Money & Jealousy – The unlearning for investing
Materialism has its nature of creating a craving for more. And that is how it makes us become susceptible to the trap of material possessions. However, if you really want to earn a lot of money and enjoy materialism, you need to unlearn a few things for investing. And one among such thing is the understanding of the relationship between money and jealousy. In this article, we discuss money & jealousy and proceed towards the unlearning required for successful investing.
The moment of comparison
Did you ever see anyone in your family, friends or relatives comparing the material possessions among each other? If yes, then that is what is jealousy, We may be subconscious or unconscious about it, but the fact is comparison is usually born out of the feeling of jealousy.
When we compare things, which are acquired by using money, we directly or indirectly compare the presence or absence of money. We hardly acknowledge this in the public domain. But the root cause of all problems begins with jealousy.
To overcome jealousy, we need to understand that while on one side having a lot of money solves a lot of problems, but on the other side it creates a lot others if there is a presence of comparison or jealousy in the background.
Such is the nature of money.
The want of money
Nobody is born with a want to be rich and possess a lot of money. People want to be happy, healthy and in a state of peace. However, money is needed for survival in the modern world driven by consumerism. (Read more about this in our article on Money & Emotions for Investments.) Beyond survival and basic needs, there is a limited role of money.
But it gains importance because of our want for material possessions. And it does not stop here. Once started, everyone wants to be richer than someone else. Most of the time the root cause, of this feeling of wanting more, springs out of jealousy.
This is where the rat race of the masses start. The more you run towards money, the more you need to run harder if there is comparison & jealousy. The want of money for wrong reasons deviates us from being happy.
Check out this wonderful quote about the nature of money. Money is actually just numbers to procure material possessions and the nature of numbers is that they never end. Thus, seeking happiness in money is futile. It is not the nature of money to provide you happiness.
Consequences of Money & Jealousy
There are two main problems that arise out of a combination of money and jealousy.
The first is that it prevents you from keeping content. No matter what you have in terms of material possessions, someone in the world you come across would have something better. In the absence of contentment, mind wanders in the chase for wanting more money.
The second problem is it changes our real needs and wants in life. In the race for money, we tend to deviate from our natural self and tend towards adapting our thoughts, behavior & attitude. This impacts our relationships as well as the peace of mind. If we look around our house, we would find plenty of things which have been rarely used.
There are so many things which are procured and then forgotten about. Most of these material possessions are bought on the basis of comparison with others or for conforming to others opinions.
At times, things are bought for an ongoing fashion, fad or mass belief. As soon as the trend changes these possessions lose their significance and we are set to procure something trendy.
Money & Jealousy – The unlearning for investing
With the context above, moving towards investing is like leveraging money to create more money.
Having the technical understanding of financial investments is just one side of the coin. Most often, investment portfolios are destroyed due to comparison with others or for the want of quick material possessions. If the root cause of money creation is not in line with the nature of money, then investing it wont seek the desired results.
To succeed with investing, one needs to overcome the feeling of jealousy. We need to stop counting and comparing the material possessions with others. This brings peace, serenity and the right mindset to create wealth for the right purpose.
The wealth which cannot be rightly enjoyed is difficult to be created as well as sustained.
For example – if you are planning to invest in stocks, you may learn about fundamental analysis, you may get into the depth of technical analysis and be abreast with all the stock specific & sector related news, but in the end you miss hitting a multi-bagger.
You need to be in-line with the nature of money to identify the opportunities & hold on to them to build wealth. This requires inner calm, patience and a healthy mindset. If your life is corrupted directly or indirectly by emotions like jealousy, you may find it really difficult to create wealth.
Align your life with the mindset to seek happiness & security in your relationships and your own self. This mindset creates the space for being rightly aligned with money and enjoying the material wealth. Stop wanting money for conforming to others opinions.
Seeking money for right reasons gives you the opportunity to build wealth. Acknowledging what you really value in life and working towards it with devotion paves the way to earn a lot of money.
Footnotes
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If you liked reading this, you may like reading through a different way starting with investments. To know more about the how India invests & investment options like equity, mutual funds, debt – check our post on “How to start investing“and “A Wealth Snapshot of India“
In addition to the above, you may also want to check about our post on Money & Emotions for investments. It delves deeper into the mindset you need to adopt for building wealth through financial investments.
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