This content was created by Lewis Howes. This content was uploaded by Lewis Howes. This is a YouTube video titled "Are rich people really happy?" created on October 3, 2025, featuring a conversation between an unidentified speaker and Alex Hormozi discussing the relationship between wealth and happiness, and how to manage expectations and relationships when one becomes wealthy.
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Do you think the people that you know who have a lot of money are typically happier, or do you know more people who are wealthy who are unhappy than happy?
I think it depends on how they got their wealth. So I think if they were given their wealth, absolutely, I would say, bar none, they are not as happy. And I think I won't even get into the why. I say that's just my observation. For the people who earn their wealth, I would say many of them are, I would probably say the same, same Smorgasbor's board as the rest of society, maybe with like one movement upwards, because money cannot buy happiness, but it can help you avoid pain. And so I think that is the, that's the hard part. That is difficult. It's the same thing as health where, like, you can, you know, money can help get the hospital, you know, get you out of the hospital, hypothetically, but it's not going to get you into super, super fitness status. They're completely different continuums that people see as one straight line and removing pain versus gaining joy, I think, are two completely different journeys. And so I think money helps absolutely decrease the punishment that we experience in life. And the pains that we have to deal with are inconveniences, for sure.
Why do you think some people. I agree with that. And there's also some outliers where it seems like people with a lot of money almost have more problems, more pain, more stress, more overwhelm. Maybe it's too much to handle, or everyone wanting something from them, or everyone's expecting something now from them. How do you learn to manage the approval or people pleasing of others once you have more money, especially your own family, your own friends who are now saying, oh, you've gone beyond where the rest of us are financially, and I want some of that, or I have an expectation. How do we overcome that, navigate it?
I wholeheartedly reject all of it.
Reject what?
All of it. Any, any expectations of me. And so my, my litmus test for doing deals, for giving jobs, any of those things for people that I know is that you have to. It's actually the first conversation I had with Layla when we were as our first date. So our first date, I pitched Layla on quitting her job and working for me because I was like, this might not work out, but you should totally work for me. We'll make a bunch of money together. And I said, this compensation has to make sense for you, independent of our relationship. So, like, if we're not together, does this still make sense? If it makes sense. Then we're cool.
It's on your first day of dating.
Yeah.
If we're not together in a week or two months, would this still work for you? Yeah.
Yes. Yeah. It's clear. It's all talent. And I think that litmus test has served incredibly well for me.
