Consistently spend money to benefit other people, whether through formal donations or interpersonal acts like treating friends, as this is a robust predictor of higher happiness levels, even when controlling for income.
When donating money, choose highly effective charities that maximize impact, as strategic giving can multiply your contribution’s effect on helping people or preventing catastrophes by a hundred or even a thousand times.
Maximize your happiness boost from giving by finding ways to increase social connection, such as giving in person to see recipients, participating in collaborative campaigns with other donors, or connecting with the cause itself.
To enhance the happiness derived from generous acts, ensure you have a sense of personal choice and volition in when, how, and how much you give, even if it means reframing an obligation as a personal decision.
Choose to give in ways where you can clearly see or receive evidence of the positive impact your contribution is having on others’ lives, as this measurably improves your feelings of satisfaction and enjoyment.
Use money to outsource “pesky tasks” you prefer not to do, such as meal prep, to free up your time for more enjoyable activities and people, which can lead to a significant boost in well-being and relieve frustration.
Use platforms like givingmultiplier.org to donate to your favorite cause while simultaneously contributing to highly effective charities identified by experts, potentially with matching funds, to maximize overall impact.
When donating to charities where you don’t know the beneficiary, actively seek out or imagine how your gifts are helping others to enhance the emotional rewards and personal satisfaction of giving.
If direct feedback on the impact of your giving is not immediately available, mentally transport yourself or “time travel” to imagine how your contributions might be helping others, which can still unlock significant emotional rewards.
Engage in pro-social spending as a means to forge and strengthen social connections with others, recognizing that humans are social creatures and this is a clear and robust path to greater personal happiness.
Recognize and actively counter the common intuition that spending money on yourself will bring more happiness; instead, understand that spending on others is a more robust and counter-intuitive path to well-being.