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\u201cNo matter how much money I have, on some level, it feels like it\u2019s never enough.\u201d Someone said this to me recently. But it wasn\u2019t the first time I\u2019d heard it.<\/p>\n
Over the years, I\u2019ve heard this a lot. It usually comes from one of two categories of people.<\/p>\n
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Do you ever feel like you never have enough, despite being financially stable? It\u2019s not uncommon, and it\u2019s something you can change.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Simon Letch<\/cite><\/p>\n The first category is people who are describing their actual financial situation: no matter how much income they earn, the money runs out before the next payday.<\/p>\n This category of people frequently haven\u2019t got the skills, systems or strategies in place to manage their income efficiently and save consistently. They need help with the \u201chow\u201d.<\/p>\n But what if you know the \u201chow\u201d? In fact, what if you\u2019re great at saving and investing? You have your ducks in a row. You earn good money, and you know, theoretically, that you\u2019re doing pretty well.<\/p>\n Logically, you know you should feel secure, successful, and maybe even content. But it still doesn\u2019t feel like enough.<\/p>\n You still find yourself chasing more, worrying about falling behind, nitpicking minor expenses, and unable to relax because you don\u2019t feel like you\u2019ve \u201cmade it.\u201d<\/p>\n This is the second category of people. On all accounts, they\u2019re doing great financially. But somehow, even though they can recognise it, emotionally, they can\u2019t feel it.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t uncommon, and despite what many think, it\u2019s not something that suddenly goes away once you hit a specific financial status.<\/p>\n In a Harvard study conducted on thousands of millionaires, participants were asked to predict the wealth increase they\u2019d need to increase happiness to a \u201cperfect 10\u2033.<\/p>\n Financial anxiety can sound pretty rational. Doesn\u2019t everyone want to be more financially successful?<\/p>\n The majority of respondents across all wealth levels, whether they had a net worth of $1 million or $10 million, said they\u2019d need anywhere from at least a 100 per cent to 1000 per cent increase in wealth. It turns out that even many multi-millionaires feel like it\u2019s \u201cnot enough\u201d.<\/p>\n How do we make sense of this? And what can you do about it? In my experience talking to people about this, I see a few common patterns.<\/p>\n Sometimes, if you dig underneath the \u201cnever enoughness\u201d, you may find anxiety.<\/p>\n This can be tricky to identify because anxiety can sound pretty rational. Doesn\u2019t everyone want to be more financially successful? Isn\u2019t frugality just being financially responsible?<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to tell where a healthy level of concern stops and anxiety starts, but here are some questions to ask yourself:<\/p>\n If some of the above rang true, then anxiety might be driving your feeling of never enoughness.<\/p>\n When it comes to money, anxiety can be tough to let go of because, on paper, it can seem as though the anxiety is driving good financial results. Thanks to anxiety, your spending is under control, you save more money than most, and you\u2019re diligent with your finances.<\/p>\n But anxiety can also hold you back from taking good risks, result in procrastination, and rob you of the ability to actually enjoy your financial success.<\/p>\n The good news is that you can unlearn anxious thought patterns. It won\u2019t happen overnight, but there are many tools that can help you reduce anxiety, like therapy, meditation, and journaling.<\/p>\n Another common driver for the feeling never enoughness is social comparison.<\/p>\n Wealth provides the perfect fodder for comparison because of how quantifiable and visually apparent it can be. It\u2019s easier to compare bank accounts than life satisfaction.<\/p>\n This can lead to constant dissatisfaction with one\u2019s current level of financial achievement because there\u2019s always someone else who has more.<\/p>\n To some degree, this is natural. Humans are social beings so social comparison is inevitable.<\/p>\n But excessive social comparison can negatively impact our quality of life. It can lead to an exhausting, never-ending chase for more and a life that is lived for others instead of ourselves.<\/p>\n Social media doesn\u2019t help, which is why today, while it\u2019s harder than ever, it\u2019s also more important than ever to cultivate practices that help us stay present to our own personal values.<\/p>\n In doing so, you\u2019ll slowly stop allowing the world to define what you should aspire to, and start to realise that your definition of enough is entirely up to you.<\/p>\n Paridhi Jain is the founder of <\/i><\/b>SkilledSmart<\/i><\/b>, which helps adults learn to manage, save and invest their money through financial education courses and classes<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n