Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness, But Happiness Might Buy Money: 3 Ways to Be Happy and Prosper

You may have heard the phrase “Do what you love, and the money will follow.” 

Of course, when you are in a job that you hate or are just barely struggling to keep food on the table, this seems like an impossibility. How in the world are you supposed to do what you love, when you would risk everything to do so? After all, you have so little now!  

I know it is scary, but there are ways to make a transition to loving your work and making more money an easy and painless process.  

A major roadblock to doing what you love is the common belief that work should be hard and dissatisfying. After all, if you hate your job, it makes it okay to be paid well for it, right?  

Wrong. You can love your work and make a good living doing so—in fact, you should be doing this. Best of all, you can start this process now with your current job, and then allow yourself to easily flow into a new job, if that is what you desire. 

To do so, follow these 3 steps:

1. Imagine the kind of day you would like to have. 

First, start to see your current job as what you make of it. 

Do you go to work each day expecting to have an awful day with a terrible boss and horrible customers? Most of us do, but this is obviously not going to create a job that is even mildly enjoyable for you. Instead, I would like you to use visualization each morning to imagine the kind of day that you would like to have. Imagine what the day would be like if you had an absolutely amazing, fulfilling day.  

How different do you feel at that moment, in that kind of day, than you normally do? Connect with this positive feeling, and stay with it all day.  

If you begin to find yourself falling back into your old way of feeling about work, take a minute or two to close your eyes and reconnect with the positive feeling. You will be literally amazed at how much better your day will be if you begin to cultivate this little practice each morning. You might just find that while it may not be the job of your dreams, it is a job that you can enjoy.   

2. Create the positive work (and money) experience you desire. 

Now that you have a positive feeling about work, begin to take a real look at your options with this particular job, and what you truly want to do in life. To your surprise, you may have found that when you change your expectations about your current job, you actually have such a positive experience during work that you truly do love it. If so, you can make the decision to stay—you are in a good situation that is fulfilling to you. You will likely begin to have more and more positive experiences that will bring you all that you desire from your work, including more money and even promotions, if that is what you desire. 

However, you may have found that this job just truly does not fit either who you are as a human being, or your dreams and desires for yourself. By observing this job from a new attitude, you may have realized that you are compromising yourself and your beliefs by doing the work that you do. At this point, it is time to leave this job. Remember, if you live to 80 years of age, you only live 29,200 days. Why waste any more of them in a job that you hate? 

Of course, you certainly can make the decision to stay, but you will likely be doing so out of fear or obligation, and that will repetitively send a signal to your mind that you are expecting more of the same—and more of the same will flow to you, depleting both your energy and your creative self. 

You truly do deserve better. I know that the immediate response might be fear—fear of the unknown, fear of how to get a better job, fear of the effect that this decision will have on others. Just put that aside for a moment. 

Ask yourself: What kind of job have you always dreamed of? What kind of job has called to you? What do you love doing? Put together a clear picture of what you think that you would like to do for work. Just like creating a perfect partner, write down a list of what would make a perfect job for you, and believe that you can bring that job into being. As always, refuse to settle for less than what you truly desire. 

How would you feel each day if you had a job that fulfilled you like this? Connect with that feeling, and know that a job matching this feeling is flowing to you now, and with it, all the money that you desire.   

3.  Take action to make your dream a reality. 

Visualization and meditation is a wonderful tool to connect you with the job - and prosperity - of your dreams, but do remember that you also need to take action to create opportunities for yourself as well. Reach out to people that might be able to help you. Research job openings. Apply for work. Begin writing your book or creating that business if that’s what you dream of.  

Whatever it is, get going. I could dream of writing this article all day long, but without actually pulling out my computer and typing, it would not come into reality.

Align your thoughts, words, and actions to be happy and prosperous!