Never Enough

What if we believe that there is never enough time, money, food, clothes or opportunities? Why do we always need more and more? Why are we called consumers? And think about the fact that the Consumer Confidence Index was created for monitoring economic health. What about our personal health and wellbeing? Does it increase or decrease with our consumption?

Here is a story to consider.

Sam: I don’t have enough. I need more followers on TikTok. I have less than a million.

Daniela: You have almost a million followers. Wow! That’s a lot!!

Sam: No, that’s not enough. I need more to be a real Influencer.

Daniela: Why?

Sam: Because Abhay has two million and I need to beat him. I also need to buy another property.

Daniela: Why?

Shifting Our Stories of Never Enough

What if the race to the top never ends? Imagine a world where we know our enough and when enough is enough. Because we no longer compare ourselves to anyone else.

What if from the time we are young, we enjoy the ride and what we have—not what we are missing?

We get to experience enough time with our families exploring oceans and  navigating natural wonders. There is enough attention and time to play and create meals together that we enjoy by sitting around the table and talking about what’s in our hearts. We have enough curiosity and courage to explore ourselves and become who we are with a deep knowing of what and who is for us and what and who is not for us. We never feel like there is never enough opportunity to love and be loved.

But in our current reality, more and more people want to guide us and give us the cookbook on how to navigate an overwhelmed world that we actually created! But what if we said enough of this story already? What if we chose not to be overwhelmed or constantly need or want more?

We may have bought the latest trending toothpaste. And everywhere we turn we are being told that there is a new and improved version that is better? Do we rush to get the better version feeling that we have is not good enough anymore? Are we living someone else’s story that newer and more is the bar we must meet?

What Are We Questioning?

Why do so many of us feel we are never enough? Can we change this story?

During this time of Great Questioning, maybe it is up to ask whether we need to work longer hours, be busier, achieve more, consume more stuff, or ask ourselves, what’s our enough? And when is enough, enough?

We can’t plant a seed in the earth and expect it to grow overnight. But yet it is us who set our annual growth and productivity targets, quarter after quarter. We celebrate when we reach our goals and then raise them again.

But when we miss the goals, we experience layoffs and reductions in force. Why is it that in 2022 and soon in 2023, people are still a liability on a financial statement and furniture is an asset? 

When funding new companies, investors expect a return. And often in the need to grow more and more, founders lose touch with why we started our organizations. And in the drive to increased productivity, we burn ourselves and the people around us. Pitch decks are filled with aspirational stories of growth, efficiency and productivity. We talk more about the money than the impact of our creations.

Creating Experiences

Can we be discerning about the metrics that rule us and start asking questions that create healthier stories of our enough?

We are blessed to live on a beautiful planet. The question is do we have enough creators who want to serve humanity and the planet? What if there is enough for all of us? Enough curiosity, creativity, opportunity and joy?

We know the stories of being overwhelmed and needing more. What story are we creating when it comes to our enough?

And who wants to live in a world of followers when we can connect heart-to-heart and create what we actually need?

Maybe this is the year we gift each other experiences that spark our hearts instead of more and more stuff?