Needing Less

We usually think of wealth as a number.

I increasingly think it is a relationship between what you have and how much you need to feel satisfied.

Have ten and need a hundred, and ten will always feel inadequate.

Have the same ten and know that five is enough, and life feels very different.

Same ten. Completely different life.

Most of us spend enormous energy increasing what we have. And some stages of life require that.

But we rarely pay enough attention to another lever: what we decide is enough.

The danger is that every lifestyle improvement quietly becomes the new minimum. Yesterday’s luxury becomes today’s expectation, and the finish line moves again.

It’s not a problem to be ambitious or desire growth.

The problem begins when everything we can afford, achieve, or acquire slowly becomes something we feel we need.

There is freedom in having more.

There is another kind of freedom in needing less.