Happiness Project: Neil Patel of QuickSprout
As you can see by this picture, Neil is holding an American Express ‘Black Card’, which is usually reserved for rich people, and celebrities. How does a young guy like Neil get his hands on a no-spending-limit credit card? His company is so impressed with his skills, that they opted to give him one!
Neil Patel’s personal blog is QuickSprout and he teaches us about branding ourselves for success. He has most certainly done that. He is also the co-founder of ACS and CrazyEgg.
His favorite restaurant in the world is taco bell, and I can only imagine how funny it looks to pay for a chalupa with a card that’s meant to be used at top-rated restaurants. From that alone, I would think that Neil Patel did not let money go to his head… but then I read his interview… 
1. How do you define happiness?
To me, happiness is an emotion that ranges from depression to bliss. In most cases you don’t experience extremes and you usually are somewhere in the middle.
2. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your happiness now, versus when you were a child?
Compared to being a child I would rate my happiness as 1. As a kid you have no worries you can and just have fun all day long. As an adult you have responsibilities and you have to do work. But in general I would say I am around a 7 or 8.
3. What do you do on a daily basis that brings you happiness? (and how consistent is the feeling of happiness throughout your day)
I don’t think I do anything specific on a daily basis to make me happy. Instead what makes me happy is money and as long as make more of it, I will be happy.
4. What things take away from your happiness? What can be done to lessen their impact or remove them from your life?
Losing money makes me sad. Although that sounds superficial the reality is our world revolves around money.
I am not sure how to lessen that impact. Maybe if I were a billionaire I would always be happy.
5. What do you plan on doing in the future that will bring you even more happiness?
I plan to make more money.
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To get more info about what the Happiness Project is and isn’t, please visit the Introduction Post. To see a running list of all participants, which I will be updating as things happen, please visit the Happiness Project Page.
Posted by Alex Shalman in Happiness Project | February 19, 2008 | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumble | Print | 6 comments
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What wonderful honesty from Neil. There is no doubt that have lots of money gives up the choices that John Chow talked about.
Having met you Neil at Blog World, you had an air os joy and happiness, plus that big smile:)
Wow Neil’s got a lot of dough!
Although money does make me happy, I don’t quite agree with Neil’s P.O.V. but I also realise that each of us are wired up differently.
While most Personal Development Gurus tell us that we should look within rather than without, I do believe that one needs some form of cash.
One point I think which we can learn from is the fact that we are more care-free when we were kids. Thanks for the obvious but rarely noted observation Neil!
I’m going to be living with the heart and spirit of a kid from now on! Oooo,, You just inspired me for a blog post
To be honest, I don’t personally agree with Neil’s P.O.V. either. However, who am I to say it’s wrong? I’m just here to learn something new like everyone else. =)
Nah.. Don’t get the wrong impression.. I don’t think it’s wrong.. I guess “to each his own” since Neil is so successful today.. Really proves that there’s no “one size fit all” eh?
While it’s tempting to say that an Amex Black Card can buy a lot of happiness (especially if it’s on an expense account!), I’m going to have to agree with SaiF on this one.
Money is a great amplifier. If you are already happy and get some money, you will probably use it in ways that make you happier. If you’re a miserable wretch and you get some money, well, you know how that goes…
“Money is a great amplifier… If you’re a miserable wretch and you get some money, well, you know how that goes…”
Amen to that. I’ve seen enough of those “True Stories Lottery Winners” to know that money can amplify bad things in a person’s life.