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Money can't buy you love but it can buy you happiness

Written by: Christiane Pohl

Article Overview: Exploring the issue of happiness by introducing you to the latest research from a group of Harvard professors and my own observations over the years.

Money can't buy you love but it can buy you happiness

‘Money can't buy you love but it can buy you happiness – as long as it's money for someone else’ discovered Harvard professor Michael I. Norton and colleagues Elizabeth W. Dunn and Lara B. Aknin in their latest research described in the journal Science. It was their article that prompted me to want to explore the issue of 'happiness'. Ultimately our deepest desire is to avoid suffering and stress, or in other words, we do and buy things to help us feel more comfortable and happy.

Have you ever stopped to think and observe which are the things that bring you happiness? When do you feel at your very best? Which attitudes and actions make you feel really, really good inside?
In their research Norton, Dunn and Aknin found that how much money people earn is less important for their happiness than how they choose to spend it.

In one of the studies, they showed that spending as little as $5 over the course of a day on another person led to demonstrable increases in happiness. In other words, people needn't be wealthy and donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to charity to experience the benefits of spending; small changes—a few dollars reallocated from oneself to another—can make a difference.

Their findings confirm my own observations over the years. In fact I would add that each time we do something for someone else our happiness increases. This can be as simple as helping someone crossing the road, or helping a colleague with a problem, or supporting a friend in need. Sharing, connecting, contributing feeling part of a whole, having a common cause is our nature. Whenever we engage in ‘giving’ we feel at our best, as long at our giving is not connected with wanting something in return. The value in giving lies in the reaching out, in the moving away from our self – giving in fact is a way of creating more openness and space.

And we need more happiness. We need it in our daily lives, in our work environment, in our relationships. We need happiness to create extraordinary lives and businesses, to feel good with ourselves. The bottom line is: whatever we do, if we do not feel good about it then it has little value.

How about increasing your own happiness? Here are some ideas that have worked for me over the years:

• Contribution by creating opportunities for others to develop and be their very best – in our families, communities or organizations

• Looking at ways to bring people together to work for a common cause


• Creating and communicating values that enhance people’s daily interactions

• Being open minded to the fact that other people behave differently from us and cutting them some slack

• Contributing money or time to a cause the we feel strongly about

• Being authentic, honest, vulnerable, considered, kind, caring…after all the biggest gift we have to give is our SELF.

With my best wishes for your happiness,


Christiane Pohl

Related Articles
  Happiness Is A Decision
  Why Money Can Sometimes Buy "Happiness"
  Happiness
  The Key to Happiness
  Money Does Not Buy Happiness

Article Tags: Money vs happiness, self development



Related Forum Posts
Re: The secret to happiness - Hi members, This is a very interesting post and one of the best I have read. Human nature is strange and in many ways a misunderstood thing. A lot of people need help to be happy or content, I suppose that is why we have psychiatrists. I certainly agree with others that happiness is a state of mind, you can’t buy it in the shops but maybe shopping itself makes you happy. Some people are very affluent but are miserable, others may have low paid jobs but a stable and happy home life and would say that they have found happiness so it is definitely a state of mind, if you want to be miserable then you will be. Happiness is different for everybody, you could argue that money buys you happiness and for some yes it does, but for everybody, I don’t think so. There is an old saying which is something like ‘if you love what you do then you will never work a day in your life’ and for many of us here I suppose that would be working from home full time with a successful Internet business. My philosophy is that no matter where you live, what you do or how much you make, if you have your health, family and or friends around to support you in the ups as well as the downs then you are already well off and anything else you achieve is a bonus so you may as well be positive and approach all life’s challenges in that way. regards, Mal.
Re: The secret to happiness - The way I look at it, success will bring happiness, as long as that success was ethical. I think studies will continue to show how happiness really is an inside job. For me, it's all about making the decision to accept yourself and your life situation, and making the best out of it. That's a tall order for some people, and it's challenging at times, but well, well worth it.
Re: The secret to happiness - [quote="barrysarner":2awy1urv]I agree and happiness is different for every individual.[/quote:2awy1urv] Happiness is something that comes from within each person it not something that we can find externally. Something from outside such as an exciting event or a new car can make us happy, but this is a fleeting emotion. True happiness is within each person if we choose to it over misery. MichelleJ
More For Your Money - Hi Evan, Personally, I use Microsoft Money myself. I love the way it integrates pratically every area of my personal and business life. I haven't used Quickbooks personally, but it is one of the leading software programs small business owners use as I'm sure you know.
Re: Which would you start: a Blog or Online Community? - It is a difficult decision to make. Lets start it this way - What are you more interested in? Money? or Friends? or Both? If its purely Money, then Blog might be an appropriate answer. But consider this - It will be people (visitors) that will bring traffic to your blog and then Money will follow. This will be possible after a time and during this time it will be your friends who will be the starters. If you are looking for friends only, then its true that not many will be interested in knowing how you have beaten them in the game or the other way round. So it will be preferable to have a Forum where they can share ideas with you and others. But you can share your insider knowledge with them and invite comments from your Blog. You can also put up information on what others (including your friends) don't know about Tennis. The blog you create can provide News, Inside Information and also Techniques that can be used by the new entrants in the world of Tennis.


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