Can't buy me love-or happiness.

You’ve heard that old adage, “money can’t buy happiness,” more times than you care to remember. You believe it, really you do. Why then, do you feel like you’re always working overtime to get the raise, to buy the car, to fill the house with furniture, to get more toys and so on?

Will you ever actually be happy? No, and do you know why? Because no matter where you are, you’ll always be striving for that next level. It’s a trap, created mostly by the media, and the only solution is to stop getting caught.

If you want true happiness, change your thinking, which is a difficult thing to do in our money-driven world. Every day, remind yourself that people with lots of money are no happier than those without. Studies have proven it. Money might reduce some day-to-day stresses, but no amount of stuff is going to fill you up emotionally. Instead of dwelling on having more, focus your energy on things that really matter, like building relationships, setting and achieving personal goals or just being a compassionate human being. That’s what true happiness is made of. Not stuff.