Obtaining financial goals can be virtually impossible if you don’t start with the right mindset. Knowing how to achieve a goal is one thing, but it’s the commitment to doing so that matters most.
The problem is that we as humans allow society to influence us so much that we can’t think for ourselves. Remove what society expects from you and decide what you want. If you can avoid the infinite rat race of life, then do it. If you use your brain as a tool and only tell it to solve for “more money,” it will run endlessly on that single track, chasing a number that never stops growing.
Force it to ponder questions aside from money, such as “What would make my life better?” or “What do I want to create?” This resets your mind’s focus and points it toward something authentic. Suddenly, the solutions that appear have little to do with your next raise or promotion.
The answer might be selling an oversized house to eliminate the stress of its upkeep, not getting a second job to afford it. It might be dedicating one evening a week to that dusty guitar in the corner, a pleasure that costs nothing but your time.
You start realizing that many of the things that truly enrich your existence aren’t waiting for you at a higher income bracket; they have been waiting for you to give them your attention all along.
This is when your financial goals finally transform. They stop being an infinite ladder to climb and instead become a target. You no longer need a vague sense of “more”; you need a specific, calculated amount of money to fund the life you have just discovered you want.
That is a target you can hit, a race you can finish.
Defining Your ‘Enough’ Number
You have answered the hard questions and pointed your mind toward an authentic target. Now, you must replace it with a new number: your “enough” number. This is not a number given to you by society, your neighbor’s new car, or an online influencer.
It is the calculated, concrete figure required to fund the life you’ve just defined. This number is your new finish line, and it is far more attainable than infinity. To find it, start with a blank page and build your new reality from the ground up, leaving societal expectations behind.
First, list your core survival expenses, the “Four Walls” of your existence. This is the foundational cost to simply exist and includes your shelter, utilities, transportation to work, and basic food. Be ruthless in your honesty.
Next, add the cost of the things you discovered truly matter. If your goal is to dedicate more time to painting, what is the monthly cost of supplies? Do you want to travel to a new state park every month? What is the cost of gas and lodging? If it’s to work less, what is the minimum income you need to make that a reality?
This is not a dream budget filled with luxury; this is the price tag for your genuine well-being. Add these costs to your core expenses.
Finally, add a buffer for your “peace of mind” tax, paid to yourself. It includes your planned savings, retirement contributions, and a margin for the unexpected. This total, your essential costs, plus the cost of any financial goals, plus your peace of mind buffer, is your “enough” number.
It is no longer a vague ambition, but a clear, calculated target. This is the amount of money you truly need, and anything beyond it is a choice, not a necessity.
The Power of Subtraction
Our society is built on a simple, flawed premise: addition equals success. Add another degree, another promotion, another car, another room to the house. We are taught that the path to a better life is paved with more.
This is the engine of the rat race. The most powerful move you can make is to reject this premise entirely and embrace a different, more potent strategy: subtraction. Getting to your “enough” number is often not a matter of earning more, but of needing less.
Every object you own, every subscription you maintain, every obligation you agree to is a small claim on your future energy. That oversized house isn’t just a mortgage payment; it’s weekend hours spent on yard work, mental space occupied by maintenance, and a constant pressure to furnish and fill it.
The luxury car isn’t just a loan; it’s higher insurance, more expensive repairs, and the quiet anxiety of getting the first scratch. These are not assets; they are anchors.
The act of intentional subtraction, selling the second car, canceling any subscriptions you don’t truly use, and declining the draining social obligations, is not about deprivation. It is about liberation.
With every unnecessary thing you remove, you are not losing something; you are buying back your most valuable resource: your time. You are clearing away the noise to make room for the life you want to live.
A smaller home can mean financial independence a decade sooner. One less car can mean the freedom to take a lower-paying job you love. It is the fastest, most direct path to reaching your “enough” number because it’s the only variable over which you have immediate and total control.
Related Article: “Money Dysmorphia: The Unseen Mirror of Your Finances“
Case Studies of Different Paths
The infinite rat race has a single, narrow path, while the world of authentic living has millions. Once you reject the default, you begin to see the other models of success that have existed all along, chosen by people who decided their “enough” number was more important than society’s “more” number. These are not theories; they are proven paths.
Consider the minimalist. This individual intentionally reduces their possessions to only the essential and the deeply meaningful. They are not living a life of lack; they are living a life of clarity. By choosing to own fewer, higher-quality things, they escape the cycle of consumer debt and constant upgrades.
A minimalist’s “enough” number is often low, granting them the flexibility to travel, create, or simply exist without the heavy burden of material possessions. Their wealth is not in what they own, but in what they don’t have to worry about.
Then there is the practitioner of Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE). This person plays the game of accumulation with different financial goals. They don’t save to buy more things; they save to buy back their time, permanently. These people often live on 50-70% of their income, aggressively investing the rest for freedom, not status.
Their “enough” number is typically calculated as 25 times their annual expenses. Once they hit this number, their investment returns can theoretically fund their lifestyle forever, allowing them to leave the traditional workforce in their 30s or 40s to pursue their true passions.
Finally, look at the Career-Changer who takes a “pay cut for peace.” This is the lawyer who becomes a baker, the executive who opens a small bookstore. These people make a conscious decision that their time and mental well-being are more valuable than a high salary.
They have defined their “enough” number and realized their high-stress job was producing a surplus they didn’t need at a cost they were no longer willing to pay. Career-Changers haven’t given up; they traded up for a life aligned with their authentic financial goals.
Building Your Authentic Action Plan
You have rejected the rat race, defined what truly matters, and calculated your “enough” number. Now, you must build the machine that makes it all happen. An authentic action plan is not a standard budget; it is a reverse-engineered roadmap from your ideal life back to today.
- Step 1: Confront Your Reality. Gather your financial documents. You must know your starting point with unflinching honesty. How much do you earn? Where does it currently go? This is not for judgment, but for diagnosis. Use a simple expense tracker to log every dollar for one month. The data you gather is the raw material for your plan.
- Step 2: Design a Cost of Existence Budget. Using your “enough” number as the absolute ceiling, build your new budget. This is not about what you can spend; it’s about what you need to spend to fund your authentic life. Start with your “Four Walls” (housing, utilities, food, transportation), then add the specific costs for your true financial goals (the art supplies, the travel fund, the charity donation). Assign every dollar of your enough number a job. What’s left over, the gap between your current income and this new, lower number, is your liberation fund.
- Step 3: Automate Your New Reality. This is the most critical step. Your willpower will fail you, but systems will not. Set up automatic transfers. The day you get paid, have money automatically move to your savings, your investments, and your goal-specific funds before you can spend it on anything else. Automate your bill payments. The goal is to make your authentic financial life the default, the path of least resistance. This is how you ensure your commitment survives the fleeting temptations of your old life.
**Disclaimer** I am an educated enthusiast of financial literacy and money management. The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. I am not a licensed financial advisor, planner, or counselor.
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- Featured image courtesy of Saepul Bahri from Vecteezy.