Why Entrepreneurs Should Not Be Too Happy

We spend a significant amount trying to understand psychology. We particularly like the positive psychology movement.

There’s a lot of emphasis placed on happiness. We don’t think happiness is enough. At the same time, happiness may be too much.

It’s the reason why entrepreneurs should not be too happy. Research has shown that:

People who rate their happiness at the top of a 10-point scale make significantly less money than people who place their level of happiness at 8 or 9.

While this study focused on income, our guess is that it would hold true for other measurements of success as well. So if you want to be successful:

Be happy but not content.

Driven by this lack of contentment, entrepreneurs want more. They go beyond happiness to seek fulfillment.

Is there a difference? We believe so. However, a lot of people disagree with us; they think happiness and contentment and fulfillment are the same thing.

What do you think?