The Secret To Happiness… And Why It Has Nothing To Do With Money

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Learn How A Simple Daily Habit Can Create More Happiness Than Achieving Financial Freedom

You don’t have to be rich to be happy. Cliche maybe, but also true.

Happiness is a state of mind and completely within your control regardless of your financial situation. Don’t make the same mistake I made and wait until you gain financial freedom to learn these lessons. You can have happiness right now regardless of your finances or what is going on in your life because happiness is a choice. It is a state of mind.

Below I share my personal story explaining the painful process I went through to learn these lessons about money and happiness so that you can hopefully avoid repeating my mistakes. Then I will provide you with step-by-step instructions showing you how to achieve personal freedom right now regardless of your financial situation. I hope you enjoy…

How Financial Freedom Forces You To Learn The Truth About Money And Happiness

There is a seldom spoken, little secret about financial freedom that I will let you in on. It is counter-intuitive and illustrates an essential principle about money and happiness. Here it is… when you achieve financial freedom your life suddenly changes from pre-determined to self-determined. The surprising affect of this is you are suddenly stripped of all excuses for why your life might be less than ideal. You instantly become solely responsible for your happiness with no excuses allowed.

To understand how this works and why it is important let’s first look at the reality faced by most people living the work-a-day existence. Their lives are largely pre-determined. They spend the bulk of their time working to earn the money necessary to build a better lifestyle. The little time that remains is quickly swallowed up by family, errands and other personal needs. Very little free time remains to create your unique life destiny, and very little creative thought is required to live out your lifetime. You work 40 hours (or more) per week for 40 years and try to have a little fun with what little time remains. It’s pretty straightforward and uncomplicated. Society wrote the script and nearly everyone follows it.

However, once you achieve financial freedom all that changes. Suddenly 2,000 hours a year previously spent on work related issues is yours to do with as you please. Your days have zero pre-determined structure – an open canvas for you to paint the life of your dreams upon.

Let me repeat this because it is very important -  one of the little discussed aspects of attaining financial freedom is your life changes from pre-determined to self-determined. You don’t get to follow the default script imposed by society because financial freedom obliterates the script and leaves a void in its place. For some people the adventure this situation presents along with the “burden” of responsibility is exciting, but for many others it is frightening. You become self-responsible for your day, your life, and most importantly… your happiness. All the excuses are gone.

You no longer have the excuse of a job and a nasty little boss to blame your unhappiness on. You no longer have your days automatically filled with everything to do so that you never have to think for yourself, deal with your personal issues, or constructively plan your life. With financial freedom all those excuses are gone, many of your day-to-day responsibilities are gone, and you must re-create yourself and your life.

For some people that becomes a tremendous and unexpected burden. It happens to new retirees every day and it  happened to me in 1997 when I sold the hedge fund business and had enough money to retire. My plan was to marry my long-time girlfriend (currently my long-time wife) and take a six month honeymoon by travelling around Europe and the Middle-East with nothing more than a backpack and a credit card.

I was on top of the world. I had achieved financial freedom, found love, and was about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. I was young, healthy, and had my whole life in front of me. It should have been nirvana – and it was – for a brief period of time. Then it was all downhill from there… the unexpected reality struck.

I made the classic mistake I see so many of my financial coaching clients make – and that you are likely making as well. I had projected my value for personal freedom onto money. I naively labored under the delusion that if I could just attain financial freedom that I would be personally free as well. I falsely believed that once I no longer had to work I would enter the pro-leisure circuit of life where every day would be filled with fun activities, friends and one continuous holiday.

I was wrong. It doesn’t work that way.

When I achieved financial freedom and quit working the biggest realization I had was that I was the same guy, with the same hang-ups and personal issues facing the same life I had before. The only difference was now I had a lot more time to wallow in it, and no distractions or excuses from the presumed work-a-day life script to distract me from seeing the truth about my life.

What I realized was the goal all along had been personal freedom – not financial freedom – and the one thing I knew for certain was I had not achieved the goal. I was happy with financial freedom because it provided the time, money and flexibility to focus on personal freedom – no complaints there. But I also realized that achieving financial freedom had done little more than lift the mask that had hidden the deeper issues. It had removed all the distractions and external things like job and money issues that I used to project my unhappiness onto. It forced me to look inward and own full responsibility for my internal state of being because I could no longer project my problems outward on life’s circumstances.

In a nutshell, when you have the financial ability to arrange your life in any way you want, the one thing you lose is excuses for any aspect of your life that doesn’t measure up. Financial freedom removes the facade by eliminating the excuses.

This set me on a journey of personal growth in pursuit of that elusive animal known as happiness. Don’t get me wrong – I wasn’t a manic depressive or anything like that. I just wanted to know how to enjoy each and every day of my life – no excuses allowed – regardless of the circumstances of the day. I did not want to have another unhappy day ever again.

While I’m still a little shy of reaching that lofty objective, I have made significant progress toward the goal and I’ve learned some valuable lessons along the way. One of my discoveries I would like to share with you here. It is what I call my “Daily Happiness Accountability.”

Daily Happiness Accountability

The essence of the daily happiness accountability is that your happiness is a product of your thoughts – nothing more, nothing less. This may sound goofy to some of my hard-nosed finance readers but it is timeless wisdom that really works so hang in there.

It doesn’t matter what occurs during your day or how many things go wrong – you can still experience happiness. All it takes is the correct frame of mind. To get myself in the correct frame of mind every day I created a “cheat-sheet” that can be read in less than a minute. It is a ”Cliff Notes” version of the greatest wisdom on the subject of personal freedom so that you can read it each morning and evening to slowly but surely re-train your mind for happiness.

Your daily practice is to read the following brief list of thoughts at least once per day so that you re-focus your mind on personal happiness. After a month of practice you should notice tangible results and after 90 days of habitual practice you should have internalized much of the thinking pattern. It is just that simple.

Best of all, it costs you nothing. You risk nothing and nobody can sell you anything. It isn’t even complicated. From an investment perspective that is a no-brainer proposition because it offers huge potential reward yet costs nothing and has no risk. The only price you must pay is to do the work and put it into practice with enough persistence to notice the difference.

Remember, your happiness is a state of mind. You don’t have to be rich, and you don’t have to wait until you reach some level of achievement in the future. You can have happiness right now.

As of matter of fact, learn from my mistake and don’t wait to become rich to figure this stuff out. Financial freedom is important and worthwhile but the real game is personal freedom and happiness. That is what will make the biggest difference in the quality of your life.

Below are some of my favorite thoughts to re-read each day that redirect my brain toward choosing happiness. They are grouped by category as follows…

Choose Happiness As The Priority For The Day

• THE DECISION TO BE HAPPY IS ACTUALLY THE DECISION TO STOP BEING UNHAPPY.
• Most people seek happiness as a by-product of their achievements, actions and other things they do throughout the day thus making their happiness dependent upon what happens during their day. I can make happiness a direct choice without any dependency.
• MY HAPPINESS DOES NOT REQUIRE FAVORABLE EVENTS, INTERACTIONS, OR ANY PARTICULAR STIMULUS. I can just choose happiness at any given moment no matter what is going on and for absolutely no other reason than to just be happy.
• Suffering today in an effort to earn greater success and income for tomorrow so that I can relax and feel secure at some future date is insane. I can embrace the adventure that is my work, do what I can each day without stress but with creativity and joy – and trust the results will be meaningful.
• I can pursue all my goals from a happy place today, and not let my internal state of being depend on external events to materialize that I believe will make me happy at some unknown future.
• There’s no reason to limit happiness to the dessert in life: it can be the whole meal.
• Happiness is an option, and misery is an option. They are both optional choices you can apply to the same day’s events. Which option do you choose?

Let Go Of Judgments

• THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS LIES NOT IN THE EVENTS, BUT IN OUR RESPONSE TO THEM.
• Adopt an accepting attitude to all things and events in life.
• Try to go the whole day without blame, shame or complain. No negative thoughts.
• See everyone as being on their own heroic journey through the trials and tribulations of life doing the best they can with what they know. If they do you wrong then have compassion for the pain that motivated them to do wrong.
• Develop a trust that everything in life is somehow for the best and accept that I will never know why or how.
• Byron Katie has a great quote, “There are three kinds of business in the world: your business, other people’s business, and God’s business.” Unhappiness always occurs when I stray from my business. I have no right being in God’s business because I don’t know the big picture, and anytime I’m in other people’s business I’m in judgment which makes me unhappy. My business is where my happiness is. Everything else creates unhappiness.
• WE CANNOT CHOOSE THE EVENTS AROUND US, BUT WE CAN CHOOSE OUR REACTION TO THEM.

Be Present

• UNHAPPINESS DOES NOT EXIST IN THE PRESENT MOMENT. IT ONLY EXISTS AS A REGRET ABOUT THE PAST OR WORRY TOWARD THE FUTURE.

Be Grateful

• MY LIFE IS FILLED WITH ENDLESS WONDERS EVERY HOUR OF EVERY DAY. THE ONLY TIME I AM UNHAPPY IS WHEN I TAKE THESE THINGS FOR GRANTED.
• Gratitude isn’t just about enjoying and appreciating, but it’s a bigger idea about living in the blessing and wonder of an experience.
• Train yourself to become sensitive and appreciative for all the miracles that occur for daily life to just happen.
• Notice how much time today is spent on thoughts of gratitude as opposed to thoughts about problems.
• Happiness doesn’t mean you have more to be grateful for: it means you spend more time being grateful for what you already have.
• Say or do something to make your gratitude visible and real.
• Begin and end each day in active gratitude. As you lay down to sleep think of five things from the day to be grateful for, and before you get out of bed in the morning think of five things to be grateful for.
• Gratitude is simply a choice to become aware of the good things that are already true in any given situation and become consciously thankful for them.

Create Strong Social Connection

• The risk we associate with authenticity is illusory. The more we nurture our true selves, remove our masks, and allow uncensored expression, the more our relationships and surroundings will support our true selves.
• Personal authenticity creates inner-outer harmony and greater connection with others.
• Simplify your life and greet every person and situation with one face.
• Quality relationships nurture – quantity distracts.

Live With Contribution

• Find at least one way, each day to make another person happy. It could be as simple as a kind word, a personal acknowledgement, giving anonymously, or allowing someone in a rush to get ahead.
• SERVE A PURPOSE GREATER THAN YOURSELF.
• By giving happiness you experience happiness.

My suggestion is to print this article out (the checklist part) and review the list daily for at least three months. Try to put these thoughts into practice as you go through your day. This will force the thoughts into your brain so that you live them rather than just intellectualize them. They will become part of your daily existence. On days when you don’t have enough time or need a quick refresher just scan for the bold and capitalized items on the list – they are the key principles.

Here is a link to an MS-Word file containing just the checklist. You can print it, edit it, and tinker with it to suit your needs. I know this checklist has made a big difference in my life and hopefully it will do the same for you.

Remember, happiness is found in the journey – not the destination. Don’t make the same mistake I did and wait until you achieve financial freedom to realize the importance and value of these ideas. Learn them now and begin enjoying the benefits today while you work toward financial freedom.

Finally, let me know what quotes or sayings you find particularly valuable in your own practice that I failed to include in this list by adding them to the comments section below. There is always room for more wisdom so please share some of your favorites…

Here’s to your happiness!

Related Articles:

• Warning! Why Most Wealth Building Systems Are Dangerous Half-Truths: Learn the cause and effect chain that leads to wealth, and discover which broken link in the chain has held you back from financial success… until now.
• The Ten Commandments Of Wealth Building: Discover the ten key success principles that lead to true wealth. (This is about a lot more than just making money!)
• How To Find Your “Sweet Spot” For Building Wealth: Learn how to spend no more effort than is necessary to earn no more wealth than is necessary to achieve financial freedom. More is not always better!
• Andrew Carnegie – The Gospel Of Wealth: A politically incorrect assessment of wealth in America from one of the greatest industrialists and philanthropists of all time.