How Much is Enough?

“So how much is enough, anyway?”  Depending on who is asking the question and the context they’re asking it, that question either is:

1. A brilliant inquiry that takes us deep into a well-questioned premise on what makes us happy.
2. Possibly one of the most prejudicial, slanted, and lack-centered statements ever uttered.

In the first instance, the question is asked by someone doing a real philosophical analysis, wondering about the cause and effect relationship that money and material things might have on our happiness.  Used in this context – trying to decide what, and how much of that what, enhances and brings prosperity to your life – can lead you to important discoveries.

Unfortunately, 99 times out of 100 when this question is asked, it is done so with a premeditated prejudicial slant: People are usually insinuating that the person they're asking it to are greedy, selfish, and materialistic.  It’s usually followed by statements about how many shirts you can wear in one day, how a car only takes you from point A to point B, and other lack-centered beliefs.

Let’s use an analogy here to illustrate when this question may be unwarranted, and actually lead you away from true prosperity... 

Would you ask how much love was enough?  Or kindness?  What about health?  Imagine making the following statement, “Look at that Jeannie.  She is so healthy it makes me angry.  She is keeping all the health for herself.  Other people have injuries, cancer, and heart attacks – and she’s hoarding all the health for herself.”

That would be ludicrous because health is not a regulated resource.  There is not a limited supply requiring one person to have poor health in order for another to experience wellness.  That’s because…

All elements that encompass true prosperity are renewable. 

Renewable resources replenish themselves to replace the portion depleted by use.  An example is renewable energy: Solar, geothermal, and wind energy all can restock themselves.  I postulate that the same concept is true for the elements of prosperous living…

The prosperity elements are continuously replenished by the universe because they are infinite.  Take love, compassion, or hugs for example.  They’re certainly infinite. You can give away 10 hugs and that doesn’t deplete the inventory, leaving less hugs to go around.  I would argue that giving away 10 hugs actually increases the inventory, because hugs are self-replenishing: The more you give away, the more you receive back in return.  This is true for joy, love, harmony, compassion, forgiveness, empathy, understanding and all the elements of true prosperity.

When I present this concept in my books and seminars, most people readily accept this.  But for some reason, they believe that one vital element of prosperity – money – is somehow different.  Most people think that money is a finite resource; one that requires taking from one person to provide to another.  Let’s explore that premise:

There is nothing that makes currencies like the U.S. dollar, British pound, or Mexican peso finite.  These are fiat currencies and they are not backed by anything more than a government’s promise to pay.  They only have any value when we go along with the dubious proposition that governments keep their promises.

In actuality, government currencies are pyramid schemes.  When they want more money (like the $9 trillion the U.S. government allocated for coronavirus relief), they simply print more.  Currencies have no intrinsic value on their own.  Money is actually a meme we’ve created to try and mentally understand the processes it is used for.  Certain cryptocurrencies (like Bitcoin for example), technically are finite, because they can’t be produced in unlimited quantities.  But this definition misses out on the context money is used for in prosperity.

In the case of living a prosperous life, the goal isn’t something as ignoble as acquiring money simply for the sake of acquisition, because money is simply a medium for exchange.  You don’t really desire money; you actually desire the things you can trade it for. (Which is why as soon as most people receive money, they immediately exchange it for the things they really want: Post Malone’s latest album, the new iPhone, or a Bugatti.)  This isn’t entirely materialistic, by the way.  Sometimes the things you trade your money for bring you freedom or security.

There are two ways you can endlessly manifest prosperity:

• Solving problems
• Adding value

And when you solve problems or add value, people will lovingly, joyfully, and gratefully crawl naked over broken glass, to throw money at you. 

There are no limits on the amount of problems you can solve.  If I have jury duty and you can walk my dog while I’m occupied there, I will gladly pay you $20 to solve my problem.  If I have an abscess tooth and you’re a dentist, I will joyfully pay you $750 to make my pain go along.  And if a hurricane comes by and blows my roof off, I’ll happily give you $10,000 to put on a new one.  The bigger the problems you can solve, the more money people will be willing to trade to you.

There is also no limit to the amount of value you can add.  If you can show your cousin how to drive a golf ball farther, she might buy you lunch.  If you can show someone who wants to make the college golf team how to drive better, she might hire you as a swing coach for $75 a lesson.  If you can show Sung Hyun Park how to drive better, she might pay you $300,000 a year.  The higher the degree of value you can provide, the more money people will be willing to trade to you.

Your goal is not to acquire more money.  Your real goal is to solve enough problems and provide enough value, to attract as much money as you need to trade for the prosperous life you desire to live.  And your ability to do that isn’t finite, but infinite.

Peace,

- RG