#399 What is Enough? The most overlooked but crucial principle in wealth building
I used to think I had to scale my business and sell it for millions.
Not because I ever actually wanted that lifestyle. But because I thought that’s what success meant, what safety looked like, and it’s what everyone else seemed to be chasing.
But the more I built, and the faster I ran, the target seemed to keep moving.
What turnover was enough? First it was £500k. Then £1m, then £2m….
And no matter what milestone I’d hit I’d think: “Why don’t I feel any better; why do I feel like I could lose it all and having nothing to show for it.
I wish I'd realised sooner that wealth isn’t built by chasing more and more.
But by knowing what’s enough.
Until you define what “enough” looks like for you, not for what you think you should want (surely only a £5m exit is good enough right?) you'll burn time, money, sanity and probably your health, chasing a number you never even chose.
A number that means nothing to you, or the life you want to live, and you’ll build your business chasing a dream that was never yours.
You’ll keep saying, “I’ll slow down when I hit £X”
But never get to slow down, because £X keeps moving!
‘Enough’ is the most important building block in wealth building.
Because enough isn’t settling for less. It's knowing:
The kind of life you really want; the one you feel in your soul
What true security feels like (and it’s not just about the money)
What an intentional life means to you
And then you build your business to match.
You set your goals and make your decisions based on your version of enough.
On your version of success.
And that’s where you find calm, and real wealth.
But most of us don’t get taught this.
We’re taught to scale. To go big or go home. To keep reinvesting, reinventing, proving, striving, hustling.
We see the exit stories and the unicorn headlines and start believing that anything less is failure. It’s playing small and not living up to our potential. I can tell you, that one about potential had me trapped for years!
So we chase, we compare, and we spiral into overwhelm and burnout.
I’ve done it myself, and I see it all the time.
This is how businesses burn people out
Because if you never define enough, you never get to feel safe.
You never get to stop. Or to breathe, and to feel when it’s actually working.
But when do you define it, it changes everything.
You build a slower, smarter, more profitable business; not a treadmill you can’t get off.
You stop aiming for flashy and “looking” successful, and you start aiming for sustainable.
You make different choices. You plan differently.
And you show up for your life with more peace, energy and ….even joy!💚
And that’s NOT under-achieving. It’s taking control of your one precious life.
I found my Enough a few years ago and it completely grounds me.
I don’t chase the next shiny idea. I don’t feel inadequate when I hear another podcast and think I should be doing more. (Well maybe a bit, but I soon shake myself out of it!)
I still have big ambitions for the impact I want to have - but they are all mine!
And financially I stopped the goalposts moving and can finally feel safe.
So here’s what I’d love to ask you:
Have you ever actually defined your version of “enough”?
Not in theory, and not in “maybe someday” numbers.
But on paper? Based on what you deeply want for your life, your health, your family?
For it to feel like really success for you?
If not, a powerful first step is to journal on it. Open up to the possibility there’s a different way to do this, and see what comes up.
Because chasing forever is exhausting.
But building enough is where you’ll find freedom.