#430 How To Live A Happy and Contented Life, Why Wealth Is Nothing To Do With Money & Why Hacks Don’t Work with Morgan Housel

When John D Rockefeller was asked how much money was enough, he famously replied, “Just a little bit more.” This quote is often used to illustrate our hard-to-shake view that money will solve all life’s problems. But as today’s guest is keen to point out, it probably won’t. Because life’s true riches don’t have a £-sign in front of them.

Today’s guest is the multi award-winning financial writer and bestselling author Morgan Housel. Morgan is a partner at The Collaborative Fund and a former columnist at The Wall Street Journal.

In his first book, The Psychology of Money, Morgan explains how doing well with finance is less about what you know and more about how you behave. This is an idea that I believe applies equally to health. That book became a global sensation and to date has sold over 4 million copies. And his second book, Same as Ever:Timeless Lessons on Risk, Opportunity and Living a Good Life has just come out.

Morgan explains that in finance, as in health, we generally don’t want to put in the hard work over the long term. We want shortcuts, secret hacks, silver bullets. Yet, he says, basic truths and principles remain the same as ever.

We also talk about the relationship between money and happiness, the relationship between our finances and our health, the real meaning of wealth and the importance of having a sense of control.

We discuss the problems with black and white thinking, the dangers of social comparison, the difference between success and happiness, and why we need to be careful about who we look up to.

At its core, this is a conversation about what it really means to live a happy and contented life.

There’s a quote from Lao Tzu, that I really like: “He who knows he has enough is rich.” It’s such simple yet profound advice. And it chimes with Morgan’s ultimate message, that whatever your current financial situation, what’s going to make you happy is probably not what you think.

This is a thought provoking conversation that I’m pretty sure will have you thinking deeply about your life.

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