It's Money Monday and we're looking at another belief that holds people back in building their ability to manage money.

Today we're looking at the belief: 

I’d rather have happiness than money.

This is another example of a type of thinking that keeps people poor.  I’m not saying that money automatically brings happiness (regardless of where you shop) but there’s no reason to think that money will prevent happiness. This is just another way our beliefs can work against us and in this case it’s a rationalization that allows people to avoid looking at how they handle money and how they feel about money.

So, let’s put the question in its place with another question: 

Would you rather keep your arms or your legs?  

We never ask this question because it’s understood that we want to keep the use of all of our limbs. 

Similarly, we don’t ask if we want our cars or our homes; most of us don’t have to consider whether we want friends or family.

Again, it’s understood we want both.

Just as there’s no reason for choosing between any of these options, there’s no reason to have to choose between money and happiness.

Again, money won’t automatically make you happy, but the ability to manage money can relieve a great deal of stress from your life. And having money, both in the form of savings and money coming in regularly, can provide to you options that you’d be unlikely to have without it.

And isn’t that something most of us would be happy about?