12 months after winning a jackpot or receiving a large inheritance, the average person is no happier than they were before the windfall.

70% of them will be bankrupt within a few years.

As a doctor, I see this as a failure of the "R" in my TREND method: Relationships.

Sudden wealth often destroys the three most important relationships we have:

• Friends become dependants, leading to a loss of trust and social isolation.

• Quitting a job without a mission creates a lack of purpose that leisure alone can't replace.

• We mistake "standard of living" for "quality of life."

Your biological baseline for happiness isn't moved by your bank account but instead by the depth of your connections and a purpose in life.

If you want to raise your baseline, don't wait for a windfall. Invest in your relationships today. That’s the only asset that doesn’t suffer from hedonic adaptation.