Net worth is the material value of any individual in society. With the dollar value as currency, people of the world often relate to one another with a similar dollar value. Somehow, it is common to associate a higher net worth with a higher level of happiness. This debate has been done too many times as there will always be contrarian views about this. One of the popular view is that money can only buy temporal happiness whereas others would argue that it is always better to have more than less in life thus, it is always better to have a higher net worth.

In this week’s post, we will argue in a slightly different fashion and that is to argue that net worth and happiness are mostly unrelated to one another. The purpose of such an argument is to remind readers to consider maintaining their current state of contentment and happiness without getting overly affected by their financial state. Hopefully, this will help regulate our desires for material wealth and enable us to pursue happiness in a sustainable and achievable manner.

Wanting to buy things to make yourself happy is a vicious cycle

Wealth enables us to purchase literally anything with a dollar value. Often sadness is felt when you are unable to afford an item that you desire due to the lack of funds. That is a common struggle for many people because it is simply human nature to covet for something that they cannot own. As such, people always imagine that having something unattainable at some point in their life would guarantee them some level of happiness. But like most things in life, we would usually lose our interest in that item or property shortly after we have purchased it. That dip in happiness and satisfaction then forces us to aim for the next target, be it a larger house, more luxurious accessories, or even a faster car. To that end, it is a pursuit with no destination and frankly, these pursuits are only meaningful when others envy you to some extent. Hence there is never really no point in such a method of achieving happiness.

Happiness cannot be transferred but it can be shared

Unlike wealth, you can share your happiness with others and gain back more in return. Wealth, on the other hand, is strictly transferrable therefore if you associate your happiness with your net worth and wealth, then there will be an inevitable drop in your level of happiness whenever you give or spend a significant amount. The point I am trying to make is to not associate your level of happiness with your material wealth because you will never have both at the same time. In fact, you will only feel increasingly trapped when you have more and more money but are unwilling to part with it because you will feel sad when your net worth dips. Hence, there is really little reason to accumulate a significant amount of wealth if you will always feel unhappy when you spend a significant amount of it.

Even with money, there is no single formula to attain happiness

Ever recall a time in your childhood when all you ever wanted at some point was to have the latest toy on the shelf or simply a packet of sweets from the supermarket? Having such memories itself is conclusive proof that such happiness that can be bought with money changes over time. The only consistent change that occurs is that with more money, your desires will also increase in price. That said, the amount of happiness that you can attain from your purchases does not have a commensurable value as the amount you have spent to get it. Hence there is really little value in pursuing material possessions because it is simply never-ending and unrewarding once you are used to the cycle of envy and greed.

Closing Thoughts

Obviously there is no end goal in the pursuit of wealth and happiness because those pursuits are simply fleeting desires created by an intense world of advertising and marketing. In fact, it is harder to not want something you do not need in today’s context than to want something you really need. With that, I would like to leave our readers with this, “If material pursuits can only bring about temporal happiness, doesn’t that tell us that we should only aim for non-material pursuits that can bring about lasting happiness?”

I am not downplaying lack but can we all make it a point to stay contented once we are out of lack?