Pleasures have a lot to do with wealth....

Pleasure is of course great in nearly all of its guises- at least for a while.

O.D. on it however and it loses its 'high'. Pleasure is part of the human condition that science has identified that drives most of our spending decisions after the basics have been sated. In the 1950's advertising agencies stumbled upon this, and to this day it drives most consumption (spending).

Think of 'Pleasure' as a sugar-high. Very high, but short-lived, expensive and leaves you feeling kinda unsatisfied; until the next one of course, and you’re hooked!

Not you I hear you say? How many homes have you had? Cars, jackets, phones, laptops, shirts, lounge suites, handbags, renovations, sports toys, habitual dinning out, the best guitar, best surfboard, shoes etc. The repetitive purchasing of stuff to ‘make me feel good’.

It’s what creates the Urban Hamster Wheel (see my last missive).

There’s nothing wrong with Pleasures per se. In fact as humans we need pleasures; but when you constantly feel the need to buy the latest one for some jacked-up B.S. reason it’s also a wealth problem.

It is a problem because funds that would otherwise be building and retaining your wealth have been diverted to the pockets of scores of strangers own wealth creation goals, and not yours.

Gratifications; that slow-burn energy cereal sitting right alongside ‘Pleasures’ - the other base driver of the human condition. This one isn’t based on consumption however. It’s not about having ‘things’ or being ‘seen to have them’ but being submersed in something personally.

It just so happens 99% of these don’t involve much money and nor can marketers use it anywhere near as effectively as Pleasures.

A gratification can be a past-time; hours spent tinkering away or focused on something in the moment, yet it felt like minutes. After finishing you feel calm, centred and relaxed. You feel good. You feel satisfied. For instance; a hobby, surfing, time with the grandkids, baking, your guitar…the list is endless.

Sabotage: Wealth creation aims will always be sabotaged unless you re-establish your mix of both. This enables you to delay gratification that detracts from your wealth without a feeling of missing out or emptiness in not having the latest ‘thing’. Money gets a chance to thrive under your ownership. Status loses its lustre to bigger priorities. Life gets more fulfilling. The scene is now set for building wealth and retaining it far beyond what you might imagine.

So if you are serious about wealth creation you need to get this mix right. There are countless wankas in cities with flash cars, the latest laptop, suit or handbag - living in an over-sized renovated house, dining in the latest restaurant pretending to be happy; pretending to be wealthy. They are not. Almost every one of them is on an Urban Hamster Wheel.

This is why otherwise rational, intelligent, hard-working likeable people with access and opportunity to creating independence from wealth- are not.