Heres James Harden pic from yestrerdays press conference after beating one of the best teams in NBA in the most important game of the season performing on a top level...



He is earning 20 million dolars annualy, have innumerable options with any chick he wants, yet this is clearly not visible on his face and body language....

is there a greater testimony that money and sucess, with women and in general, cant bring you hapiness?

_________________

It depends what sort of success it is. I know what I want from life; I've got career goals, I've got family goals, I've got "experience" goals (in terms of places I want to visit, things I want to try etc.) Having success at meeting those goals has already brought me a level of happiness and will continue to do so as I tick more off.

But if you're defining "success" by the standards of other people or society then no, it won't bring you happiness.

As for women in general, I don't approach pick up as something to measure success by. I approach it on the same basis as I do playing or watching football; it is something I enjoy so I want to do more of it. I like playing footy, I like having sex. I train hard to get into shape to play football, I pick up girls to have sex. It's all about fun not about success.

Of course, a lot of people would say that "fun" is the ultimate measure of success. If you're on your death bed with lots of money but memories only of an office, have you succeeded at life as much as someone who is on their death bed with less money but thousands of fun memories?

But money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver. It will give you the means for the satisfaction of your desires, but it will not provide you with desires. Money is the scourge of the men who attempt to reverse the law of causality – the men who seek to replace the mind by seizing the products of the mind.

"Money will not purchase happiness for the man who has no concept of what he wants; money will not give him a code of values, if he's evaded the knowledge of what to value, and it will not provide him with a purpose, if he's evaded the choice of what to seek. Money will not buy intelligence for the fool, or admiration for the coward, or respect for the incompetent. The man who attempts to purchase the brains of his superiors to serve him, with his money replacing his judgment, ends up by becoming the victim of his inferiors. The men of intelligence desert him, but the cheats and the frauds come flocking to him, drawn by a law which he has not discovered: that no man may be smaller than his money.

The verdict which you pronounce upon the source of your livelihood is the verdict you pronounce upon your life. If the source is corrupt, you have damned your own existence. Did you get your money by fraud? By pandering to men's vices or men's stupidity? By catering to fools, in the hope of getting more than your ability deserves? By lowering your standards? By doing work you despise for purchasers you scorn? If so, then your money will not give you a moment's or a penny's worth of joy. Then all the things you buy will become, not a tribute to you, but a reproach; not an achievement, but a reminder of shame. Then you'll scream that money is evil. Evil, because it would not pinch-hit for your self-respect? Evil, because it would not let you enjoy your depravity? Is this the root of your hatred of money?

"Money will always remain an effect and refuse to replace you as the cause. Money is the product of virtue, but it will not give you virtue and it will not redeem your vices. Money will not give you the unearned, neither in matter nor in spirit.

_________________
Stock guide - Invest your money!

Who pays for the date?

Seems to me you are jumping to conclusions here...

1. Are you sure hapiness equals to satisfaction of desires? if yes , explain how...

2. Are you sure our desires can be achived using money as a tool?

3. Money is a recent invention...what about people living in a jungle? with no money? can they not be happy?

_________________

Interesting questions NamelessHero, not addressed to me but I quite like such topics so will offer a response if you don't mind.

I think there are levels of desire. First and foremost is the natural desire for survival - eating, drinking, safety and reproduction. Second are knowledge desires - all animals are curious, they investigate, they are curious, but to differing degrees, they usually don't let their curiosity get in the way of their natural desires. Although sometimes they do - hence the phrase "curiosity killed the cat". Finally, are other desires which are common only really to humans, and usually only humans in developed well off countries. These are things like having a nice car, having a big house, TV, skybox etc. etc.

Only the first set of natural desires are truly necessary for happiness. That's why you see some of the poorest people in the world being some of the happiest people in the world, as long as they've just about got enough to survive and bring up their kids. Similarly, if a rich person loses their child, they are distraught regardless of how much money they've got.

However, when you get into a position of safety your knowledge desires grow. For the majority of people in developed countries, we're all well off. Even those who are on minimum wage and live in small crowded apartment blocks etc. have got a roof over their head, food and water. That's better off than plenty of people in Africa and other non-developed areas of the world. When we get to that level, our happiness isn't just about survival, it's also about quenching our thirst for knowledge. Now one person's knowledge desires can be totally different to others - but we all have interests that we enjoy. Anyone who is not battling for survival will need these sorts of interests to be happy.

The third lot is not important at all, ever. Money, cars, houses. They aren't interests that pique our desire for knowledge, they don't help our survival any more than a smaller house or cheaper car would do. Essentially they are 'showing off', they are superfluous to our needs.

So to answer question 2; money is important in that it is our best way of meeting survival needs in our communities. (If you put us on a desert island then we would need other things to survive, but where we currently live, money is the main path to survival.) Given that we've got our survival sorted, a little bit of extra cash for things that pique our interests is also important - enough to join sports clubs or visit places/things we want to see, etc. This level of money is not much; you can be very 'poor' by UK/US standards and still fulfill these two levels of desire. Any more money than that is getting into the third category of desires which I do not think improve happiness whatsoever.

7k thnks for the comments...nice little analysis...sounds nice however i am not sure it is correct however cant exactly point my finder right now to what is perhaps missing or misdirecting...

btw have you ever been to africa?
btw heres another interesting picture and hapiness perspective, where more money is less hapines and less money more hapiness... this will add some three-dimensionality to the discussion...
Would you rather be a kid on the first pic or the second?
Sure enough peope on the 1st picture have more money but i dont think they are more happy if happy at all..
1.


2.

_________________

It is fantastic that you put a photo of Derek Sivers on this post. Such an awesome guy who sold his company for $22 million and is now choosing to live the rest of his life outside of America. Legend.

For my 2 cents worth, I think Tim Ferriss says it best when he says that excitement is a better synonym for happiness. Having built my own lifestyle business and started earning more money then ever before, I have actually started spending a lot less.

I don't have a car. I don't desire one. I rent a house with friends and I am happier then I have ever been. Having said that, if I don't challenge myself weekly to fortnightly I feel I get into a rut.

Money is just a tool. Something that humans have created. Something to swap for experiences. The more creative you are and the more value you give to the world however, the less money you tend to need. ie. Rich people get everything for free.

Cheers, Jack.

_________________
Be the best you can be!

Check out my Routines app at the link below:

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/the-pla ... 22532?mt=8

nice thinking jack...hehe sivers and ferris are also 2 of my heroes...visit
My heroes gallery

my-heroes-gallery-vt160961.html

_________________

Nice namelesshero.

Jim Rohn also a guy I look up to.

_________________
Be the best you can be!

Check out my Routines app at the link below:

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/the-pla ... 22532?mt=8

I chose to move to a city (Austin TX) where your weekends feel like vacation. You can have lots of fun for cheap! I can go to beautiful beaches, trails, caves, fancy restaurants or cool hippie food trucks, epic cultural festivals or vibe at a nice night club and all within 30 min of the other. I make sure only to keep good company around me, not just beautiful women, but thoughtful creative folks. I love nature and I love good friends and this is all I need on a weekly basis and my ego will stay in check.

Its those folks who are so busy obsessing over money and big time-consuming goals that never get a chance to slow down and experience, appreciate. They see the horizon yet when they get there the horizon has moved further back. What do they do? They idiotically chase it, all the while becoming exhausted like in that picture of the basketball player. When you have something good, linger on it. As an artiest, a lover of all the arts, even martial arts, I know it's key for a man to be balanced, feminine as well as a masculine go-getter. Balance yin and yang. Know when to stop and enjoy what you have. Love your body, eat healthy, drink lots of water, do all those things nature intended, obey the cycles, be in touch and all will feel more correct. I do and I feel 100% 90% of the time. Lmao
This is my experience, but you can also realize that its who you become on your journey in life that matters, not what you achieve.

_________________
Bon Temps

nice comment gemini thnx...

_________________