My friend is a psychologist who flatly states that relationships are everything.

My students at USC used to be focused on beginning their careers and making money to get started (and pay student loans).   That is understandably.

But sometimes we get stuck in the money making part despite Gallup polls that show the average American is happiest when a couple’s household income is $70,000 (less in Mississippi, a lot more in Hawaii – but $70,000 is the sweet spot).

That means, according to the research, that for those of us who kill ourselves trying to make $30,000 more, we may be more comfortable, but by our own admission (at least in polling) we are no happier.

In fact, the more we make, the less happy we get.

The pure gold is relationships.

And this doesn’t mean we have to break records to add friends (example:  Facebook or Instagram).

It means investing in solid, healthy, caring relationships is why we are on this earth.

For each relationship worth having, what are we willing to put into them?

What is our emotional investment?

How much time are we willing to invest?

There is nothing worse than doing something well that doesn’t need to be done at all which means – being a great earner only goes so far without relationships that make it all worthwhile.

I’m not going to finish my day today consciously trying to make less money, but even writing about the importance of relationships suggests when it comes to happiness, there is a greater return from investing time in relationships than assembling a larger bank account.

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