The M.A.P. Maker

Maybe money CAN buy happiness (if you spend it right)

I just ran across an interesting book called, Money Can Buy Happiness: How to Spend to Get the Life You Want by MP Dunleavey. On the book's web site, there's a sample of what's inside. While it sounds like a book about money, it's really a book about what makes us happy. Here's how the author describes the basic concept:

It may seem strange to equate your personal well-being with an investment portfolio, but it's a pretty useful metaphor. It reminds you, the stockholder, so to say, that you have a fair amount of control over where you invest and why...Savvy money managers may know to put a certain amount of capital into something solid like bonds, blue chip stocks or large-cap mutual funds, but the precise investments they choose are up to each individual. Likewise, how you decide to balance your assets in order to enhance your own happiness is ultimately up to you.

She goes on to describe the different happiness assets she recommends investing in. In a nutshell, those are...

ASSET #1: YOUR VALUABLE TIME

"...tradeoffs you can make to reclaim your time-and invest in a happier life."

ASSET #2: YOUR PERSONAL RESOURCES

"Investing in your self..."

ASSET #3: YOUR HEALTH

"...small but steady investments in your physical plant are key to the overall performance of your portfolio."

ASSET #4: FINANCIAL CONTROL

"...master bad money habits, vanquish debt, buy yourself greater peace of mind—and take control of your future."

ASSET #5: MUTUAL FUN

"...the all-important fun sector, and the countless ways it can boost your portfolio's overall performance."

ASSET #6: GET INTO BONDS

"...investing more in the people who are most important to you is essential to having a life that's fulfilling."

ASSET #7: GIVING TO FEEL GOOD

"...researchers are finding that the act of giving bestows numerous gifts on the giver as well: it supports and strengthens social bonds, enriches your life, enhances your health and even boosts longevity."

Dunleavey follows that list up with this comment: "There's absolutely nothing surprising on this list, nothing new-except the radical idea that these aren't philosophical choices, but financial ones."

And that's what I love about this idea. It starts to put money into perspective. It neither demonizes it nor idolizes it. It simply looks at money as a tool. And when we see it as nothing more than a tool, we're still left with the question, "What's important to me?" And the more we understand that, the more closely aligned our financial decisions can be with what makes us truly happy.

I literally just ran across the book online, so I haven't read it yet. And I'm not going to let myself order it until my to-read stack is considerably shorter than its current two feet tall. But it's definitely going on my to-read list.

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Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

Create a "zone of plenty" in your life

Yesterday I talked about my my Big Why motivation of helping people put their passion to work to make a difference that inspires them, in a way that lets them thrive.

Thriving is an important part of the equation, because it's what makes it all sustainable for the long-term. As I talk about in my thoughts about abundance, there is more to thriving than just the financial aspect, but for this post I want to focus on the money flow.

Ultimately, financial thriving is about having a zone of plenty between income and outflow that lets you incorporate the things that are important, meaningful, and fun into your life.

The dictionary definition of thrive is "to prosper or flourish; be successful." That's a great place to start, but when you take a closer look at how it actually plays out in your life, you'll see that thriving isn't only about having ever more, more, more. I've seen too many people making all kinds of money who struggle to keep up because their outflow keeps increasing along with their inflow. The income might increase, but the zone of plenty doesn't.

So if you look at thriving in terms of creating that zone of plenty, there are actually two parts to the equation:

1. Maximizing the money inflow
2. Minimizing the unimportant outflow

There are two important parts of this idea. First, maximizing the money inflow doesn't mean maximizing it at all costs. It means maximizing it within a sustainable, whole-life context. For example, if you're making choices that bring in great gobs of money, but your relationships or health are withering as a result, that's not a sustainable approach. 

Second, notice the word "unimportant" in the outflow part of the equation. If you want to increase the zone of plenty, reducing the money going out the door has the exact same effect as increasing the money coming in the door.

But there's more to it than just turning into a penny-pinching Scrooge and refusing to spend on anything. Remember that part of my definition of thriving includes the ability to incorporate the things that are important, meaningful, and fun into your life.

Ultimately, it's about spending money on the right things. So the question to ask with each outflow is, "How much is this adding to my quality of life? How important is this?" Expand the zone of plenty by eliminating the spending that doesn't add to your life.

For example, if you go out to eat every day just because it's a convenient habit, but you don't really get that much out of it, that might be an unimportant expense that doesn't add anything to you life. On the other hand, if you're a complete foodie and your eyes roll back in your head with orgasmic delight with each bite of delicious food, that might actually be an important expense. 

Take a look at your own life. How does your zone of plenty look? What could you do to expand it?

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Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM