Defining your "enough"

A quote has been reverberating around my mind for the past few weeks. I wish I knew who said it (if you do, please let me know?). It goes like this:

“Enough” is a choice you make, not a destination you reach.

Oof. Hits me right in the feels in the best way.

In the drive to build, to grow, to acquire, and to run, I can find myself getting swallowed by searching for that next thing, always. The more I grow in my career, the more momentum I build, the more I realize that nobody — and I mean nobody — arrives at that “next” level and goes, “Yep, this is it! I’m where I need to be.” Instead, they go, “Oh, okay, cool. I’m here now. What’s up THERE though? I’m gonna keep climbing.”

But sometimes, deciding “enough” enables you to focus on the here and now, to enjoy what you’re doing for its own sake, not the results. And a funny thing happens when we do that: we tend to get better results.

My “enough” for my media company, Marketing Showrunners, is to generate enough revenue to support a small team that loves working together and loves serving a small but passionate audience. That’s enough. I’m finding other areas where I’m finding my “enough” too.

For now, I’d simply ask more people to embrace this idea: Enough is a choice you make, not a destination you reach.

(Hat-tip to Paul Jarvis, who wrote the book Company of One and talks often about helping others find their “enough.” Find his book and other works here.)

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