The Happiness Formula: Redefining Success Beyond the Status and Money Game
- Andy
- Apr 10
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 11
The Ultimate Goal Is Happiness
Most people spend their lives caught in one of two games that promise happiness but rarely deliver:
The Status Game
This is what I call "status happiness" – the kind that comes from shopping sprees, luxury cars, and Instagram-worthy vacations. It's about being seen, admired, and envied. Players of this game measure success by comparison to others and the validation they receive.
The Money Game
Then there's "money happiness" – the belief that accumulating wealth itself will bring fulfillment. These players often postpone living, constantly telling themselves "just a few more years" of hard work and sacrifice before they can enjoy life. They become trapped in a cycle of delayed gratification that extends indefinitely, collecting numbers in accounts while their life passes by.
By the time people realize neither of these games delivers lasting happiness, it's often too late. They've already traded decades of their lives playing by someone else's rules.
When You Become the Game
What's most concerning is how people eventually embody the game they play. The status chaser doesn't just pursue status—they become defined by it. Their identity merges with their possessions and social position. Without external validation, they feel invisible, anxious, and empty.
The money accumulator transforms similarly. They become perpetually dissatisfied, always seeing scarcity rather than abundance. Their personality narrows as decision-making filters exclusively through the lens of financial impact. Relationships suffer as people become classified as either assets or liabilities. Anxiety becomes their constant companion, with fear of loss often exceeding the pleasure of gain.
In both cases, the game consumes the player. The means become the end. The tool becomes the master.
The truth I've discovered: Real happiness is internal. No lasting happiness is ever external. It's a Self Game. Life is a Do-It-Yourself Project (DIY Project).
But to achieve true life happiness, there's one crucial enabler you have to discover – FREEDOM.
Real Winners Step Out of the Game
The most successful people I've studied don't just win at the game everyone else is playing. They stop playing entirely. They refuse to trade today for some imaginary tomorrow that may never arrive.
Instead, they create systems that allow them to live fully in the present while still building toward the future.
The Three Paths to Financial Freedom
I've identified three distinct paths to achieving a sense of financial freedom:
Passive Income – Building assets that generate income without your active time investment
The Monk Path – Drastically reducing your desires and needs to the point where minimal resources are required
Love/Art Path – Finding such joy in your work that it transcends the typical work/life separation
Two Definitions of Freedom
As we move through life, our definition of freedom often evolves between two states:
"Freedom To" – The positive ability to do what you want (do sports, create art, spend time with family)
"Freedom From" – The absence of constraints (no boss, no deadlines, no financial stress)
Understanding which type of freedom you're seeking can dramatically clarify your path forward.
Why Freedom Is Your Ultimate Value
Freedom deserves to be your highest value because it gives you TIME and ENERGY to create your own unique form of happiness. While happiness itself is deeply personal and therefore infinite in its variations, freedom is the universal key that unlocks the door.
My Personal Journey to Freedom
I had what many would consider success – a good career leading to becoming an entrepreneur in Stockholm, kind of financial stability, and in some ways social status (though I, in some weird way, never felt that those games were worth prioritizing). But something was missing. I felt trapped in a world where I wasn't playing the games everyone else were engaged in.
So I stepped out. I left Stockholm for the Alps to pursue skiing – something that called to my soul. This was an open ended vacation; but it became a complete life redesign.
The mountains changed me physically through daily exercise. They changed me mentally by making me feel appropriately small and challenged. They changed me spiritually by connecting me to something larger than myself.
Only after finding this freedom did I feel worthy to meet my life partner. Today, my wife and I are raising three children in a home overlooking valleys and mountains that remind us daily of what matters.
Now, I feel ready for the next chapter: giving back by helping others find their HAPPINESS by helping them first value and then create their own FREEDOM. I've become a FREEDOM FIGHTER in the truest sense.
The Happiness Formula Broken Down
Happiness = Health + Wealth + Relationships
Health = Exercise + Diet + Sleep
Exercise: Training + Sports + Active Rest
Diet: Natural Foods + Intermittent Fasting
Sleep: No Alarms + 8-9 Hours + Respecting Circadian Rhythms
Wealth = Income + Return on Investment Assets
Income = Accountability + Leverage + Specific Knowledge
Accountability: Personal Branding + Personal Platform + Taking Risks
Leverage: Capital + People + Intellectual Property (code + media)
Specific Knowledge: Capabilities society cannot yet easily train others to do
Return on Investment Assets = 'Buy-and-Hold' + Valuation + Margin of Safety
Relationships = Self + Family + Community
Self: Quiet time + Meditation + No anger... (infinite and rewarding Game!)
Family: Kids + Loved one + Relatives
Community: Contribute to your surrounding/environment
This is inpired by the famous book 'The Almanac of Naval Ravikant: A duide to wealth and happiness' and then further developed and refined. Please note that the elements of this formula aren't equal or static. They shift in importance throughout your life, but freedom gives you the space to adjust the formula as needed.
The Freedom Challenge
I challenge you to find something to strive for that better enables your personal happiness than making FREEDOM your #1 value in life.
Are you struggling? Let me suggest some other important values: truth, long-term thinking, peer relationships, family, purpose, impact...
You'll notice that all of these values are enabled by your freedom. Make freedom your ONE Thing, and the rest will follow naturally.
Getting Started: Your First Steps Toward Freedom
Audit Your Time – Track where your hours actually go for one week
Identify Energy Drains – Note which activities deplete you vs. energize you
Create Your Freedom Vision – Define what specific freedoms would transform your life
Design One Small System – Build something that creates either time or financial freedom
Find Your Freedom Tribe – Connect with others who value freedom over status
Remember, the path to freedom isn't about escaping responsibility – it's about choosing which responsibilities truly matter to you and then own them.
Conclusion: Freedom Is a Practice, Not a Destination
Freedom isn't something you achieve once and then possess forever. It's a daily practice of making choices aligned with your true values rather than external expectations.
The most powerful question I ask myself each morning is: "If I had true freedom, which ONE Thing would I choose to do today?"
More often than not, when I follow the answer to that question, I find myself exactly where I need to be.
What step toward freedom will you take today? Share your thoughts in the comments below or reach out to learn more about how I help clients design freedom-centered lives and businesses.
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