What will you choose, money or fulfillment?

I choose money, so I can have more freedom to experience fulfillment...

I would choose Fulfilment, because if I'm fulfilled, I must be happy with my situation, and therefore either a) Not need money, or B) Have money.

This post just makes me think of maslows hierarchy. Money is fun, but its not the only thing that brings fulfillment and its not really an either or scenario

I'd say both, what's fulfillment if you can't afford anything, and working for money but not feeling fulfilled is such a drag.

Thank you for wonderful answers guys


@Jason, So are you more into work hard now even if you don't like the work and then after you gain your target amount of money you quit what you're doing then enjoy the money? If yes, would love to hear more about how you can endure it and how long you achieved target that you put on yourself.


@ Anwii, does the fulfillment that you experienced last for long time? How if you stop feeling the same way like you started, how you manage it?


@NootropicBrain, have you achieved that state yet? What is your strategy to achieve it?


@Ayawa, how will you experience money if you already feel fulfilled?


@Jesse, if I'm not mistaken the top maslow hierarchy is self expression? is there any saying about the place of money on that hierarchy?


@Slade556, in ideal world both will be great how if you just started?


Cheers Guys!
Awan

I can see where people come from when they say money can't by happiness, but i just don't think I can agree. Sure, if you are kanye wests kid, he will grow up a millionaire and probably won't get happiness from it.

But me, and other people here probably started IM with nothing, we appreciate and respect money and what it can do, and the power it has. Money has made me feel fulfilled because I am living an awesome life, earn a sexy wage from the comfort of my laptop, I work 5 hours max per day, I travel the world and take my wage with me, I can afford things I want/need. I am exremely happy and satisfied, and that is directly because of money..

This may sound mean, I do not mean to be mean, but I think that the only people who think money won't bring happiness are people who don't have money, and likely never will. But if one of them wins the lotto,or inherits a large sum, or gets a CEO role with high pay ? Do you think they would change their tune? of course they would

I think a person should be able to make more beyond sustenance (if they choose to). I had to look that word up.

Money does not equal fulfillment but people come here to have some kind of experience and purpose in life.

How can they experience fulfillment in those areas with just enough money for sustenance?

So money clearly has a greater purpose than just the ability of buying stuff.

But I don't believe more money will come to that person unless they are full filled in a way by acceptance and gratitude for where they are right now.

Acceptance doesn't mean that they shouldn't work towards a better lifestyle with more money and freedom. It just means that they are not 'resisting' what is happening to them now.

I don't think I have to choose between money and fulfillment because they seem to work hand in hand with each other.

So I want BOTH.

If you want to enjoy life, focus on relationships and health once you make more than $75,000 a year.

But not before

Money can't but fulfillment that's for sure. I feel like fulfillment can be achieved without the monetary gain. I think its better to think money as a bonus for being successful and not to feel successful because of the money in return.

Who says you can't have them both?

Why do some people think so much in terms of black and white?

What it is better, being healthy or being rich?
What it is better, a good family or a good job?

Nobody said that these are not compatible. They are actually connected. You can use money to be more fulfilled. And they are not even in the same category, as money are a tool and fulfillment is a psychological state.

@QueenMelanie,
I also came from the same background from you. Not having much money and internet make it happen for me to work from home for the past 4 years, near the one that I love. However some of my friends that having the same background telling me that there are some occasion that money is not giving them satisfaction. Offcourse it give them comfort but then they're like craving something else outside of the money. Do you have any idea of this?


@Rory Singh,
Thank you for your beautiful description. Your words remind me of some saying that to be able to be in the state of flow we need a balance between "gratitude for now" and "vision of the future".


@Jasondinner,
When you achieved your target, then set new target, have you ever feel tired/bored of it?


@NootropicBrain,
Seems like you are ok and able to enjoy the fluctuation between fullfillment feeling and unfulfillment. It's a great way of life I must say


@JimsonWright,
Nice thought But how do you cope with the feeling sometime you you do "need" money?


@RogozRazvan,
Thank you for sharing another perspective onto the question. It's enlightening to see that it's in different category but connected to each other. May I know how you come up with that?


@All,
Thank you for the beautiful answers. You've enrich my soul with it. Hopefully someday you can visit my country and I'll buy you a drink

Cheers,
Awan

I would like to choose Fulfillment of Life, Because till now I never felt that I had good life. Then later, I choose money to save my family.

fulfillment, coz at that time i think will have money

@AwanR - money are something tangible. Fulfillment is not. You can't put them in the same class.

You can use money as fuel to achieve whatever goal you want. If fulfillment for you means getting rid of world hunger, then you can use money to do this. Or you can volunteer. Nobody said that money is the ONLY method.

This is why these type of questions are frowned upon, from a logical point of view. It is not something like "What do you prefer - planes or trains?". Each comes with cons and pros, they serve the same goal - transportation.

But MONEY are FULFILLMENT are not on the same page, not even in the same book. And most importantly, they are not mutually exclusive.

But to answer your question - if you have money, you can purchase fulfillment, even if it may be at a superficial level. If you have fulfillment, money may not be so important anymore but you can use them to maintain your conditions.

A better question, one that makes more sense would be:

"Would you sacrifice your happiness to have a lot of money? Or would you prefer to have a modest life, like the Dalai Lama, but never be financially successful?"

And this is better because it leads to value judgements. What is more important as a value - money or happiness. Some people prefer money. For example, if you've read Warren Buffet's biogprahy, you would see that he felt miserable for a large part of his life because he prefered money. His focus was never on what money could buy him but money as a goal in itself.

I admire him as an investor but I actually felt sorry for him when I've read The Snowball Effect. I was happy to have far less money but have someone who loves me and other passions in life instead of being on a crazy pursuit for a larger bank account.

On the other hand you have people like Richard Branson. While money is a goal in itself there too, he actually uses the money to be fulfilled. All those toys, private islands and daredevil experiences actually cost hard cold cash. I can say that he is in the middle.

And then you have people who actually like a modest and care-free life. They don't have a lot of money, but they can sustain themselves. Monks enter this category.

As far as this goes ...

Quote:
Money, beyond sustenance, is just a naive attempt at fulfillment. And work, at its best, is a valiant attempt to make an impact in what matters most to you...what matters even more to you than making more dollars.

With this logic, one could argue that wealth frees you up to work even more, for all the right reasons.

---

Everything could be said that is just a naive attempt at fulfillment. Love. Caring. Everything. But the beauty of life is that things are not black and white. Money is not positive or negative. Is a tool. You can use to make yourself miserable or you can use them to make yourself happy.

If life is a car, money are the fuel you put in the car, among others. Where you drive is your decision. You can take the decision to drive straight into a wall and kill yourself. This is when money is used to actually decrease the quality of your life. Or you can have the best voyage of your life. It is a choice.

And constructs like above can be used for anything. You can substitute money with any other tangible or non-tangible resource that exists.

I'm not saying the you don't need money. Its almost the same to my belief that money can buy happiness, but it can make sadness bearable. Money can't buy fulfillment but it can help you get there.

Here's a scenario:

You are broke and hurting because you are broke. You live in the USA with your spouse and 3 children ages 8-15. You have a job offer in Asia making $150,000 a year. Based on the cost of living you can send more than half of that back which is "enough" for your family (much more than you have now).

However the stipulation of the job is that because of your job duties, you may not return home and your family may not visit for the entire year. Will you take the job?

If you add another year to your contract with the same stipulation they will add a $50,000 bonus. Will you take the job?

If they offer more years with additional bonuses, how many years are you willing to completely be away from your family for the $$?

Mark

I'd choose fulfillment.

I've tried working for money and I've tried working for fulfillment. When I was working for money, it felt like work. When I worked for fulfillment, the money just flowed right in without me asking and it didn't feel like work.

Fulfillment is definitely my priority. Even though money is a big part of my fulfillment, if I'm fulfilled without it, that means I must be doing something right.