When I make a million dollars then I'll be happy! Unconsciously, many people are basing their life on this simple statement. They go to an expensive college, take on a high pressure job, and spend the majority of their life trying to make a million dollars so they can be happy. They invest all their time, money, and energy believing that making money will make them happy without ever questioning the belief behind all their actions. Here's the problem: happiness has nothing to do with making a million dollars. There are people who are happy who are poor and there are people who are rich who are sad. Happiness and making a million dollars are two different things. Happiness has nothing to do with your bank account
Think of it like driving in a car. One day, you set your GPS to drive to Florida. While you are driving on that path, you will never arrive in New Hampshire. It won't work if you drive faster, or get a new car, or try harder. You simply are on a different path. It's the same with life. You get what you place your intention on. If the destination is money and you place your intention on making money, you will find money. If you're traveling on the track of making money trying to reach a destination of happiness, you are in for a very frustrating trip. I'm not saying don't make money; I'm saying don't travel down the path to money and get confused if you don't end up happy.
There's a long line of people who climbed the ladder to success only to realize that after all that time, all that effort, they placed their ladder next to the wrong building. Don't let that be you. Make sure you understand what path you are on. See, if you keep thinking happiness is something you have to achieve, then you are stuck in the pattern of trying to achieve. No matter how much you make, how many houses you have, no matter how expensive your car is, you will never be happy because you are in the cycle of having to achieve.
Happiness is not a product of achievement. Happiness is a feeling you generate through your body language, thoughts, and breathing patterns. Why make the path to happiness so difficult? You've already arrived.
Here's the part that's key: if you look at someone who is really successful, they never do it for the money. They do it for the thrill. The money is a byproduct of their unadulterated love for whatever they are doing. In other words, they got to be the top in their field by doing what made them happy. Find the top salesman in the word-he loves to sell. I bet he'd do it even if there was not a commission. He loves the verbal game of chess. Take a look at Michael Jordan. Do you think he practiced just so he could have a mansion? No, what motivated him was to be the best in the world. Same thing with Tom Brady. He could have retired years ago. He's got everything he could ever want: a beautiful wife, MVPs, Super Bowl championships, fortune and fame and yet he's still out there grinding in his 40s? Why is that? Because it's not about the money. It's about the thrill.
The older I get the more I realize how wise Joseph Campbell was when he said, "Follow your bliss." Stop living life unconsciously waiting for the "one day" when you can be happy. If you are on that path, it may be time to pull over and rethink your travel plans.