One night at dinner I told Jenny about a new opportunity a client offered me.
As I told her about the details she said, “You shouldn’t take that offer. That opportunity has nothing to do with your passion. It’s outside your strengths and mission. Why would you take it?”
I immediately said, “Well, the money is good.”
Without missing a beat, my 10 year old daughter piped up and asked, “Why would you ever do something just for the money? You already have some.”
Sometimes little kids drop big grenades.
Kids believe in “some money.”
Some money is awesome. You can buy some candy and some pants and some stickers and some of just about anything. Some is the best.
Kids think you need some money. Adults think you need “enough money.”
If you get enough, then you’ll be happy.
If you get enough, then you won’t be stressed out.
If you get enough, then you’ll be brave and can do that thing you’ve always wanted to do.
The problem is there’s no such thing as enough money. It’s a myth like Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster or kale chips that taste as good as regular chips.
I’ve chased enough money before. For years I made my success my identity. I thought if I got enough money I would be enough. What a mistake that was. I had to lose success to realize all the money, all the accomplishments, all the fame and all the stuff would never be enough. The problem is that money is a something that pretends to be an everything.
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I hope you make money. Make a lot of money. Money is fun. We took our kids to Disneyland last week and that cost money. I’m not against money, but I’m done with enough money. There’s no such thing and like a 10 year old told me, some money is a lot more fun anyway.