How Can Money Buy Us Happiness – Foundation of Satvik Money

“Happiness is not something readymade. It comes from your own actions” ~ Dalai Lama.

Yes. Money can indeed buy us happiness. How. It can be achieved by following Satvik Money’s structured approach. Satvik Money is a movement to help all our tribe members get Happiness in life. Satvik Money is a movement to help all our tribe members get happiness in life. But happiness is different for different people. Sample this:

• Dhawal feels happy when he plays his favorite video game
• Akshay is happy to receive an iPad as a gift
• Gautam feels happy to share his school tiffin with his classmate
• Rajesh gets happiness in giving food to poor hungry kids in his locality.
• Ria is very happy to have completed her graduation
• Ashish is very happy when he earned profit from his investments
• Ganesh is happy when he was promoted in his workplace

So what is happiness. How can one derive durable happiness.

Let’s read a quick story to discovery the fountain head of happiness:

Once upon a time there was a boy, whose family was very rich. One day his father took him on a trip to the village, where he wanted to show his son, how poor people live. So they arrived in a cottage of a very poor family, where they spent several days. On their return, the father asked his son, about the trip. “Oh, it was awesome, Dad” – the boy replied. The father then asked his son to tell in more details about his impressions from their trip.

“Dad, we have only one dog, but they have many dogs, goats and cows in their farm. In our garden there is a swimming pool, while they have a long and wide river to swim in. We have got expensive chandeliers, but they have got stars over their heads at night. We have to buy food, but they grow it. We have to buy lock and keys for protection of our property, but they don ‘t need it. We have employees to work for us, but they have lots of friends whom help them in need. I need toys to stay happy, their kids have nature to play with”.  The rich father was stunned. The boy added, “Thanks dad, for letting me know how poor we are.”

Happiness is a state of mind, where we are peaceful, satisfied, calm and balanced. Most sources of happiness which are material, are temporary in nature. We will soon lose the happiness derived from getting our favorite gadget, earning profits, etc., as these are material in nature. The longer and more permanent source of durable happiness is serving society by doing something which you enjoy doing.

Our goal at Satvik Money is to achieve in happiness in life. It’s a structured approach to achieve happiness. According to us, it comprises of a three step approach.

Step 1: Financial Literacy

Money is like sword, it can help or destroy, depending on its user. One needs to learn how to use a sword, else it can harm the user. Financial Literacy means education about money. It means learning how to earn, spend and save money the right way.

Our entire childhood and adolescence are spent in learning about subjects like literature, history, geography, science, etc. However, there is seldom any structured education about money. This is despite the fact that we shall be dealing with it throughout our life. Good or bad money habits can make or break individuals.

Earning the right way means acquiring skills to get gainful employment. It means learning the importance of time and how to maximize its value. It means investing the saved money wisely to earn income.

Right way to Spend money is to satisfy all the needs and balance the satisfaction of wants. It means learning how not to spend to show off our status or wealth, how not to spend to please others. Financial literacy means learning what is good spending and what is bad. It will help us strike a good balance between spending for today and saving for tomorrow.

Right earning and spending results in savings, which we need to learn to invest properly to enter the virtuous cycle of earning, saving and investing, which should help us proceed towards the next step of Financial Independence or Financial Freedom.

Step 2: Financial Freedom

Wikipedia defines Financial Freedom or Financial Independence (FI) as the status of having enough income (from investments, passive businesses, real estate, etc.) to pay for one’s reasonable living expenses for the rest of one’s life without having to rely on formal employment.

The concept of financial freedom seems quite an intuitive and realistic financial goal for everyone joining the workforce. However, paradoxically its actually pursued by a fraction of population. This unpopularity of the financial independence is because of the happiness which immediate consumption brings with it and myopia towards the future resulting in disregard for savings.

In most individuals profligate spending habits are merely a result of lack of financial education. We can easily adopt good money habits, once we are able to see the benefits of the same.

At Satvik Money, we shall discuss more about the concept of financial freedom and how to reach it in a systematic manner.

Step 3: Finding a Purpose

 “If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody” ~ Chinese saying.

Living a purposeful life is the greatest secret to lifelong happiness. In fact, it has been discovered that the biggest secret sauce of a long life can be traced to the lifestyles of a small group of islands south of mainland Japan, called Okinawa. Okinawa has also been nicknamed the “Land of Immortals” because it has among the longest lifespans and highest rates of centenarians in the world. The secret to such a long lifespan amongst Okinawans was found to be IKIGAI – which essentially means ‘the reason for which you wake up in the morning.

The concept of IKIGAI simply means that you passionate purse what you like, what you can be paid for, what you are good at and what is good for the society.

Thus, once you have achieved your Financial Freedom, you can have enough time to devote towards your passion and purpose. When you then start pursuing your IKIGAI, you shall reach the final goal of leading a happy life.

Note: “Satvik” is derived from Sanskrit language and literally means Good. Satvik Money discusses the good aspects of money and literally means “Good Money”.