Happiness Is Missing Something

I was listening to Ed Mylett’s podcast and he said something really interesting, that only a handful of people can truly relate with. He was talking about what it’s like making money, being successful, and arriving at the lifestyle you’ve always wanted for yourself:

“What would you do if you had all the time in the world to do whatever you wanted to do? You can only play so many golf courses. You can only sit on so many beaches. You can go to an incredible restaurant. And it’s going to make you very happy. But there will be a point where it’s just not enough to be happy. You’re going to want to be fulfilled.”

I like the contrast he presented. He started by saying that it’s nice to have nice things… But the allure of them wears off. Over time the experience becomes less rich and special, and it doesn’t have the same impact on you. That’s why he finishes saying that fulfillment is the ultimate thing we’re after, because it resonates at a more grounded and spiritual frequency.

It reminds me of the famous Jim Carey quote: “I wish everybody could get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer.”

David Brooks wrote a book about it called “The Second Mountain”. At first we climb the mountain of material wealth, accolades and achievement. And when we get there we realize it doesn’t feel as good as we thought it would at the top. It’s at that point we climb the second mountain where the priority is impact, contribution, and authenticity because that’s what truly meets our deepest human needs. It’s a predictable process - most people only know about the second mountain because they already climbed the first, and it wasn’t right.

If I’m being honest, I’m somewhere in between both mountains. On one hand I pour a significant amount of myself into impact projects, somewhat at the expense of my income potential. But on the other hand, I notice that I’m attracted to the idea of being influential and doing really big things. 

The story I choose to tell about it is that the influence and fame will serve in amplifying my ability to impact, and that it has good intentions, but there’s another part of me that wonders if it’s not about the impact, and it’s just my way of boosting my own self-image.

Life is tricky. We all want to be happy, fulfilled, and contributing. We want our existence to be purposeful. Yet at the same time, we’re all humans being biased by our own psychology, and the more aware of it we are, the better.

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