How money makes us happy, and why there is nothing wrong with that.

''money does not make you happy''

I remember my mom telling me this from a young age, and to a certain extent she is right . But, for me there is an ''If'' to this story. I (and most of you reading this) am part of a society which is built on money. I could sit here and romanticise the thought that you don't need money to have fun and be happy, but apart from ascetic monks I cannot think of anyone who could really be content longterm without any money. In fact, these monks even receive food and clothes in the form of donations from other people, who provide for them through money. My point is, money makes you survive, and as far as I am concerned, that makes me happy.

Survival has gotten a very different meaning in my society. You no longer have to worry about food and shelter if you live in the Netherlands, we have a pretty decent support system. So instead, survival has shifted towards reaching a certain status. Just the other day a fellow student of mine told me that she hopes she will ''survive'' her next exam. I am damn sure hoping I will survive this semester because it means that I will have reached a new checkpoint in life: being a university graduate. Getting here has cost me and the government heaps of money, because for the past 3 years, I have spent lots of time ''working'' on my medical degree. But as simply enrolling into a medical school does not make you a doctor, I have not been able to get paid for holding a scalpel in my hands, so for three years I have exchanged my time for a degree, and my next job will be spent exchanging time for money (and on paying back student loans, welp).

Now, many gurus will tell you that spending time for money is the worst thing you can do, and I agree. I agree because most people work a job that requires them to spend more than 40 hours a week trading time for money in order to survive. And as my 7 year old self once remarked: ''if we all spend 5 days a week of the 7 working, when do we have fun?''. I see it with my parents, and most of the other adults around me. And to be honest, it is not the life I want to be living. I want to spend 40+ hours a week, heck, even 80+ hours a week helping people, making videos, writing articles, and working a job that I love doing but don't HAVE TO BE DOING. Thats right, I don't want to have to work.

Most people I share this with end up criticising me for being spoiled. Because to most people, not wanting to work is some sign of childishness, ''if you dont work, you're lazy.'' or ''if you dont work, where will you get money to pay for everything?''. I am a strong believer that life is not intended to be spent working a job in order to survive. It is intended to do the things you are passionate about, whilst working on the things you love as much as possible. In my case, I will accomplish that lifestyle by letting money make me happy. Meaning: I will be making enough money to be free to do whatever I want, so I can work on the things that make me happy.

How will I make this happen? One of my strategies is making videos on Youtube on the things I enjoy reading and learning about. I love video editing and learning new things, and the best thing is that Youtube allows you to make money with these things I am passionate about! Win win win.

Till next time!

ps: two days ago I posted my fifth video on Youtube, which made it the fifth video posted in a row! One of my goals is to build a nice likeminded audience who enjoys discussing things like cryptocurrencies, financial freedom and becoming the best you can be. Feel free to join in on the conversation :).