Our stuff hasn’t made us happy. You may have a few select possessions that mean a little more to you but on the whole, it’s unlikely that your stuff has brought you real joy or fulfillment in life.
Sometimes I’m just struck by everything that we have at our fingertips. We have technology that gives us access to every bit of information we’ve ever known as the human race. We have cars that are these incredibly complicated machines that have the ability to transport us at incredible speeds. We have access to food in variety and quantity that we’ve never known before in the history of the planet.
What strikes me however is how none of this stuff actually seems to make us any happier.
Our lives keep moving at a faster and faster pace in our efforts to consume and get more. The problem though, is that we aren’t doing the things that are going to really matter to us anyway.
So if buying more stuff isn’t going to actually make us happier, what will? And how does money play into that?
As I argued in my blog post about finding margin, our first step towards using our money to help us create more fulfilling lives is to craft a life worth supporting.
Your life isn’t the highlight reel but the part that happens day-in and day-out. Chances are on most days, your day is pretty boring. The day-in/day-out part is the part that you need to get right.
Working hard on things you care about, developing deep relationships with others, and finding ways to spend your time that align with your values are all ways that you can craft a more compelling and meaningful life.
Several years back I realized that each day I was spending the majority of my day mentally with the sole focus of reaching that glorious part of the day where I finally arrived at the couch and could freely scroll my phone.
The problem I realized, was that when I reached that point, I was neither fulfilled nor enjoying myself anyway.
I had essentially created a hollow lifestyle where I wasn’t doing anything to really fulfill myself. I will also say that when you first start having young children you can fall into the trap where it can feel like your day isn’t yours to enjoy anyway.
There’s no point of money management if the way you support your life doesn’t mean anything to you. You’ll have all of this money but be an empty shell of a human.
There’s countless examples of people who’ve struck it rich but been completely unsatisfied once they made it.
On the other hand, you also have examples of people who have nothing, yet have all the optimism and zest for life in the world.
Ideally, we want both. We want to craft a life that we love and that brings us true fulfillment, but put ourselves in the position to have money to support the things we love.
So while you’re working to create a brighter financial future for yourself and your family, make sure that you’re crafting a life that you want. Then, when you’re using your money in ways that help you live out your best life, you might be able to say that money does buy happiness.
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