An English philosopher by the name of Francis Bacon once said, “Money is a great servant but a bad master.” He was right.
I’ve just finished another overtime shift at work — one that I didn’t have to say yes to doing. I’m exhausted, but I did it. Do you know why I did it? Because I want more money. You probably do as well — and so do your kids.
A UK survey in 2014, asked 1300 children under the age of ten, “What would you like to be when you grow up?” The third highest response was a policeman with 16%, the second top response was “famous” with 19% and the top response was “rich” with 22%. The same survey also found that 75% of children believed that money can buy you happiness.
Are the children correct? Well, according to a Harvard Business School Study, the answer is yes and no. Researchers found that money DOES increase happiness, BUT only to a certain point. Once our basic needs are met, any subsequent increase in income leads to only a negligible increase in happiness with diminishing returns. For example, the difference in happiness between people with incomes of $50,000 and $75,000 is larger than between people with incomes of $75,000 and $100,000.
So having more money can make you more happy… to a point. Still, there are always trade-offs to be made when it comes to making more money. Usually it involves sacrificing other important things like spending time with your family and friends. This is probably why Time Magazine points out that those who earn less actually reported experiencing more love, compassion and satisfaction in personal relationships.
Whether money makes you happier or not, I suspect that almost all of us would agree that making money our primary focus in life is fraught with danger. There is a reason why Charles Dickens penned the cautionary tale of Ebeneezer Scrooge. None of us wants to be a scrooge, right? We would tend to echo Francis Bacon’s words — “Money is a great servant but a bad master.” Yet, according to American theologian Tim Keller, very few people can see greed in themselves. Most people say, “Well, I’m not a slave to money-making! I’m all good!”
For this reason, I decided to develop this list of tests or checks that you can run over your own life, as I did with mine. It was very challenging and I’ll admit it was personally convicting to me. Therefore, I encourage you to consider each of these tests thoughtfully so that you might be able to self-diagnose whether you have an unhealthy focus on making-money. Here they are! Good luck!
1. The Health Test
Is the pursuit of money affecting your emotional, relational or physical health? Are you are working too much? Is money-making causing you to pile on the shifts at the expense of relationships, health, sleep, holidays? If you are never taking a day off because you “need” the money, it could be a sign you are in love with it.
2. The Materialism Test
Do you have too many toys? How much of your money is spent on stuff that doesn’t last? How much stuff do you have that you don’t need and don’t use? Some years ago, the Roy Morgan research institute conducted a national survey of almost 2000 Australian households. (I suspect the numbers are similar in many western countries). In this survey they asked people to estimate how much money they spent on goods and services that they did not end up using. The survey found that on average each Australian adult bought $1226 worth of items each year that they did not use. Total wasteful consumption amounted to over $10.5 billion dollars annually spent on goods and services that are never or hardly ever used. So what are you wasting money on, that you could get rid of and re-invest in something that really matters? Gym membership, Netflix subscription, Spotify? What things could you sell or give away? Do you have 30 pairs of shoes?
3. The Generosity Test
Are you giving a portion of your income away? Most people consider themselves to be generous, but if we had a look at your bank statement, what would we find? James W. Frick of the University of Notre Dame once said, “Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what your priorities are.”
4. The Resentment Test
So let’s say you do give some of your money away, is there a part of you that resents that giving? Does the idea of giving money away make you a bit irritated? Do you get annoyed when you have to pay for ‘that’ friend’s dinner? Do you avoid the people who ask for money in shopping centers? Do you hide under your bed when the Red Cross comes knocking on your door?
5. The Moral Test
Do you or have you done things that are morally questionable and/or taken shortcuts in order to obtain money? Have you ever stolen money? Or have you ever ripped someone off? Cheated on your tax? Have you ever been undercharged at the shops, but didn’t own up? What did you do with that $20 bill you found on the ground? Is your quest for money something that causes you to compromise your standards and moral beliefs? Ouch!
6. The Get-Rich-Quick Test
Are you a sucker for a get-rich-quick scheme? Do you buy lotto tickets? You probably realize your odds of winning are astronomically small, but do you justify the expense by saying, “What if?” Are you spending too much on other forms of gambling? Making risky investments? Do you google things like, “How to make a million dollars without leaving home.” Here’s some hard truth: Although there are a few exceptions, the general rule is that wealth is built by hard work and perhaps innovation (but mostly hard work!) Easy come, easy go. You make it quick and, most of the time, you’ll lose it quick.
7. The Sustainability Test
Do you spend more than you earn? Yes, that’s a thing. According to an article on news.com in April 2017, 1 in 3 Australians spends more than they earn… A Pew Study found that almost half of all American’s spend more than they earn… And why? Well… it’s because we want stuff now. Buy now, pay later. Only 162 easy payments. I don’t know about you but I’ve never made an easy repayment. They are all difficult. Ultimately though, living this way is unsustainable in the long-term.
8. The Fulfillment Test
Was the amount of money that you could earn was a major factor in choosing a career? If you chose a career just for the pay check then you are less likely to find fulfillment and job satisfaction. And when you are at work, do you think more about the money you are making, than doing a good job? When you go to the doctor, do you want him or her to be there because they love their work, or because they want a paycheck?
9. The Jealousy Test
Also known as ‘keeping up with the Joneses,’ the Jealousy test asks a simple question: Are you looking around at what everyone else has and wishing you had it too? As actor Will Smith famously said, “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like”.
10. The Test Test
Did you hate this list of challenges? If you hated these questions then maybe, just maybe, you are placing way to much emphasis on money-making!
The Last Word
While there is a body of evidence that suggests that having more money does increase personal happiness to a point, there is a much more compelling research from Harvard that I think unpacks the true source of happiness.
There is an ongoing Harvard study that is considered one of the world’s longest studies of adult life, having tracked over 700 men from 1938 to the present day. In almost 80 years of research consisting of tens of thousands of interviews and questionnaires, one of the most significant discoveries was not that personal wealth leads to happiness, but that quality personal relationships leads to personal happiness and health.
I’m not going to lie. I want more money. Don’t you?
However, I’m not going to sacrifice the more important things in life in order to get it. Money is a great servant, but a terrible master!
—
A version of this post was previously published on Medium and is republished here with permission from the author.
—
◊♦◊
Talk to you soon.
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project and want to join our calls on a regular basis, please join us as a Premium Member, today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
—
Photo credit: istockphoto