Hey Designer,

"You know… money won’t make you happy."

That’s what every successful entrepreneur says once they’ve made their millions.

Even one of my biggest inspirations, a gamer - Ali Abdaal, casually drops this in his videos.

And every time I hear it, I roll my eyes.

Because let’s be honest —

Do you really think he’d trade away his wealth and go back to being broke?

Of course not. Because money does make life better.

But not in the way most people think...

**How Money Actually Makes You Happy**

The key is using money as a tool to improve the Essential parts of your life.

🟣 Strength (Physical Health): A better diet, gym membership,
time and money to cook and afford nutritious meals instead of eating cheap junk food.

🟡 Attachment (Close Relationships): Taking your partner on amazing dates,
traveling to see family, going on a trip with your best friends.

🔴 Contribution (Work & Purpose): Leaving a soul-sucking job,
starting a meaningful career, and being able to easily cover your living costs + more for free time.

⚫ LifeForce (Mental Health) : Improving your mental health with therapy or counselling

This is why money does matter—but only when used correctly.

So when successful people say "money won’t make you happy," what they should be saying is:

"Money will make you happier—if you use it to improve the right things in your life."

💡 This is why In 💠OctaCore: 🟠 Intelligence
(which includes finance, planning, and learning)

is an Elevating attribute—not an Essential one.

That means money won’t automatically give you happiness.

But it will elevate whatever you apply it to.

This is why "Rich" people who only chase money with no other goal still feel empty.

"Wealthy" people are so happy
- they use money to elevate their health, relationships, and design purposeful lives.

How Small Purchases Can Change EVERYTHING

I'm not rich - far from it - I lost $40,000 of my savings to chase my dream
of making Life Game Design a Massive Movement of Successful Gamers.

( Seeing people becoming designers is all worth it )

and you probably aren't rich too...

but we're both already spending money—

just not in ways that actually improve our lives.

Think about it

❌ Spending $15 on random takeaway food you won’t even remember next week.

❌ Buying another $25 book or $50 course when you haven’t used the last five.

❌ Dropping $60 on a night out that wasn’t even that fun and made your next 3 days Hell.

Now imagine if you redirected just a small part of that money with these "OctaCore Upgrades"

✅ $40 – 🟣 Strength 🏋️ – A month of gym access, resistance bands, or meal prep to fuel your body.

✅ $30 – 🟡 Attachment 💙 – A thoughtful date, a small gift, or a train ticket to visit a loved one.

✅ $50 – 🔴 Contribution 💼 – A Software, or AI tool that helps you level up in your career or business.

✅ $20 – ⚫ LifeForce 🧘 – A Journal, or a meditation app to strengthen your mental well-being.

It’s not about making more money—it’s about spending it on things that actually make life better.

If you changed how you spent your next $20 right now,

how would you use it to improve your life?

💠 OctaCore: The Attribute System With Endless Insights

When you first see OctaCore is just looks like a way to manage projects and tasks,

And if it was I would be stupid to make 8 different life areas just to do that.

Waaaaaay too complicated.

but that’s like saying Elden Ring’s attribute system is just for keeping track of stats.

Just Like Every Good RPG Game, your Attributes define your ENTIRE playstyle.

If you’ve ever built a character in an RPG, you know the worst thing you can do

is randomly level up everything.

You spread yourself thin, deal no damage, and wonder why every boss fight feels impossible.

That’s exactly what 99% of people do in self-improvement.

They consume advice from every productivity guru,

trying to level up everything at once—but end up making no progress.

You need to know what to ignore, and what to focus on.

⚡ You’re a Mage… Being Told to Master Swords ⚔️

Imagine playing an RPG like Elden Ring and asking,
"What’s the best weapon in the game?"

And someone says,
"Oh, you have to use the Greatsword—it’s the strongest weapon by far!"

So you grind for hours to unlock it… only to realize you actually want to be a Mage.

You have zero Strength, the sword is way too heavy, and you can’t even swing it properly.

And now your spells are weaker because you've ignored leveling up your Focus Attribute.

That’s what most self-improvement advice is like.

If you’re struggling with 🟣Strength (exercise, nutrition, sleep)

and someone tells you to improve 🟠Intelligence (finance, productivity, knowledge)…

It won’t do anything for you.

💠 OctaCore is the filter that stops you wasting time on advice that's not meant for you.

And this is where people who live by default fail.

They blindly follow the advice of their favorite YouTubers without realizing…

Good advice applied to the wrong attribute is completely useless.

What This Looks Like in Real Life

Your Focus Attributes shape how you navigate life.

Here’s how my best friend I are applying them right now:

📌 Derek → 🔴Contribution & 🟡 Attachment 💼❤️

Derek recently left his stable software engineering job to build his own AI consultancy.

His focus? Growing his business while maintaining his relationship.

He made it clear to his girlfriend that, for this season, work takes priority—but their bond still matters.

📌 Me → Last Month , I needed 🟣 Strength & 🔵Persistence

Healing from hospitalization, getting back to gym , and finishing massive house renovations.

Each of us needed different things, so following the same advice wouldn’t work.

Most people waste years leveling the wrong stats.

You won’t.

You're becoming a Designer

More OctaCore Insights Coming your way,

🎮 Start Living Life By Design

Love from Michael 💙

0 comments

Most Players Are Stuck In This Cycle

You’re Not Lazy — You’re Underequipped

Over 60% of us chose this… no surprise.

Stop charging bosses at level 1.

Today I Beat The Algorithm

See all posts from Michael Davis