2685: 3 Ways to Hack Your Financial Happiness by Chris Reining on Strategies for Fostering Genuine Contentment

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[00:00:52] This is Optimal Finance Daily, Episode 2685.

[00:00:56] Three ways to hack your financial happiness by Chris Reining of chrisreining.com.

[00:01:02] And I'm your host and personal finance enthusiast, Diana Merriam.

[00:01:06] Now let's get right to today's post and start optimizing your life.

[00:01:14] Three ways to hack your financial happiness by chrisreining of chrisreining.com.

[00:01:21] Last week, I went out on a school night.

[00:01:24] I almost didn't because it was 10.30 at night and I hadn't left my house yet and my bedtime

[00:01:28] was in 30 minutes.

[00:01:30] But I got the motivation to put on my converse and head over to wear Zion Eye, a skilled hip-hop

[00:01:35] group from Oakland, California were going to play.

[00:01:39] After the show, my buddy and I decided to have a nightcap.

[00:01:42] It was one in the morning.

[00:01:43] We're in our 30s now and never go out so the conversation turned toward the crazy

[00:01:48] amount of partying we did together in our 20s.

[00:01:52] He said he was just young, happy and having fun.

[00:01:54] I said I was miserable and self-medicating.

[00:01:58] I didn't know that then.

[00:02:00] It was before I went to a therapist and spent years attending a 12-step program.

[00:02:05] I thought hangovers and destructive relationships were normal.

[00:02:09] Many of us equate money to happiness.

[00:02:11] And it's true, sort of.

[00:02:14] Research has shown that happiness rises with income but only up to $75,000.

[00:02:20] After reaching that threshold, there's no more happiness to be gained.

[00:02:24] But the research doesn't spell out if that amount works in New York City where the cost

[00:02:28] of living is much higher than a city like Cincinnati, Ohio.

[00:02:32] Nevertheless, there's a threshold.

[00:02:34] And you might think if you have more money, you could buy more things which will then

[00:02:38] make you happier.

[00:02:39] True, more money enables you to get a better car, a summer vacation home or

[00:02:44] a Michael Kors handbag.

[00:02:46] Please do.

[00:02:47] I own the stock.

[00:02:48] But buying stuff is the equivalent of getting drunk.

[00:02:51] It only temporarily soothes our unhappiness.

[00:02:54] I have to work at being happy.

[00:02:56] That sounds absolutely ridiculous, but it's true.

[00:03:00] I even have Google Calendar set up to email me three times a week to remind me

[00:03:04] that happiness is a choice.

[00:03:07] I can choose to be happy or I can choose to be miserable.

[00:03:10] Being happy isn't an accidental mood.

[00:03:13] So of course, I have happiness rules that I reference.

[00:03:17] Number one, quit playing games.

[00:03:20] Many of us are competitive.

[00:03:22] We're driven to win by societal pressure, by our parents and the values they

[00:03:26] instilled in us, and by the performance of our peers and friends.

[00:03:30] So we strive to make the highest salary, to climb the corporate ladder rung

[00:03:34] by rung, and to compare what we have to what other people have.

[00:03:39] This mindset of win at all costs makes us cut corners and even commit

[00:03:43] crimes.

[00:03:44] We should always seek opportunities to get out of our comfort zone, face

[00:03:48] our fears and improve ourselves.

[00:03:50] But the drive to do so needs to come from within us, not from comparing

[00:03:55] ourselves and what we have to someone else.

[00:03:58] Improving ourselves isn't a game to be won or lost.

[00:04:02] Number two, appreciate what's normal.

[00:04:06] Seth Godin wrote that calling someone across the world starting a car

[00:04:10] or having electricity come out of a little hole in the wall,

[00:04:14] used to be really hard and that it was amazing when it worked.

[00:04:17] And now we take all of that stuff for granted.

[00:04:21] But do we ever stop and appreciate all the modern conveniences

[00:04:24] we have in our lives?

[00:04:26] When I was flying from Rome back to the US earlier this year,

[00:04:29] my initial flight was delayed by an hour.

[00:04:32] This set off a chain reaction of flights that had to be

[00:04:35] rescheduled in order for me to get home.

[00:04:38] When I was standing in the long line at the service desk

[00:04:40] of Air Canada in order to book new flights,

[00:04:43] I met a woman with the same itinerary I had.

[00:04:46] She spent most of the time in line bashing the airlines,

[00:04:50] their inept workers and the amount of time

[00:04:52] they were forcing her to waste.

[00:04:54] When she reached the desk, she berated the guy

[00:04:57] who was helping her.

[00:04:58] He got fed up with her and made her go

[00:04:59] to the back of the line.

[00:05:01] Did she realize that having the ability to actually fly

[00:05:05] through the air is amazing?

[00:05:07] Think about it, you're sitting in a chair in the sky

[00:05:10] and traveling at 550 miles per hour.

[00:05:13] New York to San Francisco in less than six hours.

[00:05:17] In the late 1800s, it used to take people 83 hours

[00:05:20] on a train to do that and they had to sit

[00:05:23] on a hard wooden bench.

[00:05:25] I like to jot down on paper a few everyday things

[00:05:28] I'm grateful for that my great grandparents

[00:05:30] couldn't afford or couldn't even imagine

[00:05:33] like flying across the ocean, the internet or smartphones.

[00:05:38] And number three, consume less.

[00:05:42] The first world loves to consume,

[00:05:44] but just as we should practice information dieting,

[00:05:47] we should also practice the art of consuming less.

[00:05:50] Maybe a good time to start is next month

[00:05:52] when Americans will shop over Thanksgiving weekend.

[00:05:56] Last year, the damage from Black Friday

[00:05:58] to Cyber Monday toppled $57 billion.

[00:06:02] There's no getting around the fact

[00:06:03] that we live in a period

[00:06:04] when conspicuous consumption is normal.

[00:06:08] Victor LeBow, an economist,

[00:06:10] brilliantly called this out in an article from 1955.

[00:06:14] Quote, our enormously productive economy

[00:06:18] demands that we make consumption our way of life,

[00:06:20] that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals,

[00:06:24] that we seek our spiritual satisfaction,

[00:06:27] our ego satisfaction in consumption.

[00:06:30] We need things consumed, burned up,

[00:06:32] replaced and discarded at an ever accelerating rate.

[00:06:36] End quote.

[00:06:38] But living a disposable lifestyle doesn't make us any happier.

[00:06:42] Finding happiness comes from within.

[00:06:44] It's not something that can be purchased from Amazon.

[00:06:47] Once we recognize that,

[00:06:48] we can make the liberating decision to be content

[00:06:51] with the possessions we already have.

[00:06:58] You just listened to the post titled,

[00:06:59] Three Ways to Hack Your Financial Happiness

[00:07:02] by Chris Reining of chrisreining.com

[00:07:05] and I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:09:14] As my finances have improved over time,

[00:09:17] I've noticed an evolution in my relationship with money.

[00:09:20] Is money meant to be accumulated

[00:09:22] or is it meant to be spent?

[00:09:24] I think that it's both.

[00:09:26] Money is only as valuable as your clarity

[00:09:28] on how you'll use it and your comfort level

[00:09:30] of how much is enough.

[00:09:31] You have seasons of life where you accumulate

[00:09:34] and then you open up the option

[00:09:36] of new seasons of your life

[00:09:38] where you're focused less on accumulation

[00:09:40] and more on using your money to create a life you love.

[00:09:44] And most of us will shift back and forth

[00:09:46] through these seasons many times

[00:09:48] over the course of our lives.

[00:09:50] I think one of the dangers

[00:09:51] of pursuing financial independence

[00:09:53] is that people think once they reach the finish line,

[00:09:56] they'll be happier.

[00:09:57] But of all the people I've met that have retired early,

[00:10:00] the message is always the same.

[00:10:02] If you're unhappy before FI,

[00:10:04] you will be unhappy after FI as well.

[00:10:07] The reason is because financial independence

[00:10:09] is a circumstance and happiness comes much more

[00:10:13] from the intentional ways we use our time.

[00:10:16] Having 25 times your yearly expenses

[00:10:18] and your investment portfolio

[00:10:19] won't magically change how you feel about yourself

[00:10:22] and your life.

[00:10:24] That's an inside job, my friends.

[00:10:27] There's a wonderful speech that Carl Jensen,

[00:10:29] also known as Mr. 1500,

[00:10:31] did at the Economy Conference last year

[00:10:33] on this very topic.

[00:10:35] It's called,

[00:10:36] Philandia is a lie.

[00:10:38] And you can watch it right now

[00:10:39] on the Economy Conference YouTube channel.

[00:10:42] And that should do it for another edition

[00:10:44] of Optimal Finance Daily.

[00:10:46] I'll be back tomorrow as usual.

[00:10:47] So I'll see you there on the Wednesday show

[00:10:50] where your optimal life awaits.