A midlife crisis can be costly. Fortunately, a new discovery offers us a new way to save ourselves and our money.
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We talked about midlife crises and happiness on The BIGG Success Show today. This episode (#947) was inspired by the book The Happiness Curve* by Jonathan Rauch. Here’s a summary of that discussion.
Money can buy happiness, contrary to what we’ve been told our whole lives.
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We discussed money and happiness on The BIGG Success Show today. Here’s a summary of that discussion.
This show was inspired by a CNBC article about Pitbull, written by Zack Guzman. Pitbull says the most important thing to know about money is that money isn’t the most important thing.
Yet it’s funny, in an ironic sort of way – we often see people raking money in when it becomes less important to them.
Then, when allocated properly, money can buy happiness. Here are seven ways…
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Happiness is a choice, according to Aristotle. Happiness happens THROUGH you, not TO you. See how he suggests directing your activities to achieve happiness and abundance.
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The starting point of BIGG Success is part gratitude, part discontent. Find out why in this BIGG Success Show Podcast.
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The starting point of all BIGG success is a paradox. We’ve become convinced of this, based on studying the research but also from personal experience. We’d like to share what we learned with you today.
BIGG success starts at the intersection of gratitude and discontent.
These two attitudes, seemingly in conflict, work together to create the success you crave. Let’s look at them one at a time before we talk about how they partner up for your BIGG success.
Robert Emmons is considered the world’s leading scientific authority on gratitude. He has found all kinds of amazing benefits of gratefulness. But we want to zero in on gratitude’s effect on achieving your goals.
His research shows that participants who habitually kept a gratitude journal made 20% more progress toward their goals than participants who didn’t. At the end of each week, the first group simply listed five things they were grateful for.
Yet this simple act – which can be done in less than five minutes – led to significant returns on the investment of time. Gratitude is the input. Progress is the outcome.
Now let’s move to discontent. Research shows that the happiest people make 15% more per year than the unhappiest people.
Now, we hear you – you’re thinking, “I’d be happy too if I made 15% more a year!” But the study looked at people about 19 years after they reported a general feeling of happiness or unhappiness. First, they asked college students to rate their general state of happiness on a 10-point scale. Then – nearly two decades later – they compared incomes, based on level of happiness. The happiest were making 15% more than the unhappiest.
It just goes to show…happiness buys money!
Pretty amazing, huh? But the real surprise is what the researchers found next. They looked at people who were happy but not the happiest – i.e. they were above average on the happiness scale but not at the top. They made 6% more than the happiest! So it pays not to be too happy!
Let’s summarize what we’ve learned so far. First, habitually grateful people make 20% more progress toward their goals. Second, the happiest people make 15% more than the unhappiest people. But third, people who are happy but not content make yet 6% more!
It begs the question: How can you be grateful and discontent at the same time? Surprisingly, it’s easier than you might think. Gratefulness forces you to break destructive thought patterns. You stop comparing yourself to others.
You recognize the help others have given you, so you realize you’re not alone in your journey.
You acknowledge the gifts you have been given, realizing the presence of a Higher Power at work in your life.
You focus on what you have, instead of what you don’t have.
As we mentioned earlier, the research on gratitude showed a number of benefits. Not surprisingly, one of them was increased optimism. Another was higher energy levels.
Which leads to a healthy discontent. You’re grateful for all you have. But you know you can accomplish more. You can help more people.
You can’t wait. You must get started now. It leads to BIGG success!
Have you experienced the combination of gratitude and discontent?
Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00902-112514.mp3
Do you dream about BIGG success? You should. It will help you form your vision and stay motivated. But if you stop there, it will always be just a fantasy.
Do you talk about your BIGG dreams? Great! It pays to get advice from people who have been there, done that. But if you don’t do anything more, it’s just idle conversation.
Do you think about what you need to know? Do you learn it? Continuous learning is critical in our fast-changing, uncertain world. It helps you refine your dream.
Do you plan? Do you reduce your refined dream to writing? Do you keep your plan in front and center? Do you revise your plan as you gain new information and insights?
Do you reach a point where you just have to do it? You realize that dreaming and talking and learning and planning are all a waste if you don’t take action.
While everything else is important, nothing but doing will create the future reality you want. Do – it’s the secret to BIGG success!
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