PSA: You can’t buy happiness online

A shift in perspective.

It’s easy to believe that as a whole, we are generally unhappy. People are in a competition to climb to the top. A race to success. Constant comparisons. We scroll through the highlights of each other’s days before even starting our own. One eye open, mindless double tapping. The modern pursuit of happiness.

While we’re scrolling, searching for happy, more often than not, we find someone selling it.

BUY THE NEVER BEFORE SEEN SECRETS TO MY OVERNIGHT SUCCESS.

IF YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY, BE LIKE ME. BE SUCCESSFUL. DO WHAT I DO.

LIMITED TIME OFFER. ACT NOW IF YOU WANT TO EMBRACE HAPPINESS.

I’ll tell you something right now. You can’t buy lasting success. You can’t buy your dream life.

You can’t buy happiness online.

Instead, you can buy tools to gain knowledge. You can search out new skills and inspiration. You can learn from the mistakes of others and use their experiences to create your own. You can foster genuine engagement and, eventually, you will realize that you are happy.

Happiness isn’t an end point. It’s not a place in time. There is no route from A to B to happy. It’s a learned perspective. A positive outlook on all that you have in your life.

My version of happiness includes freedom.

I built a career that allows for a life of freedom. I’m not where I want to be yet, but I do get to spend a lot of time running around my Rocky Mountain backyard. Realizing my goals and how far hard work has brought me has helped me adopt a consistent positive perspective. Even the worst days aren’t that bad if you learn how to be happy with where you are at.

As always, I want to remind you that this is only my story. If you are working on redefining happiness within yourself, I can’t find it for you. I can share insight, teach valuable skills, and consult. That’s all anyone can do. That won’t make you happy unless you do something with these pieces to create a complete whole on your own.

It’s time to realign with your core values.

If you want to build a life you love, start by prioritizing education, experiences, and skills. Invest in tools to help you grow. Read more. Laugh more than that. Practice what you enjoy. Make your hobby your career if it will truly fulfill you. If along the way you need a reminder of how far you’ve come, take a peek back at where you started.

I don’t know everything, but I do know you can’t buy happiness online. Success comes from desire, a fire, and a dash of good work ethics.

You can, however, buy gas to drive you to quiet spots away from the city, and books to read for the days you can’t physically escape. And if you’re anything like me, a full bookshelf and an afternoon outdoors makes embracing a positive perspective pretty easy.