5 Reasons Why Obsession With Money Can Destroy Your Life
It’s good to make your personal finances a priority in your life. After all, if you don’t, then you can end up in a lot of debt or financial struggle. Obviously, that would be stressful. However, you also have to have some balance. An obsession with money can be just as damaging as not attending to your money at all. In fact, obsessing over your finances can destroy your life in these five key ways:
1. Stress Negatively Impacts Your Health
Paying smart attention to your money relieves stress. You know what you owe. You understand how to pay for things. However, constantly obsessing over your money ends up stressing you out. If you’re counting every penny, always trying to earn more, and thinking incessantly about dollars and cents, then you’re most likely feeling the stress.
Stress causes both physical and mental health problems. Depression, digestion issues, and heart conditions are a few issues that stress exacerbates. And those things end up costing you money too recover. In terms of mental health, you can even develop a money disorder. This can lead to the need for therapy. Therefore, you can save money and your health by learning to balance your focus on money.
2. Your Relationships May Suffer
Money is a big issue in many relationships. It affects couples, parents and children, siblings and extended family, roommates, business partners, and sometimes even friendships. If you have a healthy relationship with money itself, then it’s less likely to have a negative impact on your other relationships. However, if you have an obsession with money to the point where you prioritize it over people could definitely cause your relationships to suffer.
3. Lack of Interests and Hobbies
Hopefully you love the work that you do. However, even if so, you’ll have a richer life if there’s balance. You should also have other interests, hobbies, and experiences that aren’t related to earning money. If you only think about how to earn more, then you’re going to miss out on the quality of life that those other things can bring to you.
4. You May Lack a Strong Sense of Self
Do you derive your sense of self from a deep core belief in who you are? Or do you derive your sense of self from how much money you earn or accumulate? If it’s the latter, then eventually you’re likely to have a mental health crisis. People need to have self-esteem and meaning that’s tied to their true selves. Money simply can’t be your true self. Therefore, you may feel unfulfilled, superficial, or otherwise disconnected from your inner truth.
5. Money Comes and Goes
No matter how smart you are about money, sometimes it’s out of your control. The economy changes. Your work changes. Your health affects your ability to earn. The stock market goes in a direction you didn’t expect. If you aren’t able to navigate the flow because of your obsession with money then you’re going to be miserable. Letting outside circumstances dictate your emotional wellbeing is a recipe for disaster.