Money Won’t Make You Happy. These 3 Things Will

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By: Spencer Brooks

In a recent Bulletproof Radio podcast episode [iTunes], Jack Canfield, the originator and co-creator of the bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, talks about his journey to find more happiness. The advice isn’t as straightforward as you might think: Canfield talks about everything from LSD to finding your purpose to avoiding stupidity. He starts with simple advice: if you want to be happy, don’t focus on money.

“I made six million dollars in a year,” Canfield said. “I bought all the things you’re supposed to buy. I bought four cashmere sweaters in different colors and all that stuff…it quickly got very clear that the things outside me were not going to make me happy.”

Research supports what Canfield says: if you want to be happy, getting rich won’t do it.

That’s not to say money is worthless. It actually can buy you happiness — to a point. Princeton researchers found that people are less stressed and respond better to life’s challenges once they’re making $75,000 a year.^[1] That’s about the income at which most people can achieve decent financial security, which allows them to relax and prepare for a rainy day.

However, the researchers made an important distinction: money buys life satisfaction, but not happiness. People with more money were just as emotionally unfulfilled as their less wealthy counterparts. So while money can ease stress and make you comfortable, once you have enough to cover your basic needs, there are diminishing returns on the satisfaction money brings.

So what actually makes you happy?

There’s research on that, too. Here are three things that bring you genuine happiness, and how you can incorporate them into your life.

For all of human history, people have worked to make life easier. Now, we’ve finally reached a place where life is pretty comfortable. Technology has made day-to-day life cushier than ever before.Yet depression is on the rise, and more and more people are dissatisfied with their lives.

Research suggests that being comfortable all the time actually makes you less happy. As humans, we find meaning in overcoming difficult things.^[2] When you face and overcome challenges, you become a stronger, happier person in the process.^[3] You also show yourself that you’re tougher than you thought, which builds your sense of self-worth.^[4]

One of the rules for life in Game Changers — a collection of wisdom and tools from the most successful people in the world — is that joy in life comes from pursuing things that really matter to you. If your basic needs are met, stop seeking more money. Ask yourself these questions instead:

Work toward making the amount of money you actually need instead of trying to be rich. Focus the rest of your time on the answer to the second question — adding into your life things that matter to you. If you aren’t sure what matters, pick a few things to try that might keep your interest.

It sounds counterintuitive, but if you want happiness, set difficult, meaningful goals for yourself, make a plan to reach them, and get to work. Happiness comes from facing challenges and expanding your comfort zone, not staying in it.

Not sure where to start? Here are a few common goals:

Generosity is another strong driver of happiness, right down to the neurological level.

Being generous lights up a part of your brain called the temporo-parietal junction, which in turn activates reward and mood-lifting pathways.^[5] It’s not just happiness, either — helping others also links strongly with increased health, longevity, wellbeing, and a sense of meaning in life.^[6] The authors note an interesting caveat, though: the benefits go away if the compassion you’re giving overwhelms you.

So if you want to be happy, lift up those around you — but put on your oxygen mask before helping others, so to speak. Don’t go overboard with generosity at the cost of your own performance.

Make it a habit to do one selfless thing, big or small, every day. A few examples:

Small acts of good can bring you a lot of depth and happiness, and will strengthen your connection with the people around you.

It’s easy to get caught in your head, especially when you’re stressed. Make it a point to do something in your life that lets you step outside yourself and get some perspective on your life. Here are some options:

For more tools you can use to increase your happiness, check out Game Changers. It contains the best wisdom from interviews with hundreds of top performers, distilled into practical habits you can use to win at life.

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About Spencer Brooks

Spencer Brooks is a science writer with a background in psychopharmacology and nutrition. When he’s not writing, he’s cooking, studying winemaking, competing in Brazilian jiu jitsu, and rocking out to the greatest hits of the ’80s.

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Money Won’t Make You Happy. These 3 Things Will

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