By Tomaz Mencinger
If you think that making money will make you happy, then please continue reading this article. In my personal experience, you need two more things to be really happy...
The goal of this post is to open your mind a little a bit and show you the real path to happiness, so that you won't waste too much time and energy working ONLY to earn more money.
Let me share my personal theory on what makes people happy and hopefully, you'll see this making money thing from a different angle.
First, it is a fact that many rich people are unhappy. It is also a fact that many rich people were so unhappy that they committed suicide.
So just having a lot of money does not make you happy.
You may think, "Yeah, but I'm different. When I am rich, I'll be happy!"
I am quite sure that this is not the case, so let me try to convince you otherwise.
Three things are necessary for your happiness. Without them you CANNOT be happy.
(Of course, many smaller factors also affect your level of happiness, and we'll talk about them, too.)
1. You MUST do what you love.
There is no way around this one. If you have to be in a job where you do things that you don't like, you won't be happy.
It's logical right? Not like = not happy
Many people blind themselves and say, "Well, it's not so bad; I'm quite happy. I earn a good salary and spend weekends playing tennis, going to the movies, going out with my friends and..."
What they are saying is that if they are happy two out of seven days, then they are happy.
I am saying that there is a happiness with which you can be happy seven out seven days, and it's a much deeper and more fulfilling feeling than this superficial, short-lived, flying high feeling.
You need to be involved in some kind of activity that makes you happy. Something that is your passion.
For me this was and is tennis. I used to watch tennis on TV for hours, although I was a semi-professional volleyball player and I was studying electrical engineering.
I liked volleyball, my teammates and all the social parts of it, I hated electrical engineering and I was obsessed with tennis. I could watch it for hours, and I could play it for hours without ever getting bored or tired of it.
You need to find something like this in your life and then STICK to it. Do whatever you need to to make this passion your main activity.
Your happiness depends on it.
2. You MUST make other people happy.
This one is often overlooked, and the main reason is ego - selfishness.
Although you might think that you just want things for yourself, you will realize sooner or later that we are social beings and we thrive on being appreciated and loved.
We must feel that we are NEEDED, for whatever reason.
As a tennis coach I get this feeling from sharing my experience with other people, and from their appreciation of my sharing.
It gives me great pleasure when people tell me how their mental game or their general tennis game has improved. It gives me great pleasure when I receive e-mails from people who didn't buy anything from my website, but enjoyed the free information I offer.
By the way, this is one of the reasons that blogs are so popular. It's easy for people to leave their opinions and thoughts about certain topics, and this makes the owner of the blog very happy.
It doesn't matter what you do as long as you are USEFUL.
You can clean streets or hotel rooms, make pancakes or ice cream, be a waiter, make bicycles, sell juicers, repair vacuum cleaners... Whatever, there are millions of things that people need on this planet.
And as long as you feel useful and appreciated by other people, you will find the second third of happiness.
Before you see the last third of happiness, entertain this question for awhile: WHY do so many wealthy internet gurus (and other rich people) STILL sell their services, make new products and work hard every day, when they could just replicate, add new websites and earn more passive income doing almost nothing?
Why?
Because they NEED to be appreciated.
The main drive of most people is to be appreciated, to be useful, and that's why they still keep doing what they are doing even if they have massive amounts of money.
Just think about all the IM names such as Russell Brunson, Mike Filsaime, Joel Comm and tons of other people who have incredible wealth, yet you still receive their promotions about home based business ideas, hear about new products they've developed and find their names all over the Internet.
Some of the reason is their desire for power and money; yet some of it is because of the two basic human needs: to help, and to be useful and appreciated.
You have this need to be appreciated, too; so before you jump into this making money thing, think about how you can earn money and, at the same time, be useful to people and actually be able to hear or read their responses to what you offer.
This will build the second pillar of happiness.
3. You MUST receive GOOD income - MONEY!
I do not believe in the theory that money is not important for happiness.
Maybe if you live in Tibet, stay in some isolated cave and meditate for 12 hours per day, then OK, you got me there.
But if you live in a modern society with cars, cellphones, the Internet, TV, computers, movie theaters, Disney parks, hotels, holiday resorts, airplanes, electricity, taxes, schools and other things that complete the full package, then you need money in order to live a good life.
And you need a lot of money (what "a lot" is depends on your perspective, of course).
How much do you need? I say you need at least $5000 monthly to live a good, modern life. That's $60,000 per year. You are not poor, you are not obscenely rich, yet you can afford most of the pleasures that life offers.
(I'd be happy to hear what you think is a good monthly income in the Western world...)
But the actual key to happiness is not only HOW MUCH money you are earning, but HOW are you earning it.
The power of the Internet allows you to earn money effortlessly. It's passive income, and money just keeps coming in day after day, even of you don't do anything about your websites for awhile.
That is the real freedom: not only financial freedom, but also personal freedom.
Additional factors that make you happy
Of course, other factors also make you happy but, in my opinion, they all are less important than, or are consequences of, the three pillars of happiness discussed above.
The first of those is to be loved. I mean by a partner; whether you are straight or gay doesn't matter.
As long as you have a special soulmate, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a husband or a wife who loves you and whom you love, then you are adding to your happiness.
But know that before someone loves you, you must love and like yourself. How much you are able to like and appreciate yourself is how much someone else will be able to like and appreciate you.
And that's why I believe that doing what you love, making people happy and earning good income precede being loved by someone.
Because the first three pillars WILL make you happy, and that way, you will automatically attract into your life partners who will love and enjoy your happiness, and make you even happier.
Another thing that makes you happy is health. It is, of course, the most important pillar of happiness. No way can you be really happy if you have cancer and you know your life is going to end soon.
But I assume that because you are reading this your health is okay right now (or at least not too bad), that you are interested in learning how to become financially free, and that you are not worried too much about your health.
But still think about it, and don't let junk food and lack of movement spoil the happiness of earning money and being financially free by causing you to become sick.
In summary
Many big and small things make us happy. If your main goal is to earn money and you think that will make you happy, think about it some more.
Money, in my opinion, makes one third of happiness and, unless you do what you are passionate about (what your purpose is) and receive appreciation from other people for what you do, money will not make you happy.
Once you combine all three of these factors, many other things will automatically fall into place, and your life will become a joyous adventure.
If you think that making money will make you happy, then please continue reading this article. In my personal experience, you need two more things to be really happy...
The goal of this post is to open your mind a little a bit and show you the real path to happiness, so that you won't waste too much time and energy working ONLY to earn more money.
Let me share my personal theory on what makes people happy and hopefully, you'll see this making money thing from a different angle.
First, it is a fact that many rich people are unhappy. It is also a fact that many rich people were so unhappy that they committed suicide.
So just having a lot of money does not make you happy.
You may think, "Yeah, but I'm different. When I am rich, I'll be happy!"
I am quite sure that this is not the case, so let me try to convince you otherwise.
Three things are necessary for your happiness. Without them you CANNOT be happy.
(Of course, many smaller factors also affect your level of happiness, and we'll talk about them, too.)
1. You MUST do what you love.
There is no way around this one. If you have to be in a job where you do things that you don't like, you won't be happy.
It's logical right? Not like = not happy
Many people blind themselves and say, "Well, it's not so bad; I'm quite happy. I earn a good salary and spend weekends playing tennis, going to the movies, going out with my friends and..."
What they are saying is that if they are happy two out of seven days, then they are happy.
I am saying that there is a happiness with which you can be happy seven out seven days, and it's a much deeper and more fulfilling feeling than this superficial, short-lived, flying high feeling.
You need to be involved in some kind of activity that makes you happy. Something that is your passion.
For me this was and is tennis. I used to watch tennis on TV for hours, although I was a semi-professional volleyball player and I was studying electrical engineering.
I liked volleyball, my teammates and all the social parts of it, I hated electrical engineering and I was obsessed with tennis. I could watch it for hours, and I could play it for hours without ever getting bored or tired of it.
You need to find something like this in your life and then STICK to it. Do whatever you need to to make this passion your main activity.
Your happiness depends on it.
2. You MUST make other people happy.
This one is often overlooked, and the main reason is ego - selfishness.
Although you might think that you just want things for yourself, you will realize sooner or later that we are social beings and we thrive on being appreciated and loved.
We must feel that we are NEEDED, for whatever reason.
As a tennis coach I get this feeling from sharing my experience with other people, and from their appreciation of my sharing.
It gives me great pleasure when people tell me how their mental game or their general tennis game has improved. It gives me great pleasure when I receive e-mails from people who didn't buy anything from my website, but enjoyed the free information I offer.
By the way, this is one of the reasons that blogs are so popular. It's easy for people to leave their opinions and thoughts about certain topics, and this makes the owner of the blog very happy.
It doesn't matter what you do as long as you are USEFUL.
You can clean streets or hotel rooms, make pancakes or ice cream, be a waiter, make bicycles, sell juicers, repair vacuum cleaners... Whatever, there are millions of things that people need on this planet.
And as long as you feel useful and appreciated by other people, you will find the second third of happiness.
Before you see the last third of happiness, entertain this question for awhile: WHY do so many wealthy internet gurus (and other rich people) STILL sell their services, make new products and work hard every day, when they could just replicate, add new websites and earn more passive income doing almost nothing?
Why?
Because they NEED to be appreciated.
The main drive of most people is to be appreciated, to be useful, and that's why they still keep doing what they are doing even if they have massive amounts of money.
Just think about all the IM names such as Russell Brunson, Mike Filsaime, Joel Comm and tons of other people who have incredible wealth, yet you still receive their promotions about home based business ideas, hear about new products they've developed and find their names all over the Internet.
Some of the reason is their desire for power and money; yet some of it is because of the two basic human needs: to help, and to be useful and appreciated.
You have this need to be appreciated, too; so before you jump into this making money thing, think about how you can earn money and, at the same time, be useful to people and actually be able to hear or read their responses to what you offer.
This will build the second pillar of happiness.
3. You MUST receive GOOD income - MONEY!
I do not believe in the theory that money is not important for happiness.
Maybe if you live in Tibet, stay in some isolated cave and meditate for 12 hours per day, then OK, you got me there.
But if you live in a modern society with cars, cellphones, the Internet, TV, computers, movie theaters, Disney parks, hotels, holiday resorts, airplanes, electricity, taxes, schools and other things that complete the full package, then you need money in order to live a good life.
And you need a lot of money (what "a lot" is depends on your perspective, of course).
How much do you need? I say you need at least $5000 monthly to live a good, modern life. That's $60,000 per year. You are not poor, you are not obscenely rich, yet you can afford most of the pleasures that life offers.
(I'd be happy to hear what you think is a good monthly income in the Western world...)
But the actual key to happiness is not only HOW MUCH money you are earning, but HOW are you earning it.
The power of the Internet allows you to earn money effortlessly. It's passive income, and money just keeps coming in day after day, even of you don't do anything about your websites for awhile.
That is the real freedom: not only financial freedom, but also personal freedom.
Additional factors that make you happy
Of course, other factors also make you happy but, in my opinion, they all are less important than, or are consequences of, the three pillars of happiness discussed above.
The first of those is to be loved. I mean by a partner; whether you are straight or gay doesn't matter.
As long as you have a special soulmate, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a husband or a wife who loves you and whom you love, then you are adding to your happiness.
But know that before someone loves you, you must love and like yourself. How much you are able to like and appreciate yourself is how much someone else will be able to like and appreciate you.
And that's why I believe that doing what you love, making people happy and earning good income precede being loved by someone.
Because the first three pillars WILL make you happy, and that way, you will automatically attract into your life partners who will love and enjoy your happiness, and make you even happier.
Another thing that makes you happy is health. It is, of course, the most important pillar of happiness. No way can you be really happy if you have cancer and you know your life is going to end soon.
But I assume that because you are reading this your health is okay right now (or at least not too bad), that you are interested in learning how to become financially free, and that you are not worried too much about your health.
But still think about it, and don't let junk food and lack of movement spoil the happiness of earning money and being financially free by causing you to become sick.
In summary
Many big and small things make us happy. If your main goal is to earn money and you think that will make you happy, think about it some more.
Money, in my opinion, makes one third of happiness and, unless you do what you are passionate about (what your purpose is) and receive appreciation from other people for what you do, money will not make you happy.
Once you combine all three of these factors, many other things will automatically fall into place, and your life will become a joyous adventure.
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