money buys you freedom
I think it’s true that money can’t buy happiness. But in this article, I’m going to discuss what I call the “closely guarded millionaire’s secret to happiness”: the only thing money can buy that Will increase your enjoyment of life. You see though money can’t really buy you happiness, yeah they can buy you freedom and freedom, if used correctly, can result in happiness. There is no guarantee that this will be the case, but freedom gives you the ability to increase your enjoyment of life.
You might say, “Okay, but what does this have to do with marketing?” I think it has a lot to do with marketing and why you are reading this article. One of the things I often do when I speak at a seminar is tell attendees, “You’re not here to learn how to make money.” Of course, everyone looks horrified, confused, unsure of what I mean. Then I go on to say, “Look, if I gave you a million dollars, it wouldn’t necessarily make you happy, would it?” And people are also confused and frustrated by that statement.
But what I say then is, “What if I gave you a million dollars, but in the end at exactly the same time the US government said, ‘Money is worth nothing anymore. Let’s go to something else'”, what would it be worth then? Maybe the new currency would be gold bars or ducks, and here you are, stuck with a stack of worthless greenbacks. Suddenly that money means nothing, anymore. It does not have value.
Let’s take it a little further. If you don’t want money, yes money itself it’s not going to make you happy, what is it? It can be the things money can buy: a house, a car, and a vacation. Well, that’s great, but what does that give you? A feeling of peace, enjoyment, or happiness. Bingo! That is ultimately what you want. You want the good feelings, you want the feeling of the monkey on your back, you want some peace and calm. In your mind, you have connected those feelings with having money.
Money can do good, but it can also do bad; but neither does it come from money itself. Money is not the root of all evil; is he love of money that is. Say it right in the Bible. The way money is used comes from the person who uses it. Now, I’m not telling you to avoid money. In fact, I want people to have all the money they want, because it gives you the freedom to choose and make decisions that can give you the happiness you want to enjoy, even though it may what’s more give you great pain if you don’t know how to use that freedom correctly.
That’s why you’re going to see people who are incredibly rich, who are very happy in their lives, very focused, very balanced, and having fun, while you’re going to see people with exactly the same amount of money who are hooked on drugs, who are very depressed, who just don’t know what to do with their lives. Again, not the money. Money gives you freedom, and freedom gives you more options than you had before.
For example, if you’re dealing with a situation where you have a lot of credit card debt or have creditors calling you, or living paycheck to paycheck, there will constantly be stress in the back of your mind. If you had enough money, you could pay off all those debts and take the stress out of your head. Then you would have the freedom to enjoy the life you want. Money gives you the freedom to do more things, to go on more vacations, to have the things you want to have.
Money gives you the freedom to choose to be happy, to create a life of happiness. To get there, I recommend that you start working on two things right now. First, find ways to earn more money. Do some serious research into what other people are doing to make more money, because money will be the vehicle for the life you want to live. Second, decide on the life you want to live. Decide what it will take to make you happy, or focus on the things that make you happy right now, and then try to live that kind of life right now (within your means, of course). As you get more money, improve the life you want to live. I think you can enjoy your life. right now.
I know people who have said, “I’m going to postpone my happiness until I’m debt-free, or until I live in the perfect house, or until I can take the perfect vacation,” and so they postpone enjoying their lives until they have a certain amount of money. I think that’s putting your life on hold, and if you need ten or a hundred million dollars, well, I’d hate for you to wait to earn that kind of money before you start enjoying your life. You may not make it.
What I recommend is that you build the tools, right now, to enjoy your life as it is. Because what money tends to do is this: it magnifies whatever you’re living right now. So if someone has very little money but do have a drug problem, what usually happens when they make a lot of money is they get a enormous drug problem Money does not make the drug problem go away; magnifies it. Now suppose someone feels a little depressed when he has a little money and he thinks that more money will cure his depression. Well guess what? it doesn’t. They realize that being rich doesn’t cure their depression and they get more depressed!
On the other hand, if someone is charitable, if he finds ways to enjoy his life with the little money he has, once he gets more money, he can give more and enjoy his life even more. So determine what makes you happy now. Create happiness in your life today. Work to earn more money so you can have more freedom. That will increase the amount of happiness you have a hundred times.
Problems are part of life, and business is life amplified. You have more problems with business, not less. So build your business around your lifestyle and try to find things you love, or try to fall in love with the things that make you the most money. Make a game out of it and you won’t be disappointed. Sure, some games can be a real struggle; they can be a lot of work and stressful, and there are certainly a lot of challenges. And yet, they are also very rewarding. I think you should see everything as a big challenge.
money itself is No it will make you happy. It’s not going to do anything except maybe pay some bills. However, you can provide him with some toys, because the business really it is a game. It’s hard to think that way when you’re drowning in debt, struggling just to find the money to pay rent or put food on the table. It’s hard to see the game when you’re fighting. But if you can keep that perspective, and if you can learn to be content with life outside of business and with the specific financial situation you find yourself in, then when things do turn around for you you will still be happy.
If happiness was all about money, there wouldn’t be people in Hollywood committing suicide, there wouldn’t be people in Hollywood or on Wall Street hooked on drugs, living horrible lives. They are out there making money hand over fist, and yet many of them are simply struggling to be happy. But if you can learn to be happy wherever you are right now, then when you finally achieve success, you will be able to keep that happiness and it won’t be tied to money, so money can continue to be just a game to you. It can be something you use to keep track, and then you can use that money to do good things and help people and buy the toys you want.
Business is just a fun game, and we all play to win and have fun at the same time. Remember that rule and apply it to your life!