Success without Happiness is the ultimate failure. So how can you be happy on your way to success?

Everything is unfolding exactly as it should.

While many spiritual teachers are teaching the way to be happy, many business teachers are teaching how to become successful. While many spiritual teachers are broke, many people who are successful are unhappy.

In this article we are going to combine both worlds — just as a thought experiment. Question everything I say, think for yourself and make a decision if that is a way you wanna go. Enjoy.

The Way of Spiritual Teachers

Getting Happiness and thereby achieving success in life.

DETACHMENT. That is the one word that is written in capital letters when it comes to happiness in the spiritual world. The idea is that you are happy when you stop wanting that much from life. When we are present. When we stop racing. When we control our mind and focus.

Being happy is quite easy. You can be happy right now. Just sit down. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths. Start smiling. And remember a moment that makes you truly happy. Breathe into that feeling and smile more. Enjoy it.

That’s it. You are happy! You don’t have to do anything. Just sit there and meditate.

Why being happy isn’t everything.

However, I believe we aren’t on this earth just to be happy. Happiness and enjoying life is definitely a part of it. I believe that the other part is to engage with life.

While you can be happy by sitting in a cave, smiling for the rest of your life, I believe, that ultimately that would be a failure. I think your meaning of life can’t just be to sit alone in a cave — if taht yould be tha case, then there is no reason to be on this planet. Nobody will ever interact with you, you won‘t touch anybody’s life and you won‘t have contributed to the growth of this earth and society. This planet woudl be the same with our without you.

I believe that there is a reason why you are on this planet — and that reason is not just to eat, sleep and then, when you die, leave a piece of poop behind. I believe you are here to contribute and share.

That is where the conflict happens. Once you start doing something in this world, once you have a goal, once you care about something, you need to be attached to it. Right? Otherwise, if you just don’t care, why would you want to do that? Why would you spend the day on your laptop building a business if you could just sit at home, close your eyes and be happy?

What Business Gurus are Telling you

Success in life and thereby achieving happiness.

On the other hand, the business gurus are trying to show you a way to get to what you want (from the material world) as quickly as possible. They are saying stuff like „hustle, invest, go all in — you can eat sh*t for xxx years and survive on 8h of sleep“.

Well… maybe you can live like that, but is that healthy? Is that life?

Why are so many millionaires killing themselves? Because success without happiness is the ultimate failure. If you have made your 1 Million Euros (or Dollars) and you are still miserable, what do you do?

There is a saying that says:

Wherever you go there you are.

What it means is that, if you are feeling miserable, insecure and unhappy with yourself, no matter where you go, you will always be there. And your insecurities and misery will be with you.

So does success and hustling make you happy? Is that a strategy for the long term? Or is that just a short sprint and after a few years, you will find yourself catching your breath and talking to a doctor about your mental health. Also, what if you have hustled all your youth away and then it didn‘t work you? Does that mean you are a failure?

What I think. Bringing both worlds together.

Like everything in life, I believe here also we shouldn’t think that black and white. I believe the right balance is the ultimate formula for success.

Hussle hard. Go all in. Engage with life, embrace it. Make your live colourful. And yet… if it doesn‘t work out, don‘t care.

Be the most engaged, yet the least attached.

When you are doing a project give it 100% focus. 100% of your energy. 100% of your love. 100% of you. And yet, if it fails, don‘t be attached to it. Don‘t identify with it. Don‘t be like „I am a loose because my project failed.“

Life is complicated if you are trying to control it. Look at our planet. We are a spinning rock tumbling through the universe with a surreal speed, around a ball of fire. This earth is constantly changing. People are dying and getting born. The mountains are growing or shrinking. Trees are growing or getting cut down.

There is so much change and so many factors that are going into the success of your project — all you really can do is just giving it your best.

It‘s like growing a tree. Or a plant. You can plant the see into the best ground, give it the best sunlight and water, give it all your love. But if it doesn‘t grow then you shouldn’t say you are a loser — then you should just say „Interesting. It didn‘t grow…“ And look at it. And learn from it.

So to go back to my claim in the headline. One sentence:

Be the most engaged, yet the least attached.

Always learn. Always adjust. Engage with life. Know that everything is unfolding exactly as it should. Be the most engaged, yet the lease attached.

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I would love to read your thought about this in the comments and if you want more context like this — I kinda wrote this as a reminder to myself but thought you might enjoy it as well :-) All the best!