The Beauty of Enough

Welcome to the 1,719 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 94,548 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week.Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Morning Brew!There's a reason why over 4 million people read Morning Brew—the free daily email that covers the latest from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Unlike traditional news, Morning Brew will keep you informed AND entertained.Morning Brew is one of my consistent daily reads. I know you’ll love it as much as I do!The Beauty of Enough“There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.”My son was born one week ago—it feels like one of those fabled weeks where decades happen.I spent the first three decades of my life trying to find the meaning and purpose of all of this—then one week, it all came into view.On Monday morning, I was with him in bed and had this profound sensation: For the first time in my life, I have enough.I’ve always been extremely driven—I’ve always been in this constant cycle of wanting more.But I feel…different.Really, what more could I want?This profound feeling prompted today’s piece—on our perpetual desire for more, and more importantly, on the beauty of enough.My hope is for you to come away from it feeling empowered to think clearly and deeply about finding your “enough” amidst the constant search for more.The Fisherman & The BankerThere’s a beautiful parable that I think about quite often…A wealthy investment banker goes on vacation to a tropical fishing village. As he walks along the docks one afternoon, he comes upon a small, run-down fishing boat with several large fish on its deck."How long did it take you to catch those fish?" he asks.The fisherman looks up from his work and smiles at his new visitor."Only a little while."The investment banker is caught off guard by this response. He likes the fisherman and wants to help."Why don't you fish for longer so you can catch more fish?"The fisherman shrugs and explains to his new friend that he has all he needs."Each day, I sleep late, fish a little, and spend time with my children and beautiful wife. In the evening, I go into town, drink wine, play the guitar, and sing and laugh with my friends."The investment banker is puzzled. He wants to help his new friend, who he recognizes is clearly confused. The investment banker has helped many businesses and has an MBA and other fancy credentials to his name. So he lays out a plan for the fisherman..."First, you spend more time fishing, so you can catch and sell more fish. You use the proceeds to buy a bigger boat, which allows you to catch and sell even more fish. Then you buy a fleet of boats. You hire a team. Vertically integrate! As CEO of a large, growing enterprise, you could move to the big city. You would take your company public and make millions!"The fisherman looks confused, but smiles."And then what?" he asks.The investment banker laughs at the silly question."Well, then you could retire to a quiet town! You could sleep late, fish a little, and spend time with your children and beautiful wife. In the evening, you could go into town, drink wine, play the guitar, and sing and laugh with your friends."The fisherman smiles broadly, thanks his new friend for the advice, and wanders off slowly into the warm afternoon sun.More vs. EnoughThis parable illustrates the importance of perspective.The story isn’t about the fisherman or the banker being “right”—it’s about personally identifying what success and purpose looks like to you, and then building a life that meets that definition.Fundamentally, it’s about a dichotomy that rules our lives: More vs. Enough.The Hedonic TreadmillHedonic adaptation is the tendency of humans to revert to a happiness baseline shortly after new positive or negative events.It (probably) developed as a survival mechanism of sorts—in the wild, you needed to stay on an even keel in order to survive to reproductive age. After a big hunt and kill, the thrill of the victory had to wear off quickly so that you didn’t let your guard down and get eaten by a lion. That seems…good.But in the modern age, hedonic adaptation has a darker side.It becomes a treadmill—the Hedonic Treadmill—a perpetual motion machine that keeps us running in search of the next thing.We create this magical universe in our minds where that one next thing will be exactly what makes us permanently, sustainably happier.The harsh reality? We get to that next thing, appreciate it for a moment, and then turn our gaze to the next, next thing, with no marked improvement in our happiness.You’ve undoubtedly seen this general dynamic play out:We can finally buy the second home in Florida we’ve always dreamed of. Two weeks later, we’re complaining about maintaining it and thinking that a third home in Sedona sounds nice.We buy that fancy car—we ride around smiling broadly with the music blasting, and then see someone in the newer model and start t...