Everyone desires to be wealthy. Wealth means a great amount, an
abundance or plenty. This state of being wealthy is what Abraham Maslow
calls a fulfillment of the self esteem and self actualization needs in
his hierarchy of needs. Because of this, psychologists have redefined
wealth as a state of abundance with happiness. Not everyone who is
wealthy is actually happy, in fact psychological research has shown that
depression is associated more with the wealthy people than the middle
or lower class people.
How can we avoid or reduce the depression associated with wealth?
The first step is to have a dream and work towards it. A sailor without a compass would lack direction. Your dream will guide you towards the hard work that you exert. At this point, let us note that it is important to work hard even when you’ve a dream because dreams only come through when we wake from sleep. One of my best hard work quotes is the line of Wiz Khalifa in his song work hard and play hard he said “go hard, make sure you do whatever it is that you’ve to do, that’s your job and people are gonna hate but that’s no problem”. The emphasis of hard work here is that as humans, whenever we remember our pain, we’re always happy with the gain, hence reducing/eliminating depression here.
The second step is never to take the glory of our hard work, rather let us give the glory to God almighty. Let us not look down on others who have less than we’ve because despite our hard work, there’s nothing that we’ve that is not a blessing from God. Giving God the glory will create satisfaction in our psyche rather than envy and greed that can lead to depression.
The third step is to use our wealth to touch the lives of others. Whatever we’ve is usless if others can’t benefit from us. One of my lecturers always say that he feels fulfilled whenever he sees his students reach higher places that he never reached. This point of using our wealth to touch the lives of others is what psychologist Erik Erikson (1968) calls “Generativity vs. Stagnation”. By sharing our wealth with the society, we’re fulfilling generativity but by enjoying alone, we’re fulfilling stagnation. Let us note that because we’re encouraged to share our wealth with others doesn’t mean that those others should be lazy and keep waiting for the wealthy to always share their plenty with them.
The fourth and final strategy is to discover what makes you happy as an individual. Discover that stimulus that creates a positive feeling within your psyche. This can be discovered through self monitoring or self assessment. But if you’ve any difficulty discovering this then you should consult your personal psychologist. The aim of discovering what makes you happy is to give you a sources from which you can tap happiness especially when depression comes knocking at the door. Let us try to discover as many sources as possible because if we discover one source and we keep tapping form that source, one day that source will be exhausted.
In the pursuit of wealth, let us be patient. This should be so because nothing good comes easy but in as much as you’re patient and you exert more energy then you’ll get it. This is why I love the popular Nigerian song by Dr Sid and Don Jazzy “Surulere”. Also, humility is another determinant factor. Psychologists always encourage us to discover what inspire and motivates us individually because different individuals have different stimuli inspiring and motivating them.
My dear readers, it is at this point that I will conclude by encouraging those that have not started dreaming and working to do so today while those that are already wealthy to follow the four strategies of reducing/eliminating depression associated with wealth. Try it!
How can we avoid or reduce the depression associated with wealth?
The first step is to have a dream and work towards it. A sailor without a compass would lack direction. Your dream will guide you towards the hard work that you exert. At this point, let us note that it is important to work hard even when you’ve a dream because dreams only come through when we wake from sleep. One of my best hard work quotes is the line of Wiz Khalifa in his song work hard and play hard he said “go hard, make sure you do whatever it is that you’ve to do, that’s your job and people are gonna hate but that’s no problem”. The emphasis of hard work here is that as humans, whenever we remember our pain, we’re always happy with the gain, hence reducing/eliminating depression here.
The second step is never to take the glory of our hard work, rather let us give the glory to God almighty. Let us not look down on others who have less than we’ve because despite our hard work, there’s nothing that we’ve that is not a blessing from God. Giving God the glory will create satisfaction in our psyche rather than envy and greed that can lead to depression.
The third step is to use our wealth to touch the lives of others. Whatever we’ve is usless if others can’t benefit from us. One of my lecturers always say that he feels fulfilled whenever he sees his students reach higher places that he never reached. This point of using our wealth to touch the lives of others is what psychologist Erik Erikson (1968) calls “Generativity vs. Stagnation”. By sharing our wealth with the society, we’re fulfilling generativity but by enjoying alone, we’re fulfilling stagnation. Let us note that because we’re encouraged to share our wealth with others doesn’t mean that those others should be lazy and keep waiting for the wealthy to always share their plenty with them.
The fourth and final strategy is to discover what makes you happy as an individual. Discover that stimulus that creates a positive feeling within your psyche. This can be discovered through self monitoring or self assessment. But if you’ve any difficulty discovering this then you should consult your personal psychologist. The aim of discovering what makes you happy is to give you a sources from which you can tap happiness especially when depression comes knocking at the door. Let us try to discover as many sources as possible because if we discover one source and we keep tapping form that source, one day that source will be exhausted.
In the pursuit of wealth, let us be patient. This should be so because nothing good comes easy but in as much as you’re patient and you exert more energy then you’ll get it. This is why I love the popular Nigerian song by Dr Sid and Don Jazzy “Surulere”. Also, humility is another determinant factor. Psychologists always encourage us to discover what inspire and motivates us individually because different individuals have different stimuli inspiring and motivating them.
My dear readers, it is at this point that I will conclude by encouraging those that have not started dreaming and working to do so today while those that are already wealthy to follow the four strategies of reducing/eliminating depression associated with wealth. Try it!
