Happy But Not Satisfied

I meet with my partners twice a year to talk about our business. What went right? What went wrong? Where do we want to invest?

I remember one year, maybe in 2017, I said something like, “Let’s get to a few billion and then stop pushing so hard.” I look back and chuckle about how naive I was.

I don’t know what our assets were back then, but a few billion seemed like an ambitious goal.

The biggest thing I got wrong was not thinking about all the people we would have to hire to get to a few billion dollars. Once you’re responsible for the livelihood of that many people, slowing down is not an option.

I’m happy when I reflect on something I thought or said that seems ridiculous now because it means I’m growing. And that’s what life is all about.

The way we think about things changes over time. And with money, we’re always moving the goalposts. More is never enough. Wait, that sounds bad. Is that bad? NO!

Greed is bad. But growth is good. Wanting more is awesome.

Years ago I was in the car with Josh talking about money and said “I’d be good if I never made more money than I do today.” That said more about my career goals at the time than it did about the money I was making. It wasn’t a lot. It certainly wasn’t enough. But I felt it because the scars of being kicked out of college twice and unemployed for a few years were still raw. So the fact that I was happy with my job and getting paid for it? Man, I was golden.

Anyway, I really did mean it at the time, and this is a topic that I could write two thousand words on, but for the sake of time, let’s boil it down to, no, I would not have been good with that. Life gets very dull if you’re not moving forward. And for better or worse, money is a big part of measuring how far we’re moving.

Another wrinkle to the statement “I’m content with what I’m making and don’t need more” is that nobody thinks like that, and for the sake of the economy, thank god! If everybody around you makes more money, you want to make more money too.

This is true whether you’re making 100 grand or 100 million. For example. Paul George was insulted by an offer from the Clippers that was well north of $100 million dollars. Insulted! Why? Because it’s less than his teammate Kawhi Leonard got.

I’m happy with the money I make, but I want more because damnit I’m human. My goals now are more about growth than dollars, and I feel great about that.

Speaking of growth, The Compound YouTube channel just crossed 150k subscribers.

Josh, Ben, and I are the face of this channel, but Duncan, John, Nicole, Daniel, Sean, Rob, and Graham's hard work made it possible. I’m so happy I get to grow with this incredible team.

There is a point in everyone’s life when you’re ready to slow down. When all your growth is behind you. I have no idea when I’ll get there, but for now I’m all about pushing forward.

Thank you for reading, and I wish you all tremendous growth in the future.

*How the hell did I pay for things? I worked full-time through college as a waiter and saved a decent amount of money. But I blew through all my savings and would have been in big financial trouble if my mother hadn’t passed away and left me some money. That sounds awful, so let me clearly say that I would have chosen big financial trouble over my mother dying.

If you liked this, my post was inspired by Jared Dillian’s “Never Enough”