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The Purpose Of Life Is Not Happiness: It’s Usefulness
For the longest time, I believed that there’s only one purpose of life: And that is to be happy.
Right? Why else go through all the pain and hardship? It’s to achieve happiness in some way.
And I’m not the only person who believed that. In fact, if you look around you, most people are pursuing happiness in their lives.
That’s why we collectively buy shit we don’t need, go to bed with people we don’t love and try to work hard to get the approval of people we don’t like.
Why We Need Purpose
Why do we need purpose? The German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, wrote this in his book, The Gay Science:
“Gradually, man has become a fantastic animal that has to fulfill one more condition of existence than any other animal: man has to believe, to know, from time to time why he exists; his race cannot flourish without a periodic trust in life–without faith in reason in life.”
When I read this for the first time, I finally understood why we need purpose.
Wise & Wealthy: The importance of purpose and passionately making money
Welcome to Wise & Wealthy: A weekly newsletter full of proven ideas to become smarter and wealthier. I send this every Monday.
#118 – April 1, 2024
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Wise: The need for purpose
The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote this in his book, The Gay Science, about purpose:
“Gradually, man has become a fantastic animal that has to fulfill one more condition of existence than any other animal: man has to believe, to know, from time to time why he exists; his race cannot flourish without a periodic trust in life–without faith in reason in life.”
Nietzche said that we need to have some kind of trust in life. Just surviving, eating, working, and procreating are not enough.
The purpose is the compass that guides us through life. It’s not about achieving grandiose goals or accumulating material wealth.
It’s about finding fulfillment in what we do and making a difference.
Wealthy: Making money from your passion
No matter what you want to do in your career, you must approach it as a business. And that’s true across the board, even if you want to help or entertain people.
The late singer and billionaire Jimmy Buffett said it best:
“If you’re an artist, if you want to have control of your life . . . then you gotta be a businessman, like it or not. So the businessman evolved out of being an artist.”
Aside from the money he made from his hit songs, Buffett built an empire of resorts, restaurants, and merchandise chains. Interestingly, Jimmy is not related to the investor Warren Buffett. But they were friends and sometimes referred to each other as “Uncle Warren” and “Cousin Jimmy.”
In my other new article, I share 5 steps you can take to earn a living by doing what you love.
↳ 5 Steps To Making Money From Your Passion
One interesting thing
The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung is a well-known figure in psychiatry, but at the time, it was not a given to go into his field. This is a quote from Jung: A Very Short Introduction that captures that moment:
“When Jung informed his tutors and fellow students that he proposed to specialize in psychiatry, they were shocked, for they felt he would be wasting his talents: psychiatry was the least respected specialty in medicine [at the time] and they believed Jung could have a promising future as a physician.”
Despite the doubters, Jung pursued his passion. His decision proved pivotal, significantly influencing psychiatry and impacting countless lives.
Jung’s journey underscores the value of trusting one’s instincts over following conventional paths.
Thanks for reading! I hope you found this edition of Wise & Wealthy useful.
All the best,
Darius
Join the 5-day Financial Freedom Challenge
I created a 5-day email course you can do alone or together with a group. It’s called the Financial Freedom Challenge. And it will help you to gain control over your finances.
Most people try to calculate their way out of poor finances. But money problems aren’t rational. They’re emotional. Manage your emotions well, and you’ll manage your finances better.
How to Unlock the Financial Freedom Challenge
You can join the challenge for free. For five days, you’ll receive a short email with a small challenge that inspires you to improve your relationship with money.
I highly recommend sharing it with your friends/family so you can go through the program together. It helps bring perspective. And it’s more fun that way too.
Join here for free: dariusforoux.com/financial-freedom
A Life of Pleasure: How to Enjoy Yourself Without Destroying Your Wealth
Stoicism has become a part of mainstream culture during the past decade. People realized that living on hedonism —always chasing after a life of pleasure and avoiding pain — doesn’t bring genuine happiness.
Hedonism can also be expensive. An overly luxurious lifestyle will destroy your wealth.
But even the ancient stoics didn’t believe in living like a monk. Seneca said it well in On The Happy Life:
“The wise man does not consider himself unworthy of any gifts from Fortune’s hands: he does not love wealth but he would rather have it; he does not admit into his heart but into his home; and what wealth is his he does not reject but keeps, wishing it to supply greater scope for him to practice his virtue.”