How Much is Enough?

Last week’s journal activity focused on the COMPARISON TRAP and I mentioned at the end that I would share a tool to help minimize its impact in your life. That tool is simply the word ENOUGH!

Below is an excerpt from an interview with John Bogle, the Vanguard founder, that is shared in the book “The Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel. I highly recommend reading the book, it has a lot of wisdom about more than just money. Here is the story he shares:

At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that heir 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.

If we dig into what lies at the heart of the COMPARISON TRAP we’ll find the feeling that we are lacking something. That we aren’t enough. That we don’t have enough. That we are missing something.

Taking on the mindset of ENOUGH is not about settling for less or leaving opportunity and potential on the table. The mindset of ENOUGH is realizing the opposite, that a the constant chase for more will eventually push you to a point of regret.

Here is the truth, the ceiling of the COMPARISON TRAP is so high that you will never hit. There will always be someone stronger, faster, with more money, with more opportunity, with a nicer car, the list goes on and on. The means the COMPARISON TRAP is a battle that can never be won, or can only be won by not even fighting it to begin with. The mindset of ENOUGH is accepting that you might have ENOUGH, even if it’s less than those around you or that you are seeing on social media.

Here is a second truth, if you catch yourself saying “if I had _____, then I would ____.” No you wouldn’t! Because more than likely you aren’t doing the best you can with what you have right now. What makes you think having more of something (talent, money, time, etc.) will magically fix everything? If we waste the things we have available to us right now, we’ll waste those “better” things as well.

JOURNAL ACTIVITY

If you were being honest with yourself, are you really maximizing the things that you do have right now?

Are you making the most of your talents & gifts?

Are you using your time wisely? (Just take a look at your screen time to answer this question)

What would happen in your life if you maximized the things that you do have right now?