Why doesn't success lead to happiness?

[actualizing25]

I don't understand why success doesnt lead to happiness. People are always saying (including Leo) that success won't make you happy. Why is that? If you look at successful musicians or actors you see that they are living their passion, they are creating their art, they are contribuitung to the world, they are helping millions of people with their art etc. And on top of that they make a lot of money and they get famous. Living your dream life and passionately working on your dream career seem to make these people happy. In the media you see these people and for me they really seem to be happy and fullfilled. So why do living your passion and as a consequence of that being successful not lead to happiness or on the opposite lead to misery?

Appreciate your answers.

[TripleFly]

Although I have my opinions and ideas about the subject. I think it's a very different type of happiness when you're walking in nature, and you see the greenery and bloom, and the sun, and the smell of grass, and before you notice you have this sense of ease. Sometimes a small smile breaks your face, not a smile that comes from a joke that is on cue! It's as if it's from nowhere and surprising you! And you know, that you can relax, let go, wind down, and just wonder where is all this goodness?

[fridjonk]

 

[Consept]

It's not that it doesn't make you happy it's just that if you're not happy and expect it to make you happy it won't. There are obviously many famous and rich people that have taken their lives, I don't need to mention all of them. If success and money was a universal thing that made everyone happy then that would never happen. The secret is acceptance and being OK with yourself regardless of where you are in life, this gives you an abundant mindset and means you're not looking for something to ease the internal, unaddressed pain that you feel. If you do things from abundance you may or may not get rich but you will be content regardless. 

Of course the only way to know for sure is to get rich yourself 

[universe]

How do you define success?

As @Consept said, if you expect happiness to be looming over the horizon and once you reach it you will finally live the good life - you will be disappointed.

[Nahm]

Happiness = now, no thing can lead to now. 

Contemplate what in your experience is as magical, unexplainable and ineffable as being you? 

Experience is just the icing on the cake. 

Comparing & contrasting the experience of being you with your experience of other people tends to draw out clarity here. 

[Moon]

3 hours ago, Consept said:

The secret is acceptance and being OK with yourself regardless of where you are in life, this gives you an abundant mindset and means you're not looking for something to ease the internal, unaddressed pain that you feel.

This. 

Success is never-ending, there is always more things to have or be.

If you sit down, visualize and FEEL as if you already have everything you've ever wanted (as ultimately you're chasing the feeling that success gives you), then you realize you're actually so happy in the present moment and you no longer "need" anything external. 

Happiness actually leads to success counter-intuitively 

[allislove]

@Moon well said 

[Nahm]

@Moon

Heck yes. I’d go so far as to say intuitively. 

[allislove]

@Nahm eventually this duality collapses  

But, hell, yes!! 

[Nahm]

@allislove ...”Duality” ?

???

[Consept]

36 minutes ago, Moon said:

Happiness actually leads to success counter-intuitively 

Exactly, this is hard to get accross to people but it's definitely true. I think the 'hustle culture' makes you think that you always got to be doing something or chasing something. 

Ultimately though happiness and contentment can only exist now 

[allislove]

@Nahm 

[Moon]

@allislove @Nahm ???

2 hours ago, Nahm said:

@Moon

Heck yes. I’d go so far as to say intuitively. 

Yess! As what I *really* mean is opposing the egoic/societal norm

 

2 hours ago, Consept said:

Exactly, this is hard to get accross to people but it's definitely true. I think the 'hustle culture' makes you think that you always got to be doing something or chasing something. 

Ultimately though happiness and contentment can only exist now 

Right! There's already so much beauty and abundance in the present

 

[Fadl]

On 1/9/2020 at 3:56 PM, actualizing25 said:

I don't understand why success doesnt lead to happiness.

Success is a part of the ego, the end of the ego is suffering.

[Thestarguitarist14]

Because when you have sex, make millions of dollars, win a race, win a super bowl, etc you just end up wanting more.  You are never satisfied.

[Byun Sean]

 

Success is a greater experience of life than we currently have right now *fill in the blank*. Our minds project what that means for us and is completely subjective and unique to every individual.

 but fundamentally, it is the nature of the human being to desire becoming something more than we already are.

 

Success doesn't lead to happiness because success doesn't end the constant seeking for a greater experience which is what causes us suffering and unhappiness.

 

Happiness on the other hand only happens when we stop seeking anything other than this moment. 

In fact if you are always accepting fully exactly what is happening right now, you can never be unhappy. 

 

This is all spiritual enlightenment means is the end of seeking.

 

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by Byun Sean

[hyruga]

It all depends on how you define your 'success'. And how fulfilled you are after achieving the success you wanted.

For example, someone's goal could be 1 million dollars and he is easily contented and he is very happy and fulfilled when he succeeded.

Another person's goal could also be 1 millions dollars but even achieving so,  he is constantly worried about where to get the next money.  Or he is angry he cannot repeat his success. He is not fulfilled in that sense.

[ajai]

On 01/09/2020 at 7:26 PM, actualizing25 said:

I don't understand why success doesnt lead to happiness. People are always saying (including Leo) that success won't make you happy. Why is that? If you look at successful musicians or actors you see that they are living their passion, they are creating their art, they are contribuitung to the world, they are helping millions of people with their art etc. And on top of that they make a lot of money and they get famous. Living your dream life and passionately working on your dream career seem to make these people happy. In the media you see these people and for me they really seem to be happy and fullfilled. So why do living your passion and as a consequence of that being successful not lead to happiness or on the opposite lead to misery?

Appreciate your answers.

In my opinion, a simple answer to this would be that money, praise, fame, success can satisfy your survival needs to some extent but these are certainly not an alternative to higher being needs such as emotional intelligence, peace of mind etcetra, happiness comes from knowledge of the self not from mere delusions of material world.

BEING NEEDS DEMANDS SERIOUS WORK AND NOT PLAY GAMES

Edited October 2, 2020 by ajai

[Someone here]

On 9/1/2020 at 4:56 PM, actualizing25 said:

I don't understand why success doesnt lead to happiness. People are always saying (including Leo) that success won't make you happy. Why is that? If you look at successful musicians or actors you see that they are living their passion, they are creating their art, they are contribuitung to the world, they are helping millions of people with their art etc. And on top of that they make a lot of money and they get famous. Living your dream life and passionately working on your dream career seem to make these people happy. In the media you see these people and for me they really seem to be happy and fullfilled. So why do living your passion and as a consequence of that being successful not lead to happiness or on the opposite lead to misery?

Appreciate your answers.

For the same reason you feel disappointed and empty after achieving any goal you desire. And no matter how strongly you believe doing X will make you happy it won't. It doesn't quite fill that void inside of you. Doesn't matter if it's making this huge amount of money or buying this nice house or marrying this attractive person or traveling to this amazing place or taking that dope ass drug etc. You always end up craving for more. 

Plain and simple fact of life.. Nothing external will make you happy.  Desire is never satisfied because it's ever-renewed. And any limited satisfaction no matter how great it is.. Is just a limited temporary satisfaction. The moment it vanishes it's as if it never even occurred. Leaving you just craving for more. There will never be enough. That's why the only thing that will make you happy is just being present with whatever is present and appreciating it. Because if you don't appreciate what you have now you will not appreciate what you have in the future. And really you don't have to even appreciate anything. you just have to realize happiness is an illusion because everything is an illusion and that realization Will set you free. And only absolute freedom is happiness because it's  who you are existentially. 

Edited October 2, 2020 by Someone here