Equation for Happiness
Morgan Housel is back with a new book called ‘The Art of Spending Money: Simple Choices for a Richer Life’ and I heard him on a recent podcast where this quote jumped out to me:
“The equation for happiness with wealth is what you HAVE minus what you WANT…If your goal is to be happy with your money, that equation is going to dictate your life.”
I agree with Morgan that this is the path to happiness.
If you have a constant, insatiable need for more, then no amount of wealth, success, or ‘stuff’ will ever quench that desire.
Charlie Munger, perhaps the most profoundly intelligent modern-day philosopher, was asked:
“You seem extremely happy and content. What’s your secret to living a happy life?”
Charlie replied:
“The first rule of a happy life is low expectations. If you have unrealistic expectations you’re going to be miserable your whole life. You want to have reasonable expectations and take life’s results good and bad as they happen with a certain amount of stoicism.”
A lot of people equate lower expectations with potentially lower happiness levels, but the opposite is true in my experience.
I want for absolutely nothing in life and I don’t expect everything to be ideal all the time. This allows me to be pleasantly surprised when something little in life turns out way better than expected.
That brings a bit of joy that’s hard to describe.
I’m not a decamillionaire or a billionaire but the key is I don’t crave more and I don’t want for more.