Know that you are already happy. You were born with that

I hardly dared to dream that I could be rich enough to be free of the drudgery of worrying about money. 

There’s no shame in wanting to be rich. It’s a useful ambition. Money takes away the anxiety of pressing bills and gives you freedom. The real issue becomes what you do with that freedom and the pressure of not losing it. But money doesn’t make you happy. Yes, I know I said that it does, but there are contradictions in everything.

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The truth is you are already happy, you were born with that. As your life progressed and you suffered pain and unhappiness you sought to medicate it with money and all the other addictions. Myself, I tried them all:  sex, drugs, Rock and Roll, chocolates (oh the chocolates!), cigarettes (badly), alcohol to excess, relationships, control, manipulation, extreme sports, golf and of course work and ego, even though I advocate some of such things in these pages.

Happiness depends upon ourselves

Aristotle

Discovering the happiness inside and the subsequent liberation from fear and stress is the best boost for health and the best antidote to dis-ease, and though business comes with shells exploding across your bows every day, keeping in touch with this has been the key to my success in all its forms.

Balancing Obsession With life
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  • Take Away

    Things I know about happiness

  • Less is better for a happy life. Less possessions, less responsibility, less aspiration – it’s a paradox.

  • Not feeling happy is often a useful place to be.

  • To increase your happiness, do something for someone every day. If you tell anybody it doesn’t count.

  • If you were able to give up every addiction and live with yourself you would be on the right track.

  • Having lots of money is good because it teaches you that you don’t need an excess of it.

  • Very successful people give their money away.

  • More than money, having others on your side makes you feel secure.