November 28, 2011

Yes, you read that right. I’m here to break the bad news to you (I know. The timing couldn't be worse with the holidays and all.) But you need to know the truth: You won’t ever make enough money. Especially if you think it is a means to an end. Trying to make more money is the trap of entrepreneurship.

But understanding the reasons why you can't ever make enough and knowing what to pursue instead can spare you a lot of time, stress and chasing.

As you climb the mountain of financial success, you can see farther and farther. You see many taller mountains, and people are already climbing on them. So, no matter how successful you are at getting to the top of the mountain, you'll feel you haven’t reached the top. You may just drive yourself crazy by continuously trying to reach the highest summit.

Here are some reasons why you won’t ever make enough money.

Keeping up with the Joneses

For every step of the financial ladder you climb, you find people who are a step ahead. You will continuously try to be more like them to keep up. It’s like a cat chasing its tail: You will keep going, but never feel successful at reaching what you’re after.

Odds are 7 billion to one

The planet’s population recently hit 7 billion. You want to be the richest person in the world, but there is only one richest person in the world. So you have a lot of competition to be No. 1. There will always be someone more successful and someone with a lot more money.

More financial success equals more financial stress

You've noticed this already: No matter where you are financially, the more you make, the more you buy and the more you need to maintain. It becomes a circular trap. If you make more, you have to maintain more. That means a lot of stress and pressure to keep making more.

A lot of articles tell you that the sky is the limit when it comes to financial success. The authors know what you want to hear. But when you realize it’s not possible, you can stop focusing so much on the pursuit of more and more money. You’ll enjoy life more when you stop obsessing on making “enough” money and focus on happiness instead.

Being happy is being content and satisfied. When you have that, you won’t have the stress of being a rat on a wheel, running and running, never reaching that financial destination.

You don't have to pursue happiness

Happiness comes from within. The more grateful you are for what you already have and the more you enjoy it, the more good things will come to you.

Set your sights on happiness, rather than on making enough money. And don’t just say you want happiness. Define it. Think about what makes you happy so that you can seek it out, recognize it and be grateful for it when it's within your grasp.

As Aristotle once said, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”

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Join the conversation ( 15 )

• Emily Morgan 1 months ago

  

  It's hard to say if I agree or disagree with the name of this article.Partially-yes,because I know people who are concentrated on money making and it's their mail goal in life, but they are never satisfied with the amout of money they earn.They always think that they should earn more and more.But I think all the things is our life are closely connected,and a lot of great things in life are not available for us if we don't earn money.Money should not become a goal and sense of life.It just should be something that makes your life better and makes good things in life available.We can not earn all the money in the world, so better stay a human, than turn out into moneymaking machine.http://ameriloansearch.com/

• Steve Duffy 4 months ago

  

  Interest piece. I've worked and worked and worked for a long time to be as successful as I am now, and I can definitely agree with a lot of these points. One of the biggest things I've noticed is that the standard of living races after you very quickly if you're not careful. When I was younger it was all about the nicest car and nicest clothes. Time and perspective now ground me enough to instead focus extra resources on my websites (http://www.discountsahoy.com for one) instead of frivolous items that don't actually gain anything for me.

  • Drewry News Network 4 months ago

    

    Very well said, Steve. That's what you call "true transformation of maturity" ! =)Happy new years & wishing you well in your continued business endeavors, in getting $ gUaP $ =)http://www.drewrynewsnetwork.com/f11/you-working-mother-looking-scholarship-%24-guap-%24-college-hope-arrived-2463.html

• Naomi Most 5 months ago

  

  The corollary of your article's hypothesis is, "You already have enough money."I believe both statements are true, but saying "you already have enough money" makes people less fearful and more proactive than saying "you will never make enough money."The point is to realize that unless you're living below the poverty line (which is nothing to make light of, but beside the point here), the idea of entrepreneurship isn't to make money (you can get a job for that) but to make a difference in your own life and in the world.

  • Drewry News Network 4 months ago

    

    Very true what you said, Naomi. Making a difference spiritually in your own life in a positive way will be seen by others =)Happy new years!http://www.DrewryNewsNetwork.com

• Drewry News Network 5 months ago

  

  Not having all the $ gUaP $ one desires also contributes to keeping a heart of humility =)http://www.DrewryNewsNetwork.com

• Robert Echola 5 months ago

  

  Money is just a simple way to keep score. That's all it will ever be.

  • Mike Michalowicz 5 months ago

    

    I think money is an amplifier of habits. I know many people who are good people with a good purpose through and through, who have built wealth and they spread the good even more. It amplifies there "goodness" if you will. Conversely, we all have heard of the lottery winner who gets tons of money and then experiences tons of misery. I think it, in those cases, amplifies their "bad" habits. Maybe they don't have a purpose for their life that they defined. Or maybe they have not fully matured into their own character... In those cases money amplifies their habits... their bad habits.

    • Axyswailt Lightspeed 5 months ago

      

      Monetary territorial unification or localisation also affects the pace of growth of the region in question, in comparison to any other competing monetary union, depending upon the (spatial & temporal, i.e. geographical area & space-time) size and population (financially conscious entities weather individuals or institutions). Since the sustenance cost and future growth models are valid only for well defined monetary unions in terms of size and population, with temporal-regional politics being a major influence in the independent or collective choices and actions of individuals and institutions.Technologically or fictionally it is very simple and easy to have access to never-ending amount of money and resources. you are only required to generate more than you can consume, which can be automated and you cant really consume the whole universe, even if the entire universe was an over-populated unified monetary union. natural or social (pollution, financial, military) crises, no matter what the scale (planetary, galactic or even universal) are essentially the result of a (mostly political, and rarely technological) disruption in efficient distribution of artificially scarce resources.so framing an average individual as law breaker just because he doesn't has the executable authority and surplus resources to generate the resources which are necessary for his very sustenance, is as stupid and criminal as politically motivated institutionalized technological lethargy. So solutions are always there, we are just too blind to see them.

• Pastor Mike 6 months ago

  

  Willmer/Smith (God and Your Stuff) write that in the Bible possessions are mentioned "three times more than love, seven times more than prayer, and eight times more than belief." Our desire for stuff does indeed seem to be an issue. However, pursuit of happiness may be no better, at least as we define it today. Philosophers talk of the "paradox of hedonism": one will not find happiness by pursuing it. For Aristotle and the early Greeks, happiness was a goal but came about as a result of pursuing something else: living a virtuous life. That begs the quite interesting question of who we should hold before us as the paradigmic virtuous person to emulate that we might find happiness…

  • Mike Michalowicz 6 months ago

    

    I think to be happy means to live the purpose that we have defined for ourselves. For me, I know I am living my purpose, when I grow in energy as I do things. If it depletes me, I am not living my purpose... therefore not happy. Now, I don't believe their is a utopia. We will all have ups and downs. Big ups and big downs too. But living a purpose, to me, has resulted in a happy life... and (fingers crossed) it will continue to.

    • Pastor Mike 6 months ago

      

      Thanks for your additional thoughts. And I agree to some extent. When I am operating in my sweet spot and gain energy, I am happy. When I do something that depletes me, I can get grumpy. But, is happiness reducible to thermodynamics (energy balance)? When I do something for my wife that costs me energy I'm still happy because it made her happy. Isn't the very foundation of love sacrifice?And I find myself wondering about the late libyan dictator Kadify...surely he was living a life of self-determined purpose at the expense of my others. We can argue that the limits of "my purpose" a where they infringe on another, but can we ally know that in all cases?It seems to me that something external to us must critique our purpose. The classical virtues are chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility. Surely they play some role in assessing our self-determined purposes, don't they? Otherwise, on what ground do we stand to judge Kadify?And, since you quoted Aristotle, shouldn't we ultimately be interested in from where these sorts of virtues come, Aristotle's "final cause"?

• Drewry News Network 6 months ago

  

  when it comes to being successful online and making money today, I focus more on the relationship building. When I first started out online, it was all about how much money I could make instantly. Through trial and error, I've matured and understood the deeper meaning of building quality relationships with people, before trying to make money off of somebody online. This is why when I meet someone on the internet, i'm not pressed at all in trying to sell them anything, for the exception of my personality, in accepting me wholeheartedly as I am. the money will always be there: it's the relationship building and how solid relationships are that hold more weight than the ---> $ gUaP $ ! =)http://www.DrewryMedia.comhttp://www.DrewryNewsNetwork.com

  • Mike Michalowicz 6 months ago

    

    Very true. The internet is just like any other form of communication. We do business with people we know, like and trust. But that being said... I think, ultimately, it is the relationship that is the greatest reward. Now don't get me wrong, money is great. I mean it is a vehicle to do things, experience things more easily. But it is not the end all be all. And more of it doesn't mean more satisfaction. Ultimately money is simply an amplifier of who we are inherently.

    • Drewry News Network 5 months ago

      

      Mike,Very well said, buddy. I agree with your reply =)http://www.DrewryMedia.comhttp://www.DrewryNewsNetwork.com