Money, Motivation and Happiness

The question of money as a motivator in the workplace is not new. Years of research, and countless books and articles on motivation include references to money. However, much of the focus on money and motivation points to superficial needs of people or points toward the immediate gratification that money seems to bring. The inquiry around money as a motivator must be explored more deeply if one is to truly understand the nature of the so-called relationship between money and motivation.

There are a number of perspectives relating to money and motivation. Some of these are:

1. "I'm not making as much money as I'd like (the "starving artist" concept), but I absolutely love my work, or the flexibility, or the control I have, or the opportunity for creativity, etc."

2. "I need to be in this salary range, make this much money, because I need to be seen as "somebody" as opposed to "nobody" in my circle of friends, acquaintances, family, etc. who view "money" as a merit badge of some kind."

3. "It's not the money, per se, but what the money "gets" me....i.e., possessions, stuff, materialism, etc., pointing again, for some, to "being somebody" and being recognized, and gaining self-recognition, based on their material stuff."

4. "I need more and more money as I'll never have enough, reflecting the "your expenses always rise to meet your income" syndrome...as I said to an attorney client of mine, "If you feel you cannot live on 2 million dollars a year, what makes you think you can live on 3 million?"

5. Unconsciously filling the psycho-emotional "hole" of lack and deficiency...which subsumes one or more of the above...and is the driver of the obsession with having money and needing more money, and what money "gets" one in order to feel (albeit fleetingly) whole and complete. The illusion that money provides a sense of self, or a sense of one's worth or value.

At the end of the day, I, for one, subscribe to the intrinsic notion of motivation, that motivation is driven by one's values and so it's important to explore one's values and from where one's values emanate...from one's True and Real Self, one's Inner Core or from ego-driven needs for control, recognition and security...misguided values, the relentless pursuit of which, almost always leads to a living (certainly not a life) mired in the self-sabotaging thinking and behaviors reflecting frustration, resentment, anger, hate, rage, entitlement, misguided choices, and the feeling of never having or being enough.

When one comes from one's core values, one's Inner Sense of what is important in life and living, then intrinsic, or self-motivation, is at the heart of a life well-lived, at work, at home and at play...and is at the heart of creativity, self-management, self-responsibility, healthy behavior (mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, social, financial). Money, in this sense, has a different emotional and psychological energy around it, a softer energy, not unlike the energy reflected in one who says, "I love my work and I can't believe I get paid for doing this."

Many folks, in the relentless pursuit of "money" actually lose sight of what it was in the first place that got their juices flowing...having the corner office occludes the initial love of the work, obtaining the title interferes with one's initial love of mentoring and supporting others...that the relentless pressure to make and have more money becomes more important than the joy one used to experience when one was focused on one's love of the work itself. Losing one's way along the way. The mid-life crisis...that now starts at 30.

Money as a driver then obscurates the clarity of one's choices and one often makes unfortunate and self-sabotaging choices when controlled by money. I, for one, see this all the time in my work with clients...some who have made self-defeating choices in their work life, social life and spiritual life because the lens with which they viewed their world and their place in the world had become "green."

For many of those who believe that "money" is the sign of success, or that money is what it takes to be "somebody", etc., long-term success is often unattainable; it's the "Sisyphean approach to living.

For many folks, it's when they have experienced enough anger, anxiety, feelings of inadequacy, terror, and loneliness, that reflected their need for money, and more money, and more money, that they then have the real motivation to change and adapt a life and lifestyle that is true Values-based, values that emanate from their True and Real Self, where money is important, but not an obsession (conscious or unconscious).

Motivation from this place is much different. Motivation from this place is not bounded by internalized pressures to have more, by rigid inner structures or beliefs, by paralyzing self-criticism that one is not (fill in the blank) for lack of enough money (whatever that is). That one's true worth and value is not financially driven. That one's purpose in life and the meaning one derives from work is intrinsically driven from one's Inner Core Values.

From this place, one comes to one's world of work or play from the perspective of a whole person, as one whose choices, volitions, motivations and intentions are driven by a freedom that was heretofore restricted and constricted by the "value" of money.

Finally, I have crossed paths with folks who feel that money allows them to be autonomous. Me, I see just the opposite. That money has forced many of these folks to live in an emotional and psychological prison whose bars are the self-defeating, self-sabotaging and controlling beliefs and behaviors driving these folks to do, be, and have in a way that forces them into a lifestyle (again, not a life) mimicking the lifestyles of the folks living in their prisons on either side of them...the illusion of autonomy, not the actions of one living from the place of one's True and Real self.

From this Inner Self, the energy of "I am", "I can", "I will", "I have", "I choose", "I love", "I create" and "I enjoy", that is, motivation and intention, flows with a sense of purposefulness, ease, grace, settledness and grounding that does not have a "price tag."

(c) 2005, Peter G. Vajda, Ph.D. All rights in all media reserved.

---ABOUT THE AUTHOR---

Peter G. Vajda, Ph.D, C.P.C. is a founding partner of SpiritHeart, an Atlanta-based company that supports conscious living through coaching, counseling and facilitating. With a practice based on the dynamic intersection of mind, body, emotion and spirit - that is, Essential Well BE-ing - Peter's approach focuses on personal, business, relational and spiritual coaching. He is a professional speaker and published author. For more information contact http://www.spiritheart.net, pvajda@spiritheart.net or phone 770.804.9125

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Money and Happiness

A friend of mine, Steve Moeller, did research on the science of happiness. He gathered information to write a book about what really makes people happy. He gave me permission to share some excerpts with you from an article he wrote for Investment Advisor magazine. I found his thoughts very interesting, and hope you will too.

The assumption that more money will make us happier is etched into our consciousness. Happiness is something we all want; it's the holy grail of Western civilization. Biologists have recently proven that all higher species from lizards up to humans are biologically programmed to pursue pleasure and positive emotions. It's a basic subconscious drive that all creatures have. Everything we do, we do because we consciously or unconsciously believe that it will make us happy.

That more money will lead directly to more happiness is such a basic assumption that most people never stop to question it. When researchers at the University of Michigan asked research subjects what would improve the quality of their lives, the majority of the respondents said "more money."

The assumption that more money will bring us more happiness is etched into our consciousness, championed by our culture, promoted with billions of dollars of advertising each year, and institutionalized in our public policy. And it is still the primary promise of benefits that many investment advisors focus on. But is it true?

"Happiness" researchers have conducted more than 150 surveys all over the world with more than a 1 million participants. Let's take a look at what they have learned.

Since the end of WWII the purchasing power of American households has tripled. New homes are now twice as big as they were after the war, we have twice as many cars per person, and we eat out more often. The average American now lives much better than most of the kings and queens throughout history.

So are we happier? No!

This spectacular increase in wealth has had almost no positive effective on our society's happiness. In fact, from 1957 to 1996 the proportion of people telling the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center that they are "very happy" declined slightly (from 35% to 30%.) Over the same time period; divorce doubled, the prison population quintupled and major depression rose tenfold, turning it into the fourth most common debilitating disease. America's not alone; Europe and Japan have experienced the same basic trends.

One of the happiness researchers' more noteworthy findings came from a survey of Forbe's 400 wealthiest Americans. These cent millionaires and billionaires were asked to rate their life satisfaction from "extremely dissatisfied" (1) to "extremely satisfied" (7). Surprisingly, the respondents' average rating was 5.7, only slightly above the average rating.

But here's the really interesting part. Masai tribesmen from Kenya in East Africa also participated in the life satisfaction survey. Although they live in huts made out of dirt and cow dung, herd cattle for a living, have no electricity or running water, and don't have any money, they also rated themselves a 5.7 in the life satisfaction scale.

Quite a few studies now show that believing that money is more important than other values-like relationships with loved ones, spirituality, a feeling that your life is contributing to the greater good-is actually detrimental to happiness. Clearly there's more to happiness than wealth, luxury and material comforts.

So, how much is the right amount of money to maximize our happiness? Here's the bottom line from the scientific research on happiness-once we have enough money to pay for life's basics like food, clothing and housing, more money has very little impact on our happiness.

More money does buy more happiness and well-being if you are poor, and increases fairly quickly until you achieve a solid middle class income. But research shows once your household income reaches the middle class range, increased income has a diminishing positive impact on your happiness and well-being.

The point is, above a certain income level, which isn't by any means "wealthy", additional income alone has almost no impact on our happiness. And depending on the price you pay to earn it, more income could even reduce your quality of life.

In fact, a large and growing number of studies support happiness researcher Ed Diener's comment that, "Materialism is toxic for happiness." But most Americans don't seem to believe this.

Why, if we tell researchers that more money doesn't make us happier, do we chase it so hard? We could blame it on advertisers and the media, two giant institutions that have a vested interest in having us consume more and more stuff each year. But there is another, more subtle villain; the subconscious workings of our brain.

Psychologists have developed a term "hedonic treadmill" to describe humans adaptation to more wealth and material goods. So if you get a new car, you will be happier for a while, but then you will adapt, and so think it's normal. In order to maintain the same level of happiness through consumption, you must continually buy new things. This is what the concept of "retail therapy" is all about. Adaptation is great for the economy, but bad for you and your financial security.

As an investment advisor, I often work with people who believe that more money will buy them more happiness. As evidenced by this article, in reality, I should help clients determine what will really make them happy and then determine how much income their ideal life will require. It may be a lot less than they originally thought.

Dave Young, President and founder of Paragon Wealth Management, has helped his clients enhance their financial well-being since he began managing money in 1986. He was his first client after he sold his 12 franchise businesses and couldn't find a traditional brokerage firm to meet his needs.

From his personal investment experience, he knew there was a better option to managing money. Later that year, he started his own investment firm. When he avoided the 1987 stock market crash, his methods sparked a lot of interest.

Today, this undiscovered money manager in Utah currently manages 60 million dollars plus for 150 clients.

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