So why don't more people realize that spending money on others is a reliable road to happiness? One reason may be because it's much easier to count money that to measure happiness, Norton said."If you think about getting ahead in life, you can say ,'Last year I made X ,and now I'm making X plus 10 'I was 71 happy last year,and now I'm 76 happy."Even if they do, the reasons for greater happiness may not be obvious to them , he said