What is “enough?”
Do you have a number in mind in regards to income? How much do you need to make to be satisfied?
What about freedom? What does it look like to have adequate freedom for your personal goals? How many days off? How many vacations? How many hours per week does running your gym require?
Or how about impact? As a rule, more is almost always better here, yeah? Assuming it’s a positive impact haha…?
I recently read a book called What Happy People Know. (Hat tip to Vince Gabriele for the rec and to Mike Boyle for recommending it to him.) And it’s got me thinking about “enough.”
The book offers this important splash of cold water…
You’re wired to feel that you never have enough.
This is an important distinction.
Because no matter how much money you make or how much freedom you have…
True “happiness” can always seem just over the horizon.
This is actually more common for people with worldly success and drive to spare. Because they’re accustomed to getting the dopamine hit of wins. Before they adapt and start to crave scaling the next mountain.
Even a seemingly altruistic goal like “MOAR IMPACT, MOAR!” can mean pushing off satisfaction to a horizon we never reach.
In fact, this one can be the trickiest. Because it has the veneer of being other-centric. And it can convince us it’s ok to not do the hard things necessary to build a business that’s actually sustainable.
Now I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t strive and keep our aim low. Far from it.
The world benefits from you playing big.
And YOU benefit from the personal growth that requires.
But I think we need to keep this “brain wiring” in mind. Otherwise we can fall into a trap.
We can pursue professional success at a cost to things that really matter…
Our health.
Our relationships.
Our mental well-being.
Yes, there’s a balance to be struck. And I’m not prescribing yours.
I AM saying we need to be intentional about how we balance our life priorities.
And we need to be ever vigilant against a brain designed for perpetual scarcity.
So let’s grow as humans. And make things. And help people. And have fun! And win points in the “game.”
But let’s also remember we don’t get to take any of it with us…
And when you’re feeling not “enough?”
Take stock of all the things going well.
Take a breath.
You’re doing great.
You’re enough,
Mark
PS: If the above resonates, you may be a values-fit for the Unicorn Society.
If you’re a gym owner looking to pursue more income, impact, and freedom…
In a way that respects your other life priorities…
You may be one of us.
To find out more, go HERE.