I'm obsessing about money
In talking to one of my friends the other day I realized that I've been obsessing over money. I mean obsessing. Almost every waking moment lately I've been thinking about, how much I have, how much I can make with it, how I can make more. Where more is coming from, where/how I could lose it, etc. Note, I'm not thinking about spending money, all I'm thinking about is making, saving, and earning more with it. I think that's kind of crazy. Most people do the opposite.
I think I should take a month long money break. Not to go out and just spend frivolously, but to really just relax and stop thinking about it. Stop checking mint every day, stop looking at justthrive once a week. Don't look at my investments, don't do anything for one month. Maybe it will be like going cold turkey on a p0rn addiction. It might be difficult. Maybe I just need to distract myself with other things, like playing piano? Or maybe I should learn to juggle.
I know in my head that money isn't everything; it's not even what makes you happy. But some how I'm still obsessed with making more of it and finding new ways to make more of it. It's getting out of hand.
On a completely different side note, I think I'm sick b/c I feel like crap, my stomach hurts, my sinuses are stuck, and it's hard to move. Hopefully this goes away soon.
I think I should take a month long money break. Not to go out and just spend frivolously, but to really just relax and stop thinking about it. Stop checking mint every day, stop looking at justthrive once a week. Don't look at my investments, don't do anything for one month. Maybe it will be like going cold turkey on a p0rn addiction. It might be difficult. Maybe I just need to distract myself with other things, like playing piano? Or maybe I should learn to juggle.
I know in my head that money isn't everything; it's not even what makes you happy. But some how I'm still obsessed with making more of it and finding new ways to make more of it. It's getting out of hand.
On a completely different side note, I think I'm sick b/c I feel like crap, my stomach hurts, my sinuses are stuck, and it's hard to move. Hopefully this goes away soon.
Comments
If you look carefully at Thrive, you can actually see some of the places where we built it with this in mind. We wanted to find places to give positive feedback, so tried to keep our iconography light and warm-colored. The words we use try to be casual and understandable, because the biggest part of obsessing is the worry that you don't quite understand, and therefore might miss something.
This is actually one of the reasons that we try not to bombard people with too much financial information - there is some good psych evidence that shows that it produces the exact reaction that you're pointing out. "Knowing too much" is a very real thing.
Two months later: feeling better? What changed? What can we do to help people stay calm and non-obsessed?