Have you ever thought about the importance of investing in experiences in your life?
For most of us, money is a finite resource, yet economists agree that the important thing is not how much we receive each month, but how we manage it and, in particular, how we spend our money.
- In fact.
- Most of our income covers basic expenses.
- By saving a little.
- We save money to buy a new mobile phone.
- A TV with a larger screen or clothes on offer.
- Shopping always makes us a little happy.
- The downside is that this enthusiasm happens quickly.
“Don’t appreciate the money more or less than it’s worth, because he’s a good servant and a bad master. “- Alexander Dumas (son)?
There is an area of the economy called the “economy of happiness”. It measures, among other things, the relationship between income collected, expenses and the feeling of satisfaction in life. The researchers concluded, based on extensive evidence, that more money does not equate to more happiness. So where’s the secret to well-being?
Many people spend their extra money on items, make great sacrifices to get them: they reduce basic expenses and even borrow and pay high interest rates. a communication tool to become a status symbol.
There is fierce competition around many objects that have a certain halo of fetishes. In addition to the personal phone, there are also other electronic devices. Clothes and cars are also part of this logic. All these objects have a very strong and striking appearance. brand: you don’t have a car, but BMW, you don’t have a mobile phone, you have an iPhone.
Comparison with colleagues influences most of these purchases, you choose a particular brand or object to be equal to or better than someone you live with, these objects sometimes define the feeling of belonging to a group, but paradoxically, they also mark a tension. Objects, especially if they are luxury, seek to impose distances.
Happiness economists are convinced that investing in experiences generates much more satisfaction than spending money on objects.
Thomas Gilovich, professor of psychology at Cornell University, has studied the subject for several years and has discovered that people get used to objects with extreme ease, which shortly after their purchase become routine, with little appeal. get boring. Routine doesn’t help us be happy.
With experiments the exact opposite happens: when they are meaningful, gain value and intensify over time, experiences unern people. Two people may have the same iPhone, but that doesn’t mean they identify with each other; on the other hand, two philately fans feel close.
If you go shopping with someone you will not make a bond as close as if you were going to the cinema or traveling, in this case there will be no competition, but complicity and solidarity.
We are our experiences; and the experiences offered by an object are extremely limited. An object is unlikely to have the potential to poison us with happiness and make us feel fully. On the other hand, experiments do much more.
Even negative experiences, once treated, become ridiculous and even fun to tell friends. And positive ones are a real nutrient for emotional well-being. Years later, we keep remembering them and some of these wonderful emotions are felt again, don’t wear out over time. Time passes, things run out, but there are many stories to tell, good laughs, good experiences.
Each experience is unique, unlike serially produced objects. Even if we experience something similar again, it will never be the same again. Hence the value of experiments. There are liberating conversations that we will never forget, fantastic places that take us to the limit of surprise and admiration, the warmth of a dinner or a moment with friends is priceless, we are the sum of all our experiences.
If we want to be happier, it’s best to rethly how we use our resources, especially our money. By thinking less about objects and starting to invest in experiences, we may be able to find a safe path to happiness.