The Road to Happiness

So the old saying that ‘Money does not buy happiness’  is true, and a Princeton-Gallup study has data that backs it up.

Take a look at this link: Happiness is Love – and $75,000

The study by Princeton Nobel laureates does say that money does count (or, let’s say, is a significant variable!) for happiness till a household makes about $75000. Beyond that number, happiness is determined by emotional well-being which is primarily social. 

Maybe my employer keeps that in mind around this time of the year when they hand out their annual increments. 🙂

$75,000 is the number for the US, maybe there is a similar number for India and other countries. I am sure there are a lot of unhappy people who won’t believe that.

But the study basically indicates that the road to happiness consists of emotional well-being – meaning being with people you like and achieving what you set out to achieve – and the equivalent of $75,000. 

Last month I also watched a speech by Professor Clay Christensen of Harvard Business School and he said a similar thing about work. That the work you do, while important, is not really going to be the measure of your life.

Watch the video below – it is a bit slow at the start in getting to the point, but hang on till the end, and you will come away with some profound takeaways.

The key one is that while it is important to succeed at whatever you want to succeed at, the truth is that, That is not going to be the measure of your life.

The measure is going to be a bit more qualitative, a bit more relationship based. I don’t know whether that is true, but it did sound right, and I actually experienced that when I meet a few old batch mates and colleagues from B-school in December. 🙂

So eventually if money does not buy real happiness, and work is not the real measure of your life, then well, what is the road to happiness?

Well, I read another article – again in December.  Not a study or a speech this time, but a simpler article that also sounded right.

It said that while money may not buy happiness, it surely can let one afford things that can make one happy. And it suggested a few things to do with spending money that could give you happiness. Take a look at this link.

5 Ways to Buy Happiness

It sure is true that money spent on shared experiences (specially in vacations!) and donations and buying time is worth it for happiness. So some of the items on this list is what I implemented in the last week of December, and it sure added to my happiness, and hence the time away between posts. 🙂

So take a look at this list and trust the experts – we as the ‘Aam Aadmi’ have only some money to lose and happiness to gain!

Here’s to a happy and prosperous 2014 on the road to happiness!