2010
There was an interesting op-ed piece titled The Sandra Bullock Trade in The New York Times this past week about happiness and what teams of researchers have discovered about happiness in the past few decades (hat tip to the Zappos for tweeting this article).
One of the key research findings is that “worldly success has shallow roots while interpersonal bonds permeate through and through.” Makes sense, right? You cannot place the same amount of value on happiness and success because many successful people are miserable. Having a multi-million dollar annual salary means crap if you work 80 hours a week and never spend time with the people you love or doing the activities that make you happy.
The “money can’t buy love” mantra reminds me of reality TV shows I’ve seen about people who win the lottery but wind up unhappier than they were before they hit the jackpot. Winning the lottery doesn’t automatically boost your well being. Neither does landing a promotion at work. The article points out that people get slightly happier as their income rises, but this is contingent on how they experience growth. Wealth can bring on unrealistic expectations and derail stable relationships. But for those who experience growth in a more positive way, new responsibilities at work can lead to more interesting opportunities in life.
The overall impression from the happiness research is twofold: (1) Economic and professional success aren’t as rooted and important as interpersonal relationships. (2) Most of us pay attention to the wrong things, meaning we are trained to concern ourselves more with the material things in life versus those that truly matter.
I’m not trying to denounce the importance of money. I wish every person on this planet had enough money to live comfortably. What concerns me is people who equate happiness to wealth. You have to ask yourself, is earning a six or seven figure salary worth it if you never have time to enjoy life? I say absolutely not.
I would choose my health, friends and family who love me for who I am and a good balance between my career and social life any day over money. If that means I’ll live in a three bedroom bungalow in a metro Detroit suburb for the rest of my life, then so be it.
Who’s with me?
