Building Raw Happiness Empires
Adventures are fun… I like having lots of little mini-adventures that aren’t life-threatening or majorly exotic. My adventures today:
- Ran through grass-watering sprinklers on a morning run in my happy new FiveFingers
- Tried a raw goji berry “granola” bar. At $4 it was a little expensive, but quite tasty! I’ve been interested in raw & whole foods lately, so foods may
- Started Chris Guillebeau’s Empire Building Kit, a 365-day e-course for building a lifestyle business.While reading reviews, I couldn’t find a single bad review of the EBK. It either means that there just legitimately aren’t many bad reviews, or he’s just that good at SEO/marketing that they’re really difficult to find. Either way, someone I want to learn from – I’m looking forward to this!
In other random news – I really enjoyed reading this academic paper on how to most effectively allocate money to increase happiness. The paper outlines the seven most important ways, based on academic research, that people can better use their money for happiness. And importantly, there’s a lot to be gained from the article even if money is tight. The punchlines? Live in the moment, delay gratification, invest in small experiences rather than large purchases. It’s the kind of research I love – the kind that draws conclusions that are just an arm’s length away from my own experience into current consciousness.
Def, for some things it seems more obvious than others – and we wouldn’t buy stuff if we didn’t expect SOME experience to result from it. Maybe the way to quantify it is to talk about how long it takes to get used to items.. How many times can I wear this dress before it doesn’t make me feel particularly beautiful? How many times can I pass that painting hanging on my wall before I stop admiring it?
I agree! Great paper! Makes some really good points. Though…I think the line between purchasing things for possession and for experience is a BIT hazier than they make it seem. Like – do I buy a dress to own a dress or for the experience of wearing the dress? The same could go for books or movies or even art.