Six Ways To Fix Your Money Mood

To conquer money stress, you have to change the way you think about money. Why is that so hard?

- Markham Heid

If you’re like the average guy, you’re probably worried about money right now. Not because you don’t have a roof over your head or food in your stomach or even a job to go to tomorrow – chances are you do – but because you’re an average guy. We worry about money. That’s what we do. That’s the conclusion of the Debtsafe’s Financial Reality Survey: 59 percent of South Africans say financial strain is a significant source of stress. While most guys likely assume these worries would fade if they could only add another zero or two to their bank balance, research suggests otherwise: a 2018 Purdue University study found that measures of happiness tend to plateau – or even fall – once a man’s annual income reaches the R1.1m to R1.8m range.

“The issue isn’t that we don’t have enough money– it’s how we think about money,” says Joshua Becker, author of The Minimalist Home. “We’re looking for money to provide us something it can’t provide.” If you’ve achieved financial stability, Becker says, there’s almost no evidence that increasing your income will lower your stress. You can blame a concept known as the hedonic treadmill.