Money Can Buy Happiness After All
Recently, I took my husband and nephew to see Steve Harvey in “Act Like A Success.” From the moment I began thinking about the three of us attending, it became a fun and exciting experience. Once I extended the invitation, together, we imagined what the funny man might do or say as a motivational speaker. Our conversations were a source of pleasure – we bonded as we anticipated the experience. Then the day came. We talked and laughed as we drove to the show, remarked at the size and demographics of the crowd, then laughed our heads off, as Steve Harvey did his thing – and felt moved by the stories and life lessons he shared. This experience will continue to be a source of shared pleasure each time we three relive it, and each time we share it with others.
Research suggests investing in experiences generates enduring enjoyment, while the pleasure of tangible goods – a new watch, bigger television, or this season’s hottest trends, tends to be short-lived.
Michael Norton, of the Harvard Business School agrees and has written a book on the subject called, Happy Money: The Science of Spending Smarter.
If you’re consistently happy, keep it going! If your happiness quotient is not what you want it to be, examine your spending habits. Your key to feeling more fulfilled may lie in investing in more experiences; particularly those you share with others. It may be an art class, concert tickets, a trip to the Galapagos, tango lessons, a weekly walk in the woods with your kids, or a tradition of Sunday brunch with a group of friends. The shine of tangible goods can dull quickly. But, experiences keep giving and giving each time you “remember the time when we…”
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