Why the pursuit of money always crashes at a dead end
It seems that everyone is chasing the almighty dollar. But it’s not that everyone is greedy. There are plenty of people who aren’t, yet they still want the highest paying job, the job with the most benefits, or they want to start a business just to make money.
When I was younger, all I wanted was to be rich. And not just a few million, but billions of dollars. Even recently, when this site was just a couple of months old, I wanted to become a billionaire. However, something happened to me in the later half of 2008. A new light bulb went off in my head, it was an epiphany.
I realized that the pursuit of money crashes at a dead end. The road may be very long, but the dead end sign and the wall is guaranteed to be there.
Bought happiness has an expiration date
The biggest reason people pursue money is because they think the more they have, the more things they can buy and the more happiness they’ll experience.
One thing is slightly true about this thinking; money can buy happiness. Purchasing a brand new sports car can make you happy. But; the happiness is so short-lived.
This type of happiness expires until you buy something else that makes you happy, and then when the happiness for the new item expires you continue the cycle. This is why it’s so hard to see.
It’s shallow happiness that actually leads to less happy times. The more cars you have, the bigger the house, the more gadgets you have; the more responsibilities and worries you’ll create for yourself.
Your quality suffers
This is geared more towards entrepreneurs, but it can apply to almost any job or career you have.
When all you focus on is earning as much money as possible, everything else takes a backseat, especially quality.
You don’t really care about what you’re doing or how you’re doing it, you just want to be paid.
You look for a shortcut…
…but it doesn’t exist. The shortcuts to wealth and success are all smoke and mirrors.
When you look for the shortcuts and fail, you’ll find that you wasted more time doing that than if you took the long road there.
You crush others
You want that crisp, fresh pile of cash and you’ll destroy any competition that gets in your way to get it.
The thing is, these “competitors” may be your greatest allies, your indirect cheerleaders, and may even be future business partners. You need these people.
You disregard needs
Imagine you are an inventor that is really just in it for the money. You’d most likely look at products that people enjoy and figure out a way to combine them to make a maximum profit.
Now imagine you are an inventor that enjoys solving major problems and helping people make their lives happier and easier.
Who’s going to be more successful?
It will always be the second inventor. Why? Because that inventor tapped into people’s needs.
Passion is ignored
If you want to be truly happy and successful, you have to infuse your passions into what you do and your everyday life.
The pursuit of money ignores passions that really excite you and provide you with fulfillment.
In the end it disappears
At the end of the road of life, you won’t have all the money you’ve been grabbing along the way. It floats away. When you’re at your final hours, you won’t care about it and either will anyone around you.
The only thing that will stay with your soul are your memories. Memories of your friends and family, and the good times you had with them.
Let’s hear from you. Have you pursued money only to find that it leads to nowhere? Are you chasing the almighty dollar right now? What do you think of this article?
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