Have you defined what enough is to you?
Most of us don’t define what enough is and we go through life constantly climbing the mountain of more feeling unsatisfied although we achieved so much and have so much.
Here’s a story from John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard.
“At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history. Heller responds, ‘Yes, but I have something he will never have…enough.’
Enough. I was stunned by the simple eloquence of that word – stunned for two reasons: first, because I have been given so much in my own life and, second, because Joseph Heller couldn’t have been more accurate.
For a critical element of our society, including many of the wealthiest and most powerful among us, there seems to be no limit today on what enough entails.”
Your happiness equals your results minus your expectations. No matter how great your results and accomplishments may be, if the goalpost of your expectations keep moving beyond them you’ll never be happy.
So what is your enough?
Define it. Not society’s enough. Not your parents enough. Not your significant other’s enough. Not your social circle’s enough. What’s your enough?
What does enough mean to you in each area of your life?
- Financially
- Health
- Socially
- Business
- Mission/Purpose/Career
- Contribution
This doesn’t mean to settle for less than you can be. It means to appreciate where you currently are and what you currently have while you continue to strive to become more and achieve more.
When you do this you’ll find that it actually helps you achieve more and raise your standards. Success can only build on success. And a successful mindset starts from right where you are now, not someday in the future when you achieve a certain goal.
You don’t get beyond scarcity. You start beyond it.
Define what enough means to you because life isn’t any fun without a sense of enough.
