The Happiness Myth

I have a daily calendar that has quotes and inspirational thoughts. When I bought it, I didn’t realize how much I would look forward to seeing what it reveals to me every day. Have you ever noticed that these kinds of things tell you exactly what you need to hear when you need to hear it?

December 12th: There are two ways to be happy: change the situation or change your mindset towards it. (no author given)

Happiness has been a big topic of conversation in my little world (the inner workings of my mind) this year. What is happiness? According to Merriam Webster it is:

a:?a state of well-being and contentment:?JOY

b:?a pleasurable or satisfying experience

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When I look at contentment, I question that definition. We all are seeking contentment, the world is peaceful and everything is as it should be. The birds are singing, we love the life we are living, and we haven’t a care in the world. However, is that ever the case? We might be grateful for what we have and where we are, but are we ever truly content and, if we were, would we be happy? To me, I’m content when I am growing and building. When I have a purpose in my day, my week, my life; this is when I’m happy. But my happiness is not built out of contentment, it’s built out of personal fulfillment.

Tony Robbins talks about the six needs in life:

·?????? Certainty

·?????? Uncertainty

·?????? Significance

·?????? Community

·?????? Growth

·?????? Contribution

He acknowledges that there seem to be conflicting ideas within these needs. We want certainty to hold us stable but uncertainty to make life interesting. We want significance to feel important, but we want the community to feel like we belong. Basically, we want it all!

I meet with lots of people each year. Everyone is an individual with individual goals and needs. Everyone has a different challenge they have faced and different victories they cherish. But there is a basic theme, everyone wants to be happier. They want freedom and they want to use their finances to get there. Some have a road to get there already and others feel lost but everyone wants to have happiness via financial freedom.

Recently, I got a bit of push back from a client that came on board. I start my client relationships with an introductory meeting where I ask questions to get to the heart of who my client is and what they want. She was interested mainly in investing and didn’t see why we didn’t start there. I told her that because without my knowing what will make you happy in life and what you are truly striving for, the investments don’t matter. Your investments need to match you. Once we were finished with the call, she wrote me an email telling me how liberating that first meeting was. She finally realized what her purpose was and was sure that we could find an investment strategy to go with it. It was good to say it out loud finally, she wrote me.

Often, we don’t explore what will make us actually happy because we need to admit that we aren’t completely happy now or that we might never be happy. However, I say that happiness is a mindset. When you know what you want and where you are going, you can be happy during the journey. When you define happiness for yourself, you will see that there is a lot going for you already and that you just need to build on the foundation you’ve built.

We often say, when this happens, I’ll be happy. When I get married, I’ll be happy. When I have kids, I’ll be happy. When I get that job, I’ll be happy. When I retire, I’ll be happy. When I get financial independence, then I’ll be happy. The F.I.R.E (Financial Independence Retire Early) Movement is gaining momentum because people think that they will be happy when they have independence. Conversely, if you don’t know your core purpose and what makes you happy to begin with, having all the money in the world won’t change that. At least that is what I have found.

Want to explore how to gain happiness, start with a no obligation call with us today: https://calendly.com/onevisionretire/getting-to-know-you-call-15-min

Investment advice offered through Integrated Financial Partners, doing business as One Vision Retirement, a registered investment advisor. The information in this material is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. Integrated Financial Partners does not provide legal/tax advice or services. Please consult a qualified legal/tax advisor regarding your specific situation.

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#FinancialFreedom #happinessmindset #firemovement #happymoney #moneymindset