The Truth About Happiness

A few weeks ago I accomplished something that I never thought possible, even in my wildest dreams. I sold a company for more than a billion dollars. I founded the company in question, Byte, just a few years ago. As a career entrepreneur I had founded and sold businesses before, but I had never experienced such incredible growth in such a short amount of time. I learned a lot throughout the process, but as the dust settles post-sale I find myself reflecting on one significant truth that I did not expect to uncover...a truth about happiness. 

I have been lucky enough to have spent the majority of my life as a happy guy. I have wonderful family, incredible friends, and an internal drive that keeps me pretty damn busy in my career. I enjoyed high school, college, and my first few jobs. As I progressed in my career, I expected my happiness to increase in proportion to my success. But when the deal on Byte closed and I realized that something that was nothing more than an idea in my head just a few years ago had sold at ten figures, no wave of elation hit me. Nothing really changed. I went home, hugged my family, sat down on my couch, and continued to live my life exactly the way I had lived it the day before. 

The incredible truth about happiness is that it is generally constant. I am happy today because I was happy yesterday, and if I was miserable yesterday I doubt that even a billion-dollar sale could have changed that. 

So stop chasing the next big win, stop expecting things to get better with each success, and stop pinning your happiness on a moving target. Or better yet, continue to chase the next big win, expect better of yourself, and master hitting those targets, but do not do it as a way to validate yourself. It will not work. 

Truly understanding that money does not buy happiness is like a superpower. It relieves you of all the anxiety surrounding whether or not your venture will work out because the truth is, success does not matter when it comes to personal happiness. You can reach a summit you never thought you would reach, and it will not change the way you feel about yourself. 

I once heard someone say that you had better like yourself because it is the longest relationship you will ever have. I would add that you had better work on your happiness now because it is not out there waiting for you under some billion-dollar rock. Trust me, I looked, and all I found was a mirror showing me who I have always been.