredible amount of time and energy to manage this place.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I just booked a trip to Ambergris Caye. I don't say "vacation" because my life already feels like a vacation.

For those who don't know where Ambergris Caye is, its a Carribiean island off the coast of Belize. The trip was spontaneous and unplanned. No boss to ask. No permission required. I will be lodging in the #1 rated accommodations on the island. The long flight? I will be flying first class. All of the aforementioned came to pass because of money, or indirectly, because of money. And you know what, this makes me happy and excited. And I am much happier that I don't have to sit stuffed in coach class for 6 hours. I am much happier that my bed will have the finest linens with the finest beach view, and not be some seedy dump near a crime ridden area. I am much happier that I will be eating and drinking the finest the island has to offer.

Yes, money is not everything. I understand that I enjoy these luxuries compliments of my relationship with money and the production/consumption equation. Money, properly managed, is a tool that provides variety, options, and freedom. It is a tool that arrives in your life when you produce, solve problems, and be valuable to your fellow man. This simple aforementioned statement is lost on most. Never in all of history has a teenager said "When I grow up, I want to provide value and contribute to the world!" -- nope, its "I want to be rich!"

Sure money is not everything-- but without it, the above story would never happen and instead, I'd have to wait until some corporation, some boss, or some schedule told me it was OK to go. IMO, the "money doesn't buy happiness" crowd doesn't understand money, consumption, or production. And the money chasers? They're no different as they've made money their everything, willing to sell their soul, ethics, and/or integrity for illusions of value-- yea, they won't be happy either once the high of their latest gadget wears thin...

Earn money by righteous contribution and watch how happy you'll be.

 

[Vigilante]

I think the denial of a correlation between financial security and happiness is somewhat delusional. I also think the attempt to cap the correlation at a fixed dollar amount (i.e. after $75k, there's no more satisfaction to be gained by increased wealth) is ludicrous. I have learned to be content in all circumstances, but happiness is an emotion. Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. It's a spectrum. It's a range.

When I had bill collectors calling me, my happiness was less. When I had zero money, zero income, and fading hope, happiness was less.

It's OK to admit that money swings the spectrum of happiness from less to more. It's not politically correct, and it takes away the security blanket from those who try and deny the correlation, but it's true in most cases. Most people I have ever met who try and make the opposite case never had money. And, 100% of them, if given the opportunity, would take the money.

Malcolm Gladwell's latest book (David and Goliath) tried to make and then expound on that claim that more income causes diminishing returns of happiness. I threw the book out.

 

[Vigilante]

Money. Makes. Me. Happier.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

because if people were to shift their focus towards making others happy, not only will they be satisfied on the inner side, they'll also be rewarded with abundance of money.

Yup, and this is why most people never succeed with money, business, or with relationships. Me, Me, Me. Selfishness. Spurious marketing. Unethical practices. Do whatever it takes to make that cash!! This mentality is something we fight here every day.

"Get Rich or Die Trying" seems to be a cool phrase with a lot of young guys. Well guess what? They will indeed, die trying.

 

[SteveO]

People who you could give $100,000.00 to today ... and they'd STILL be upside down ... LESS than ZERO.

I have been much deeper than this in the past. That is where a lot of realizations about life came to me.

At the age of 18, I was freshly split-up from my gf, living in my car, no job, and quite happy. At the age of 46 I had about 10M, big assed house, more money coming in than I could count, just playing every day. Still very happy.

When the bust came and knocked my a$$ for a loop, I was miserable and depressed to the point that I thought life was no longer worth living. One day it just hit me. What is different about me today vs. the 18 year old me? Nothing except MY ATTITUDE.

 

[RHL]

"Money can't buy happiness, but I'd rather cry in a Ferrari."

 

[Ironlung]

Interesting post Zen Focus, and some of the things you mentioned hit home with me. By all means I was never "super rich" but at my height I did bring home about $900,000 a year.

I have a wife and 3 kids. My oldest daughter (whom I now have an awesome relationship with) when she was younger, I couldn't tell you a teacher's name she had, her favorite color or food, or what the inside of her school looked like. I honestly think at that point I didn't really "care". My wife was a stay at home mom and I felt coming home everyday meant I was spending time with my kids.

It wasn't until I lost alot of my income that I began to really reflect on life, finances and family. I had it all wrong in the beginning.. I thought that money could buy my and other's happiness. I thought that buying my daughter the latest and greatest "stuff" would go farther than just taking her to dinner and a movie. I have two athletes in my family, one just retired from the NBA and the other is a boxer. Both whom have millions of dollars, and it's like I was trying in some weird way to "compete" with them to prove to family and friends I had "arrived".

I come from an awesome family, so part of me was still grounded, but I really began to worship money and everything it purchased. I currently don't even bring home a third of what I use to but I happier than ever with an awesome wife and 3 beautiful children that I have a solid and involved relationship with. I take my daughter to HS everyday, I know all of her teachers, show up to all the footballs games she cheers at and it feels INCREDIBLE.

Now, this is just MY story, I'm sure other could have juggled money and family way better than I did, but I just felt the need to chime in on your interesting post.

 

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[Vigilante]

Really? Serious question - Doesnt the fact that u put in hard work (process) to get that money provide you with more satisfaction then the money itself?

Let me rephrase your position to ensure I understand it.

Some days I am at my office in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While I am there, I am managing accounting, dealing with strategy and customer problem mitigation issues and participating in the grind of company building.

Other days, I am in the middle of the Pacific ocean, on a private charter boat, drinking champagne while my wife and children spot humpback whales.

Is your question to me on which of those days am I happier?

 

[biophase]

Here's an example of how money made me more comfortable, but not necessarily happy.

About 3 years ago I went to Prague on a study abroad program. During this trip me and about 6 other students decided to take a weekend trip to Budapest by train. The other students ranged from 19-24 years old and were all in college. They were on a tight budget as they did not have much money to make this trip work. So we got the cheapest train tickets from Prague to Budapest. We booked a hostel which was $35 for the night for everyone for a room.

We arrived at the Budapest train station around midnight. We forgot to exchange cash so we had no Hungarian dollars and all the places to exchange money were closed. Our hostel was about 1.5 miles away. They all wanted to walk because they did not have any money let alone want to pay for a taxi. Keep in mind we all had luggage (roller carry-ons). So we walked down the streets of Budapest, each rolling along our suitcases on the cobblestone sidewalks to the hostel arriving at around 1:30am. Everyone made it fine, we passed a few questionable bums sleeping on the street. Maybe made a few wrong turns. It was a pretty memorable night.

I bring this story up because I knew that at anytime, if I wanted, I could resolve this issue. I could have gotten a taxi and paid whatever was needed to get us to the hostel. Heck, If it got too shady, I could have even said, forget the hostel, it's too far, let's just go to this 4 star hotel in front of us, I'll pay for all the rooms. I remember thinking that this was a fun adventure, but I could resolve it with one swipe of a credit card. That is always a nice feeling. That is the comfort feeling that money can give you in your day to day life (except in cases of health).

Edit: BTW, I just wanted to follow up on this post and say that when I went to Prague, I consciously decided to spend this time as a college student. I wanted to go back to the times where we opened up a menu and decided the place was too expensive and left. Or we walked or took the bus instead of taxis.

I really love going places where I can not USE my money, where the perspective of money is gone. Examples of this are trips to remote places, camping, hiking, etc... During those moments it really does not matter how much money you have. It can't save you, you don't have that get out of a jam card in your back pocket.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

And I write this not to a bunch of forum readers, but to real people.

I don't understand. Are forum people not real people?

I generally reject the "money doesn't buy happiness" argument but understand the take. Once you forget about money and focus on value and contribution, the money will follow. Money is icing, value is the cake. Those who focus on the icing have an empty life. Those who focus on the cake live full.

The more you can make real value available to others, the more happy you'll be, and the more abundant the money you'll receive.

Good TL;DR here.

 

[P3HSB]

There is a Greek philosophy Eudaimonia, which translated as happiness or the "good life".

The "good life" consist of five things.

Health, Wealth, Love, Happiness, and Higher Purpose.

Life is very much like a chicken soup. If you want a good chicken soup it better be a mixture of everything inside, not just the chicken.

 

[Silverhawk851]

"Talks about happiness and existentialism occur only in a state of boredom."

And your confusing money=freedom with money=material items.

How bout this, you can't be happy if you don't do shit with your life. Your life is time, you have 80 years, 30,000 days.
To do shit with life you have to have money.

And btw, you only get money if you help others, money is a by-product of your value.
Meaning, if you have no money, you are not providing anything to society, meaning your useless to them, meaning they give you no money, meaning you feel inadequate, meaning your not happy.

So Yes, money is result of creating value, and being valuable means you are fulfilling your potential, meaning you will be happy.

Now, go create some value, and be happy because you fulfilled your potential, and made a difference in the world.
Back to work.

 

[SteveO]

I am in the process of reading the book "The Power of Now". There were a couple of recommendations here on the forum. So far this book matches up with the direction and philosophy that I am working towards in life.

I just came across this passage that talks about future vs. present time. It is relevant to this discussion. A lot of this book is dedicated to this topic and this paragraph is just a tiny piece.

"If you are dissatisfied with what you have got, or even frustrated or angry about your present lack, that may motivate you to become rich, but even if you do make millions, you will continue to experience the inner condition of lack, and deep down you will continue to feel unfulfilled. You may have many exciting experiences that money can buy, but they will always leave you with an empty feeling and the need for further physical or psychological gratification. You won't abide in Being and so feel the fullness of life now that alone is true prosperity."

This supports my thoughts that if you are unhappy now, you will continue to be unhappy when you have money. Money can buy pleasure and great experiences but it takes you to change your state of mind.

We have some great examples of happiness from @Vigilante and @MJ DeMarco . They are exceptional people though. All you need to do is look at their posts on this forum to see their feelings, thoughts, and philosophy on life. They work on themselves also. The focus is not simply on money.

In fact, I see that most people on this forum are different.

Making money is great! I work toward the same goal as all of us that are part of this group. But I still feel that a cranky a**hole with no money will continue to be a cranky a**hole with money. Unless they work on themselves.

 

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[decaobr]

 

[theag]

 

[Esquire]

Money doesn't buy you happiness ...?

Tell that to someone sitting in a jail cell for civil contempt ... because a judge thinks he has money that doesn't exist.

Tell that to a failed business owner ... being dunned and threatened with jail by the Internal Revenue Service.

Tell that to the graduate student who is out of work ... and six figures in non-dischargeable student loan debt.

Tell that to the single mothers who take shitty jobs ... wiping old people's asses at a nursing home ... for minimum wage ... just to meet their family's most basic life necessities.

Tell that to the couples in divorce court ... who are splitting because of financial stress (the #1 cause of divorce).

As a lawyer ... I represent bankruptcy clients and divorce clients ... and I can tell you one thing for certain ... this crowd ... is NOT happy.

Why ...?

No money.

Or worse ... Negative money.

The focus of this conversation seems to be ... "having a little" ... vs. "having a lot" ... but everyone seems to be forgetting ... there is another place on the spectrum ...

Terminally F*cked.

Upside-down.

People who you could give $100,000.00 to today ... and they'd STILL be upside down ... still be LESS than ZERO.

Tell THEM money doesn't buy happiness. Pure pie in the sky.

The absence of money can buy a boatload of misery ... I can guarantee that.

Sure ... I agree ... you can find happiness in a sunny day ... walking on the beach ... spending time with family.

And I agree ... that some people are so obsessed with earning a living ... they never take time to enjoy it.

I don't want to die overworked ... regardless of how much money is in the bank.

Early retirement works for me.

But to suggest money doesn't buy happiness ... is pure nonsense.

Money might not be the only currency ... but god damn straight it does.

 

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[Zen Focus]

I don't understand. Are forum people not real people?

I generally reject the "money doesn't buy happiness" argument but understand the take. Once you forget about money and focus on value and contribution, the money will follow. Money is icing, value is the cake. Those who focus on the icing have an empty life. Those who focus on the cake live full.



Good TL;DR here.

I was trying to ground the mood of those who were reading this post by that statement. Mindset affects things. Oftentimes people choose to be funny with what they read online, because it's online. They take on a cyber identity instead of being mature in observing how what's shared can possibly affect them.

It's interesting. The people who were able to appreciate this post were few. What I've shared was a valuable lesson to me, it was like a "click" of enlightenment when thinking about what made us successful, and how our mindsets have always been. In our retail brand, we've been breaking records and our employees are our best friends to hang out with. We take company trips regularly and it's always together with the team, and we're able to plot big plans and make them happen because of it.

This post is not about the unimportance of money. It is the importance of being aware during the strive for money.

The people who think that this post relates to me supporting that money is not important is a reflection of how many people in the world are still ignorant during their strive for money. I've always believed that the 5 closest people you spend the most time with becomes you. And around me are friends of royalty bloodlines, billionaire families, inspiring personalities and tons of books. By spending my time with them, I never stop for a second to observe and learn. Eventually I realized there are differences between the newly-rich and old money. The rich, and the really, really rich. To the latter, luxuries have become such a norm that they wanted something that gives them heartbeats instead. The chase of money is not everything. Living life in a meaningful way is.

Too many people just blindly strive for money, instead of giving some thought to what would happen if they got all the money they want that way. They allowed ego to blind them from creating and having happiness not just for themselves but also for others. Life is short. Before long we'll realize how short of a time we have, and then all those material possessions and selfish enjoyments would all just turn meaningless.

I come from a poor family, my father being a pastor, and my mom a teacher. By right, I should have understood the pains of being poor more. Yes, more than most people here. The aches of envying others who had the luxury cars, and living the great life? Yes, I've experience that pain deeply. But what's funny is, all those feelings have dulled now. Sure, money is important and all these material possessions have their lure, but now they only seem to be value on the surface. Once I was able to buy almost anything I want, and this went on again and again, I realized it's not the food, the trips, the time spent on myself that makes me happy. It was the food, trips and time spent on others that makes me happy.

People spend hours working in a day hoping that the destination would make them happy.

No, when you reach the destination suddenly everything will seem not as amazing as you would thought it'll be.

If that's the case, what's amazing?

The experiences, during the progress of making money. That's more valuable than anything - and if you're spending that many hours of your life making money, why not make it really, exciting, and worth doing?

 

[Guest]

Great post!

Here are the Twelve Riches in Life as outline in the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

1. Positive mental attitude
2. Sound Physical Health
3. Harmony in human relations
4. Freedom from fear
5. The hope of future achievements
6. The capacity for applied faith
7. Willingness to share ones blessings with others
8. To be engaged in the labor of love
9. An open mind on all subjects towards all people
10. Complete self discipline
11. Wisdom with which to understand people
12. Financial security

Notice money is at the bottom? Mr. Hill have spoken and interviewed with hundreds if not thousands of ultra mega successful people, the Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Larry Elison, the Waltons, and Zuckerberg's of his time, and these are the patterns he found. Hill himself found his fortune following these foundations.

 

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[Zen Focus]

This post is meant to raise its readers' mindset.

And I write this not to a bunch of forum readers, but to real people.

I'm glad it resonated with you Ironlung.

Our retail brand is #1 in the industry we're in, and we serve celebrities and high status personalities every day. My partner and I are currently starting 2 other new ventures, one technological/manufacturer based, and another F&B based. For me, it's things like creating technology that changes how people live, or aiming to be a Michelin star restauranteer that's going to make me happy. If either of these is accomplished, there will be certainly rewards of wealth. However, the money is not what will satisfy me. The money will be a damn good tool for me to accomplish more of those incredible accomplishments.

Competitors are trying hard to make money, so they are often mediocre.

I wrote this post hoping to inspire those still thinking that making money is the most important thing, to shift their focus, so that they will be able to achieve success at the level of those who are truly wealthy, and who enjoys that wealth.

This post is written to help:

1.) People who want to make money, but whose focus is on money alone so they will most probably fail in being really successful.
2.) People who have already made the money, but who feels there's more to life than this.

In 1.), they will need to focus on what matters, and be mature enough to think of a venture that can truly offer value to the people. If they're able to understand what matters, chances are they'll be able to make it happen, and run their venture in a way that delivers a large impact - hence be successful.

In 2.), I meant to share this so they can resonate. Perhaps they can consider starting a venture that can be meaningful to them. Perhaps they can change their employees' working environment from a purely corporate one to a more human one, etc. Because what counts in life isn't money. More often than not, starting a venture and running it in a way that makes them happy often creates a successful business, and they gain even more money and happiness than they previously could.

 

[Zen Focus]

Dear Rogue,

This is one of the reasons why I've written this post.

It's also meant to say, there can be a good experience making money. But the goal, preferably shouldn't just solely revolve around it, or else the founder would be missing out on too much. So there is an alternative, which is to make even the experience of making money enjoyable - this can be done in several ways:

1.) Run a venture that you personally feel will be meaningful to do
2.) Run it in a way that encourages the everyday human beauty, e.g. Encourage a truly team based environment, focus on the happiness of your employees - who in turn will keep customers happy (Employees as top priority, customers second, shareholders third)
3.) Run the business with a very human touch
4.) Run the business to achieve a very large impact that positively affects others
5.) Run the business to enable others to experience more of what you appreciate, and be the most persistent stickler at it, etc.

The end result is truly offering value. And money will naturally be a part of it.

 

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[Zen Focus]

I'm withdrawing myself from this thread.

There are those who understand the actual reason for this thread, and who can learn from it.

And then there are those whose minds are so shrouded, they'll need to go through more pain in life before it finally opens up to receiving knowledge that matures them further and allow them to accomplish more.

In either case, I realized there's enough conversations in here for people to gain value from it.

Time spent defending the offering of value to people who would only want to be right, instead of wanting to improve is time well-wasted.

Hope someone actually benefits from these sharings.

 

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[Waisec]

The citizens of Liberia and Zimbabwe might disagree with you, OP

 

[Coalission]

100% agree with this, and have been thinking about it more and more. The problem is, people chasing money think that when you say "Money doesn't equal happiness", you're saying poor people are happier, money is evil, etc.

At the end of the day, I think freedom is what brings happiness. Freedom to do whatever you want to do, whether that means helping others, building businesses, robbing people or being coked out of your mind buying new hookers every week. This is why someone who lives a simple life and works the hours they want on their own little business, gets to see their family often and has much more free time can truly be happy, while someone making millions working 120 hours a week, can't see their family and is worried about crushing business debt can be miserable. One is free, the other isn't. The guy working 120 hours can also truly be happy if that's what makes him so.

Money gives you the freedom to truly do what you want to do and what makes you happy, without worrying about debt, health, etc. but if you have no idea what makes you happy, you'll be like the lottery winners who end up broke and miserable again. You never determined your "why", and no amount of money will make you find it, since money in and of itself is just the tool that liberates you to pursue it.

 

[zr1]

making money is both a narcissistic and altruistic pursuit. if you don't value you first the world won't value you. that's why most lottery winners lose all their winnings and go back to zero unless they feel they actually deserved the money. self worth must precede net worth to not only just make the money but keep it. there is no happiness without sadness in anything in life. seeing life as a one sided illusion will eventually pop your bubble. Be willing to embrace both happiness and sadness (pleasure and pain) in your pursuit and you will gain something more valuable than money or happiness...wisdom.

 

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[Zen Focus]

It's interesting that this thread has taken a course of its own. I intended for it to potentially inspire those who were going to suffer from aiming to make money thinking it's going to be the destination. For the start-up, so that if their focus was on making money from dropshipping, for example, to actually create something valuable for others which they would love doing. Create a product with great sensitivity - only honestly settling for what truly satisfies the maker him/herself, and perhaps then get it funded on Kickstarter and make it happen. By then, their product would actually be something exciting, and is fundworthy. Offer a service, be the absolute #1 person for their customers to call when it comes to the service. For those who resonates with this post and who already have a business, so they could change from mediocre to exceptional. Change their focus from achieving numbers, to providing a truly valuable experience. Transform the working environment from dull to one filled with life for its employees.

It seems mind-boggling to me that each day, I'd visit various different restaurants and do business with many vendors, and I get the feeling of wanting to complain about them. These restaurants who offer mediocre food because their focus was on making money, raise prices when their food is only ok, not excellent, and as a result are often empty. And then there are those restaurants which simply offers amazing food, and despite being expensive, I find myself frequenting them again and again. For the vendors, if they were not amazing, whenever the chance came up I would go for their better competitors. Time and again, I realized that those who put their heart into doing what they do, they prosper and people just want to give money to them. Sometimes you just wonder, "Why didn't the normal ones understand?"

By saying money is not everything, I meant it in this sense.

Given the choice, I would have definitely said that money is important. However, it shouldn't be everything that matters - because if people were to shift their focus towards making others happy, not only will they be satisfied on the inner side, they'll also be rewarded with abundance of money.

 

[decaobr]

Money is not the key to happiness.

Saying that money is not the key to happiness, is the same thing that saying:

Health is not the key to happiness.

It's impossible to be fulfilled ( and happy ) without money, unless you settle for less.

 

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[Zen Focus]

I guess I rushed too fast at completing the post.

A fully mature person will know the importance of money.

This post is dedicated to those whose focus is too narrowly focused on money, so as to take actions that prevent them from it, or from being able to appreciate it.

 

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