Will Money Make You Happier?

Hi friend,

Quick question (and answer with your gut and without judgment): Does money make you happier?

According to research, after around $75,000, research shows that money doesn't make you that much happier. However, I know that I want more than $75,000 and I bet that if I gave you $10,000 right now, you'd be thrilled!

See, we want money, but most of us have a love/hate relationship with it:

• You need it to live, so it's holding you back from starting your dream business.
• You're thrilled to get new Jimmy Choos, but hate paying your credit card bill.
• You're dying to go to Paris, but feel guilty spending the money.

Recently, a woman emailed me that she NEEDED to come on one of my retreats. She has been in a horrible relationship, she's stressed from her new boss, and she has completely lost herself since becoming a mom. However, she said she couldn't afford it. When probing, it turns out that she has money to go out to lunch every day (because she has no time to pack it!), for fast food a couple times a week, and for a gym membership she never uses. Money isn't her issue – self-love is. But she blames money rather than realizing how easy it is to shift how she spends it and to make more! (More on that below.)

For years, I had a love/hate relationship with money. I secretly wanted it, but told other people that I didn't because I thought that money was dirty. It made people snotty and gross and I would rather do GOOD in the world than do WELL financially.

What a ridiculous statement! As if I can't both do well and do good!!

I needed to change my “money story”: The narrative you've created around money that lies deep in your subconscious. It tells you that there isn't enough of it, that making money is hard, that rich people are obnoxious like your Uncle Jim, and that money is for other people.

Whatever your story, it isn't your fault. You learned your story from your parents, grandparents, church, community, television, etc. My dad said that money didn't grow on trees (yes it does – it's paper!!), my grandparents saved tea bags so I learned that money is sparse, yet I grew up in a ridiculously wealthy area where kids drove their BMWs to school so I felt “less than” around them. (No wonder I had a messed up money story!)

The key for money happiness to is to become friends with it, and here's how (I've bolded my faves):

1. Change your money story: Identify your old narrative, check it out for accuracy and then change your story to a new one of abundance. For instance, is it true that money is sparse? No – there is enough money to feed the world; it just needs to be distributed differently!
2. See money as energy exchange: Money helps you buy what you want; your current job is the first investor in your new business; realize that your contribution to society is worthy of great contribution back.
3. Be grateful to money: Gratitude tells the brain (and the universe) what you want more of, so…Before you eat your steak dinner, be grateful for the abundance to afford it, be grateful when paying your bills for your clean water and gas stove, be grateful when paying your taxes for the firemen and police and roads and schools that they build. Positivity begets positivity.
4. Use your money intentionally. Think about how much money you BLOW and have no idea where it went. A glass of Cabernet here, a few Starbucks coffees there, that shirt with the tags still on from 2016… YOU ALWAYS HAVE MONEY FOR WHAT YOU NEED AND WANT. That is a universal law. So if you feel like you don't have money, think about what you want and spend there.
5. Make money PURPOSEFUL: You were born with a specific purpose on earth. You're here to use your unique gifts to make the world a better place. Know that the Universe wants you to live your purpose, so be clear about what that is, how abundance can help, and believe it's coming.
6. Have an abundance mindset. See abundance in everything you own, every little gift that comes your way, and every rose that's in full bloom. A positive healthy mindset matters!
7. Use your money to buy EXPERIENCES. Research is really clear about this one. Experiences give us lasting memories so every time you look at your Snapfish book, the money keeps paying off in more appiness! Plus, planning experiences, like vacations, give us happy anticipation, which researchers show
    further elongates the happiness! And, experiences are often with people you like, so that heightens your happiness even more. Spending money on experiences literally makes your dollar stretch into more happiness!

The most important thing is to KNOW WHY YOU WANT MONEY! Not just “I want it” – that won't make you happier! But, that trip to Miami with Carin and Taylor will transform my life! Or, starting my own business will give me freedom! That's how to set your mind and the energy in motion!

And here's the best part: Abundance IS everywhere. Below are 10 things you can do RIGHT NOW to make more money. If Jim Carrey can go from growing up in a trailer to making people laugh all over the world, you can make money for your dreams, too! Here are a few quick ways to bring in money TOMORROW!

1. Sell something on eBay. I'm sure your house is LOADED with stuff other people would love.
2. Put flyers in mailboxes offering to mow lawns. Cha-ching!
3. Offer to babysit your neighbor's kids. ($10-$15/hour!)
4. Get crafty and make something that you can sell for fun on Etsy.
5. Have a bake sale or lemonade stand outside of your home. Mmmm!
6. Host a garage sale.
7. Ask your neighbors to host a garage sale and offer to market it for a small % of their earnings.
8. Get a “side hustle” going – a part-time job or part-time entrepreneurial start-up where you sell your talent on sites like Fiverr, UpWork, or TaskRabbit. (Do you know someone will pay you to pick up their dry cleaning??!)
9. Become an Amazon affiliate and make money every time you recommend a product to someone else and they buy it!
10. Set up a KickStarter campaign! I've had people pay for their classes with me using KickStarter because their happiness and them living their purpose will improve others' lives! So others said, “Yes, I'm down to make your dreams come true!”

Like I always say, everything is possible. You just have to get clear about why you want it, excited for it to happen, and believe in yourself so much that you're willing to make yourself get creative, vulnerable, and persistent for it. That's how I created this business and if I can do it, so can you!

And PS – if you want ONE OF THE BEST EXPERIENCES OF YOUR LIFE – one that will pay Happiness dividends for years, join me and Taylor Strecker of SiriusXM for the Goddess Girls Retreat Aug. 4 – 6 in South Beach. You will awaken your true heart's true desires, learn tools to change your “story,” and walk away with confidence and clarity to create a life you love. Click here for more information. We only have a few spots left, so if this interests you, click here to join now!

With so much love,
Carin