Enjoy the wait
The fourth principle that we will explore from Sonja Lyubomirsky's The Myths of Happiness is this:
Spend money now to enjoy something in the future.
Research confirms that anticipating a pleasant or happy event brings us joy.
We have probably experienced this ourselves, when we book a summer holiday, for example. The planning, the dreaming and the talking about sunny days on the beach and starlit nights bring us much pleasure and enjoyment long before the event actually takes place.
Now before we all go and look for that super once in a lifetime trip, a quick word of caution: the results of happiness research favour "the ordinary over the intense".
In other words, we get more "bang for our buck", so to speak, if we spend our money on many small pleasures rather than a few big ones.
So instead of spending our life savings on that one fantastic trip, we would be better off planning small but regular get-aways or outings with the family. Or even planning a free picnic to the local park :)
Join our blog!
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.
Don't worry, your information will not be shared.