August 2013 Blog - Want more time and money? Program your brain by giving both away.
by Susan Myhre Hayes on 07/30/13
Want more time and money? Program your brain by giving both away.
A part of my journey of self-transformation included getting
my financial house in order. I used two tools to accomplish this: the magic of an Excel spreadsheet and
affirmations. Research supports why this
worked for me.
At the end of each month, I track my investments and my
debts. Shining a monthly light on each
of these has made the former grow and the later shrink. I feel much more in control of my finances,
and I feel much better about my financial future.
But, one important part of the spreadsheet is a donations section. And, recent research from Michael Norton, an
associate professor of marketing at Harvard Business School, reinforces the
importance of this part of my monthly financial routine when it comes to my good
feelings about my finances.
Study after study has indicated that more money doesn't
necessarily make you happy, but Norton’s research indicates that giving away
money is likely to make you feel wealthier.
Giving money away increases what Norton calls feelings of "subjective
wealth” or how well-off you feel.
"We suggest that acts of generosity can also signal
wealth to the givers themselves, making them feel subjectively wealthier even
as money leaves their pockets," he and his colleagues wrote. Since our brains know that wealthy people
give away money, when we give money away, it makes our brains perceive that we
are wealthy. The Norton study posits
that giving away $500 has the same effect on feelings of “subjective wealth” as
earning an extra $10,000 in income.
The second tool in my financial journey was use of the
affirmation, “I have more than enough money to do all the things I want and
need to do.” This study seems to support
the idea that the mere act of giving money away, indicates that you have more
than enough of money. Givers seem to
feel more control over their money.
In related research, Norton found that people, who volunteer
their time for charitable pursuits, perceive that they have more time than
those who don't volunteer. As with money, your brain may think that if you have
time to give away, you must have plenty of it.
As a young, working mother, the affirmation, “I have more than enough
time to do the things I want and need to do,” programmed my brain to KNOW I had
“more than enough time.”
So, if you want more time and money, begin now to program
your brain by giving both away.