The #1 Way You Can Buy Happiness

When I was in my early 20s, I always thought just making a crapload of money would make me infinitely happy.

While I haven’t achieved crapload status yet, I’ve done alright so far. Even though my income has more than doubled in the last 5 years, am I 2x happier? Well… I wouldn’t say so.

Sure, things are a far better, but it wasn’t until recently that I discovered what I believe to be the #1 way for me to “buy” happiness, and it’s not anything for myself.

I just finished reading Tony Robbins’ book – Money, Master the Game (a huge, but amazing book about building wealth).

Towards the end, he talks about the top three ways money can make you happy – all of which are backed by extensive research.

• Number 3 is creating financial freedom and time for yourself.
• Number 2 is creating memorable experiences for yourself.
• And the top one is… drumroll…

Creating the ability to give to others

Recently I had the opportunity to put this into practice with a couple of friends that were in need.

One was a former co-worker going through a difficult situation with her family.

Another was one of my CrossFit coaches qualifying for the CrossFit games without many sponsors, and needing money for travel expenses, etc.

The second just happened last week, and I’m still super stoked to be able to help my coach and friend and can’t wait to see her compete.

But the first has been several months ago, and it still brings me joy to know I was able to help someone in a tough family situation.

I was able to help in both situations without having to worry too much about if I could make ends meet as well, which is a nice feeling of freedom.

This is one of the reasons I work so much so be successful – because I want to have a meaningful impact on the lives of others someday without having to be stressed about it.

What I’ve learned is that money alone won’t make you happy. Possessions won’t either, but if you think about this deeply, you start to see a pretty simple equation here.

The more you make, the more financial stress you can eliminate, the more amazing experiences you can create for yourself, and the more you can give back to people who are really in need.

Put all of this together and you’ve nailed the top three monetary contributors to your happiness.

We’re all in different places in our lives financially, so maybe you’re not in this situation yet, but I encourage you to think about what it might take to get there (like my course that shows you how to get a raise) and begin to execute that plan.