People tell you, money doesn’t buy happiness.... So next time your friends or your co-workers tell you money doesn’t buy happiness, you can tell them what it does buy. It buys you your essentials. Your tools. And your future.

People tell you, money doesn’t buy happiness. But that one line alone doesn’t mean much. Money can’t help you get friends. It can’t help you find a wife or a husband. You can’t buy your way to a better body.

But what happens when you have no money? When you’re deep in debt. When you’re unemployed. When you can’t afford to give your family what they need. Now you see money in a different light. Money is insanely important. You can’t live in this world without it.

Have you ever been broke? Like flat broke. Eating cheap food. Not being able to do the things you want to do. Turning down opportunities because you just can’t afford it. Not having money limits your life.

So money doesn’t buy happiness, but poverty doesn’t either.

Making money is what drives us. That’s why we get up every day and go to our jobs. I don’t like money. I like the things money can buy. Healthy food, entertainment, education, a home. Money is just as important as oxygen, you need it to live.

So let’s get to the bottom line here, you need to work your ass off to make money. There’s no way you can live like a slacker. If you’re not working hard NOW then what are you waiting for? Waiting until your energy runs out at 45 years old? Or waiting for when you retire? Wouldn’t you rather hussle hard now while you’re young and then have a nest egg built up for the future. And then you won’t have to work so hard when you’re older because you’ll have a career and skills to get the job done.

In my life I’ve worked a lot. I’ve had day jobs, I’ve had night jobs, I’ve had side jobs, freelance jobs. You name it. For a few months I worked from 10am to 6pm during the day followed by a night job working from 7pm to 5am. That schedule doesn’t even logically work and you probably shouldn’t do what I did. But hard work is everything. Now I know what it means to earn a living.

The worst thing you could do is to squander your hard earned money. Especially after you’ve worked so hard to attain it. Don’t waste it. Spend at least a portion of your income on your future. Education, health, and possessions that have long term value. If you spend your money the right way, it will come back to you in multitudes. When you apply your earnings to important values like education and health, you don’t lose these things easily. It’s something that you keep with you for life.

Being focused on making money does not give you the right to be greedy. You have to give back to the world, but it’s a lot easier than you think. It could be donating a small percentage of your hard earned money to charity. It could be guiding someone who is in the same position that you were in. It could be leaving a legacy for your children. It’s really up to you to decide. Whether you believe in it or not karma is real. And now might not be the time to return the favor. But some day, you want to give back.

So next time your friends or your co-workers tell you money doesn’t buy happiness, you can tell them what it does buy. It buys you your essentials. Your tools. And your future.