Underwriting Happiness

^{The Weekly Habit}

^{Last week we asked our 1300+ audience about data privacy. This was a record turnout and it was almost a 4-way tie! ~76% of you selected (#1) you trust yourself, (#2) it won’t make a difference to care, or (#3) privacy isn’t a big deal. However, ~24% (#4) are confident data collectors will do the right thing.}

^{mOnEy DoEsN’t BuY hApPiNeSs}

A former client once said to me…

“Money doesn’t buy a happy life, but it does cover the expense for a jetski. Ever see someone frown on a jetski?”

Happiness Peaks At $75k?

In some way shape or form, you have likely heard of a foundational study conducted in 2010 from Daniel Kahneman. He infamously found that day to day happiness begins to peak at $75,000 (~$106,000 in today’s dollars) in gross annual income.

Happiness Peaks At $100k?

In contrast, a 2021 study by Matthew Killingsworth found a steady rise in happiness well beyond $75,000.

Kahneman & Killingsworth Combine Forces

To reconcile the differences, the two collaborated on a 2023 published study. Yet new findings suggest that, for most people, happiness does improve with higher earnings - up to $500,000 per year.

Adversarial Collaboration

Their study included 33,000+ working U.S. adults with median household incomes ($85,000).

To measure their happpiness, a smartphone app called Track Your Happiness (developed by Killingsworth) , asked participants to report on their feelings at random intervals of the day.

The Simplified Conclusion

If you’re miserable, more money won’t help. It won’t bring a loved one back from the grave or resolve emotional trauma.

Serious life events will overwhelm any improvement that money might bring, but for the most part, money can (positively) impact lifestyles like your community, vacations, education, or hobbies.

My Key Takeaway

It’s okay to seek higher income. There’s evidence to suggest it can positively impact your life, but it’s a contributor to happiness….not the universal solution.

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Question: What’s your time management routine?

Dustin P.

My three principles of time management: (1) simplicity, (2) honesty, and (3) organization.

(1) Every Monday morning I write my five goals down of the week and on Friday I review.

(2) I’m honest with myself. I have two speeds, on and off. There is no inbetween, so I build my schedule around that lifestyle and I don’t pretend that I can operate otherwise.

(2) I live and die by my work calendar. Everything from meetings, my commute, travel, bible study, workouts…my entire life is documented in my Google calendar. That way I always have some sort of consistency.

Jack Boudreau

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Thanks for reading, Habits fam. See you back here next week for more.

-JB

Got feedback? Hit reply and tell me what you think…I’m always looking to level up.