John D. Rockefeller was once asked by a reporter how much money was enough. 

His answer? 

“Just a little bit more.”

Contrast that response with Mark Twain’s advice to Cornelius Vanderbilt, another business tycoon of Rockefeller’s era: 

“It isn’t what a man has that constitutes wealth. No—it is to be satisfied with what one has; that is wealth.”

Which answer resonates more with you?

Thanks to Sahil Bloom and his book “The Five Types of Wealth”, it’s a question I’ve been wrestling with lately. In his section on wealth, he writes about “hedonic adaptation”—the human predisposition to return to an emotional baseline after positive events, no matter how positive. 

From a financial perspective, this means:

• Our current definition of “more” becomes our future definition of “not enough.”

• That thing you once longed for becomes the thing you can't wait to upgrade.

• There's no such thing as buying happiness.

I often make decisions as if this principle weren’t true. But my lived experience tells me otherwise.

Bloom goes on to talk about a Swedish term called Lagom that translates to “just the right amount.” And he challenges us to define exactly what our “Enough Life” would look like:

• Where do you live?

• What do you have?

• What are you and your loved ones doing?

• What are you focusing on?

• How much financial cushion do you have?

I took the time to go through this exercise, writing down specific answers to those questions. And I have to say, it was extremely helpful. Not necessarily because it gave me new clarity about what I’m chasing in life. More so, it just felt healthy to acknowledge there is such a thing as “enough” and there is a point I’m free to get off the proverbial financial treadmill.  

I’m curious where this concept lands with you. To the extent you’re willing to share:

1. Do you believe in the idea of an Enough Life?

2. If so, what would that look like for you?

3. How close are you to being there?

Thoughts from a fellow traveler

I enjoyed reading all the responses to the MJ piece from two weeks ago. Either I have an extremely pro-MJ subscriber base, or the dissenters didn’t want to hurt my feelings.

My favorite response came from a high school classmate who referenced a person I specifically thought about while writing the piece—our former English teacher. This particular teacher had notoriously high standards and, like MJ, was not concerned with winning popularity contests. If you’re a Bureau Valley alum, you know who I’m talking about!

She was the kind of leader who frustrates you in the moment—I remember being furious when she had the audacity to give me my first ever “C.” But I’ve spent the rest of my adult life being exceedingly thankful for the ways she pushed me to be a better writer. In fact, I’m not sure I’d have the skills or confidence to do this newsletter without her influence on my life. 

The reader summarized it well when she said:

“It's the leaders who demand more, who force us to confront our own limits, who often leave the deepest imprint—even if, at the time, it feels like friction instead of inspiration.”

Carry on fellow travelers, we’ll talk soon.