One Thought

Money is one measure of success, though it’s certainly not the only one–there are many measures. People seem to get fixated on money, though.  Why so much focus on money? I think, simply put, only because it is so easily measurable.

Besides money, success can be measured in terms of love, respect, creative output, quality and quantity of impact, and so on. Unlike money, none of these is objectively quantifiable. If I have $N and you have $2N, in money terms you’re more successful than me. This is obvious and can’t be debated. On the other hand, say I run an Italian restaurant, and you write romance novels. Who is more loved and respected? Who brings more value to the world? It’s much harder to say.

I don’t mean that love, respect, and creative output can’t be compared. They can–at least to a degree. However, the comparison can’t be done numerically. I can’t compare my respect number to your respect number. We may agree that you are more respected than me, but this judgment is not based on a concrete figure. There is no objective quantity to turn to.

I can think of two reasons people focus on money. First, it is almost universally thought to be important–everyone needs money to survive, after all. Because of its necessity, money holds at least some value to almost everyone. Love and respect are also this way. Donkey Kong scores are not, which is why only a small group values them as an indicator of success.

Second, money is easily measurable. I know exactly how much I have, you know exactly how much you have, and we know that more is better. If given the choice between more money and less money, I will take more. While larger quantities of love and respect are preferable as well, they can be measured much less easily. Money wins simply because it can be represented as a number. People want a clear goal with a clear measure. They want to know when they are more successful, and a number provides this certainty.

More-intangible measures of success are not ignored.  In fact, they are the driving forces behind much of human effort. Love and respect are extremely important to most people. Money is more of a second-order concern–people seek it out as a means of fulfilling their more basic desires. Because of people’s bias toward the quantifiable, money receives undue attention, however. When a second-order desire (for money) does not satiate more basic desires (for love and respect), things can get ugly.  As the cliche goes, money doesn’t buy happiness.  And, in fact, its pursuit is often counterproductive.  It’s never a good idea to focus on a means rather than on an end.

If you are competitive, know that money is only one measure of success–and not a very important one at that. If you focus too much on money, you’ll miss out on the more-meaningful measures of success. You’ll know in your gut that you have missed out, no matter how much you try to deny it. Don’t fall into the money trap.