What is Enough?
Enough is the sense of arrival.
A person can make himself happy, or miserable, regardless of what is actually happening externally by changing the contents of his mind.
Meditation is a wonderful tool for this. You engage with heightened sensitivity to reality as it is in the present moment.
When you’re most captivated by an experience, you’re not thinking about what’s next. This is a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.
You’re in flow.
This state opens the opportunity to experience more with less.
Yet, we believe money as a tool can be used to amplify the ability to experience more.
Whether this amplified experience brings you a greater sense of happiness is entirely subjective.
A $3 burger creates more happiness for a hungry man than a $100 slightly undercooked steak would for a picky man.
“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”
Circumstances don’t seem to matter much. Humans are incredibly adaptable - we adapt quickly to circumstances both good and bad.
People have this idea that if you just had a bigger house…. Then you'd be happy. But that's just not how happiness works.
Enough is not more money or an achieved targeted net worth.
There is always a bigger fish.
If you make $500,000 a year, you’re in the top 1% of income earners in America. Once you’re there, are you satisfied? No.
Once you move to the Hamptons you realize your neighbor is the CEO of a publicly traded company and makes $10 million a year. Is this person satisfied? No.
This person grew up with Shaquille O'neal who makes $60 million a year. Is he satisfied? No.
Shaquiel O’Neil goes to cocktail parties with people like Jeff Bezos who made $75 billion dollars in 2020.
This comparison loop of envy is the foundation of dissatisfaction.
Yet, we’re still running this race.
Step off of the hedonic treadmill.
But how?
Operating with long-term goals will bring you precise clarity and resolve.
Start at the end and work backwards.
The further the vantage point the more tasks required to get to the end.
Don’t let your goal paralyze you into inaction.
A marathon runner doesn’t wake up one day and run a marathon.
He trains.
Months, sometimes years in advance. The goal is broken down into manageable small chunks. Starting off with one mile today. Next week it’s two miles.
Each month builds off the previous - your goal is accomplished through microgoals.
What you’re after is a series of practical results and accomplishments. Not unrealized dreams and abandoned projects. Breaking down the larger goal into manageable goals will keep you moving in the right direction.
This is a journey not a destination. It’s about the enjoyment of the pursuit of your potential.
Your arrival is always present as each moment passes towards your best self.
It’s in these moments of arrival that attention in the present moment is good enough to demand your awareness.
You always think that your life has to change so that you can finally have a good enough excuse to truly just be here and here is enough.
External wins only solve external problems
How can you arrive sooner?