The Illusion of More
I used to think “enough” was a moving target.
A promotion away. A raise away. A lucky trade away.
But every time I reached the next rung, the hunger was still there. The celebration was short. The doubts came back. And I told myself: maybe the next number is the one.
That’s the trap: mistaking more for enough.
The Stoics had a word for this sickness, pleonexia, the endless desire for more, no matter how much you already have. Seneca said: “No person has the power to have everything they want, but it is in their power not to want what they do not have.”
That cut deep. Because my chase wasn’t about survival. It was about proving something, to my parents, my boss, my peers. I was living on borrowed standards, and none of them had a finish line.
The shift came the day I stopped asking, “How do I get more?” and started asking, “What is enough for me?”
Not for Instagram. Not for my neighbor. Not for my childhood comparisons. For me.
The Weight of “Enough”
“Enough” is not a number written in stone. It’s a philosophy. It’s a compass.
When I sat down to define mine, it wasn’t about luxury. It was about freedom. What I wanted wasn’t ten cars, it was one free morning. Not mansions, but peace at dinner with my family.
So I opened my journal and wrote one simple line:
“Enough means buying back my time.”
From there, I worked backwards.
- What’s the monthly cost of my life as I want it, rent, food, health, family, a few joys?
- Multiply that by 12, then by the years I want to cover.
- Add a margin of safety.
That gave me a number: €1.2M in assets.
Not sexy. Not viral. But real. That’s the number that buys me my perfect day on repeat. That’s my “enough.”
A Practical Start for You
Here’s the first step if you want to define your own “enough”:
- Write down your perfect day. Not the dream yacht fantasy. The real perfect day. What time do you wake up? What do you do? Who are you with?
- List the costs. What would that life cost per month? Be honest, be boring. Rent, food, health, family, hobbies.
- Multiply it out. A year. A decade. Add 20% margin. That’s the ballpark of your “enough.”
You don’t need a financial degree for this. You need honesty. Brutal honesty about what matters and what’s just noise.
Turning the Number Into a Plan
When I wrote down €1.2M, it felt impossible. Like writing down “I want to fly to the moon.”
But here’s the truth: impossible becomes possible the moment you put numbers on it. Impossible is just undefined.
The Stoics were ruthless with their clarity. Epictetus said: “First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” That’s what “enough” is. You write it down. Then you reverse-engineer it.
Step 1: Calculate Your “Baseline Burn”
Start with where you are today.
- How much do you spend per month, right now?
- What’s essential and what’s just noise?
- Don’t lie. Don’t call luxuries “needs.”
This number is your baseline burn. It’s the ground floor of your life costs.
For me, it was ugly at first. Subscriptions I didn’t use. Random purchases I couldn’t explain. I thought I was “managing money.” In truth, money was managing me.
Journaling helped here too. Writing down every euro spent for 30 days is humbling. It shows you what your “real life” actually costs, not what you think it costs.
Step 2: Translate It Into Freedom Years
Now, take that monthly baseline and expand it.
- Multiply by 12. That’s your annual cost.
- Multiply that by the years you want to cover.
Let’s say your life costs €3,000/month. That’s €36,000/year. You want 30 years of freedom. That’s €1.08M.
Add a safety margin (inflation, surprises, health, kids). Round it up. Suddenly you’ve got a number that’s not a dream, but math.
Step 3: Break It Into Pieces
A million still feels heavy. So break it.
- €1M is €100k ten times.
- €100k is €10k ten times.
- €10k is €1k ten times.
When I saw it like this, I realized I didn’t need to leap. I needed to stack. Consistency stacks. Shortcuts collapse.
Step 4: Match It With a Vehicle
This is where wealth building enters.
Once you know your “enough,” you ask: what vehicle will carry me there?
For me:
- ETFs (broad, boring, steady).
- A call-money account as buffer.
- Side hustles and raises funneled straight into assets.
For you, maybe it’s similar. The principle doesn’t change: the vehicle must be reliable enough to get you from here to there without blowing up.
The Guideline for You
Here’s how you turn “enough” from dream into plan:
- Track your true baseline burn (one month of every expense).
- Expand it into freedom years. Add margin. That’s your enough.
- Break the big number into smaller pieces so your brain doesn’t quit.
- Choose your vehicle (ETFs, savings, side hustle, debt-free base).
Commit. No “next big thing.” Just stacking.
When you do this, something clicks. The million isn’t a fantasy. It’s just time + consistency.
It stops being about chasing more. It starts being about walking toward enough.
The Psychological Traps
Numbers are easy. Psychology is brutal.
Anyone can write down “€1.2M” on paper. But living in a world where every ad screams “buy me,” every neighbor flexes a new car, and every influencer flaunts the “next big play”? That’s the battlefield.
Trap 1: Moving the Goalpost
The moment you’re close to enough, your mind whispers: “Maybe double it. Just in case.”
This is the same voice that kept me chasing shortcuts, routines, and hacks in the past. Never satisfied. Always needing the next thing.
Stoicism cuts through this. Marcus Aurelius: “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”The cure: define your enough and defend it. Write it. Revisit it. If you let your mind move the goalpost, there is no finish line.
Trap 2: Comparison
Fatherhood made this one sting. I caught myself looking at neighbors, colleagues, even strangers comparing. My son doesn’t care about the car I drive. He cares if I show up. But still, that old poison ran through me.
Seneca warned: “It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
The cure: comparison is a thief. Journaling daily, “what did I do well today?”, helps anchor gratitude instead of envy.
Trap 3: Fear of Missing Out
The market dips. Crypto pumps. Everyone has a hot tip. Suddenly, boring ETFs look stupid. Suddenly, saying no feels like cowardice.
Epictetus again: “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”
The cure: boredom is your ally. True wealth is built in silence, not hype. Boring stacks. Flash burns.
Trap 4: Identity Crisis
This one hit me harder than I thought. If I’m not the guy chasing income, overtime, and “grind mode,” then who am I?
Defining enough forces an identity shift. You’re no longer hustling endlessly. You’re walking a defined path. That feels… unfamiliar.
The Stoics answer this with duty. Your role is not endless hustle. It’s being the father, the man, the human who fulfills his duty with integrity.
The cure: anchor identity to values, not income. For me: honesty, persistence, providing stability.
The Guideline for You
Here’s how you avoid the traps:
- Write your “enough” where you see it daily. Defend the line.
- Journal gratitude every night to kill comparison.
- Train yourself to see boredom as progress.
Tie your identity to values, not numbers.
Where This Leaves Us
When I defined €1.2M as enough, it wasn’t about greed. It was about ending chaos. It was about buying freedom, not toys. It was about handing my son a father who shows up, not a man stuck chasing more.
Wealth building isn’t just a math game. It’s a philosophy game. The Stoics understood this centuries ago. They didn’t need cars or bank accounts to know: a man who knows “enough” is wealthier than the emperor who doesn’t.
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