People who win the lottery only initially report themselves to be happier than before. This effect wears off latest after one year.
We are inefficient where our happiness is concerned! We put an emphasis upon product consumption, or rather the means of purchasing them, namely income or: Money. However, other factors would be ever more effective in our aim to lead a happy life.

Utility must not decrease

I was blogging earlier that money does matter, but only up to a certain surprisingly low level of income. Once we are beyond that, what else matters? Which factors show the strongest correlation with life satisfaction?
It is here that the good news come: These factors are inertly immaterial. It is things whose use, economist would say “marginal use” does not decline over time. Unlike chocolate or cars, where the first item increases your utility but the 30th has a utility of close to zero, activities you are passionate about or interaction with others do not wear off.
It is easy to see how this would decrease resource consumption.

Identity matters
Junko Edahiro with whom I led a fascinating interview earlier today (see below), mentions the Maslow's pyramid for an inquiry on human needs and factors influencing happiness. In general, an individual appraisal where the most influential factors on happiness are concerned is crucial she claims. She also calls for a focus on identity: Young people in Japan (and I claim elsewhere in the world as well) base their identity of what and how much they have rather than who they are. This is a philosophical/psychological issue and of the highest relevance in my opinion!

Did you notice?

It is fairly simple and maybe all of us have noticed this once in a while: Having dinner with friends in the evening, joining a choir, going for long walks in nature or having a fulfilling partnership do not wear off usually in the sense that after a while they do not matter do us anymore or even hurt us our others around us. Instead, I claim they give us a sense of fulfilment no life of luxury probably can in the long run.

Now I don’t mean to say that we can live of love and air. What we need in my opinion is a change of perspective. We need to focus on what really matters and treat the other factors (income etc…) as what they are: A means towards an end and not an end in itself!