Are you chasing wealth, or do you want to be happy? This question is sometimes more challenging to answer. Not everything can be bought, but living without a financial cushion is impossible.
It takes work to determine where the line between monetary well-being and the pleasure of life lies. Actions can speak louder than words. Here are some signs that you are chasing money and forgetting about your happiness.
10 habits that suggest you want money, not happiness
1. You are striving to accumulate material wealth
We often think of happiness as having a full wallet and owning many things. We focus on the material, forgetting that life is full of pleasures with no form or face value.
Because of this, we feel that only achievements, wealth, and luxury measure our importance. We don’t consider what can make us happy outside of these aspects and miss many opportunities and pleasures.
2. You prioritize work over family and friends
If your family and friends play a secondary role, giving way to a career, then you are most likely chasing money, not happiness. V I S I T A F R I N I K . C O M . Perhaps you will miss your children’s sports games and dinner with your loved ones many years later, which will not happen again. So, if you want to live your life without such regrets, stop making excuses why you can’t devote a day off not to work but to your family.
3. You’re sucking up to climb the career ladder
A person who constantly tries to appear not to be who he is and achieve goals through sycophancy and flattery cannot feel truly happy. Why? Such behavior belittles self-esteem, affects self-esteem, and causes moral discomfort.
However, you can use it to move up the career ladder and earn more. And you also choose friends not by how pleasant they are but by the criteria of “usefulness.” This approach to life often ends with great regrets, albeit against the background of good prosperity.
4. You devalue personal priorities
If you’re married to your career and money, you don’t have time for anything else. Even if one of your priorities is family, you don’t devote enough time to it or devalue it altogether. The same applies to travel, hobbies, and taking care of yourself — any things you consider valuable to yourself.
5. Financial issues cause severe stress
We all experience stress when we don’t have enough money, but each of us has our reaction to this. Some people try to solve problems calmly while simultaneously finding joy in simple everyday things like chatting with friends or eating a favorite dish.
In contrast, others fixate on financial difficulties so much that they stop noticing everything around them. If you belong to the second category of people, you are chasing money, not happiness. Of course, it is difficult to be satisfied with an empty wallet, but not only filling it should be the reason for your smile and joy.
6. You’re trying to control family finances
Do not confuse leadership with dictatorship. A person prone to excessive control will try to influence everyone around him, no matter what it costs him. If you are your family’s chief accountant, you strive for money, not happiness, leaving no one the right to choose.
Of course, it’s good to have savings and plan a budget, but there is a fine line between being a miser and being able to manage finances. Don’t turn into Ebenezer Scrooge from Dickens’ A Christmas Story if you don’t want to make yourself and your loved ones unhappy. Remember that they also have the right to decide how to spend money and act.
7. You are constantly overloading yourself with things
Your friends and family can rarely communicate with you, as you are drowning in the abyss of important things. You want a stable future so badly that you can’t spare a minute to enjoy life.
You will unlikely remember when you were idle or allowed yourself to relax. But overloading can be a big mistake, leading to fatigue, burnout, and apathy. You need to find a balance between work and rest if you want to chase happiness instead of money.
8. You are constantly thinking about wealth
While your friends think about weddings, travel, and entertainment, you dream of having a certain amount in your bank account. Nothing is wrong with wanting to live well, but not when it becomes the only thing you think about when you fall asleep. Life consists of many aspects that bring joy and pleasure. Do not miss the opportunity to feel happy by focusing solely on material benefits.
9. You always want more
It can be difficult to appreciate what you have. It’s easier to want more by constantly complaining about the unfairness of life or dreaming about what you can’t achieve yet. Chasing money rather than happiness, you are rarely satisfied with what you have.
Unfortunately, this approach to life often ends in depression and the feeling that you missed something important, striving for the best. Don’t give up on big goals and plans, but learn to notice things you can be grateful to yourself and the world daily to be prosperous and happy.
10. Your wealth determines your self-esteem
If you define your self-esteem only by how much you have earned and saved for a rainy day, you are chasing money, not happiness. This path leads to big failures because life can throw us failures and financial difficulties. Healthy self-esteem that makes a person happy should be based on how he thinks about himself, not on how much money he has in his pocket.
