The Fulfillment Curve- When ‘Enough’ is Enough

Does spending money increase fulfillment? To an extent, probably. All else being equal, we probably feel more fulfilled in a position where quality shelter, food, and clothing are at hand, as opposed to being in a chronic state of severe poverty.

But exactly how much satisfaction can be purchased?

I’m currently reading ‘Your Money or Your Life’ by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez, which far exceeded my already high expectations going in. The authors describe the point of ‘enough’, the upper limit of fulfillment that can be reached specifically through spending money on things.

Their Fulfillment Curve explains it best; I recreated a similar curve below.

Mostly self-explanatory…

I’ll let Robin and Dominguez explain what the point of ‘enough’ is. “At the peak of the Fulfillment Curve we have enough. Enough for our survival. Enough comforts. And even enough little ‘luxuries’. We have everything we need”.

As you can see, beyond the point of enough, the curve doesn’t simply level off. Living in a state of excess not only fails to add fulfillment, it actually decreases it. Spending more money can actually cause us to become unhappier?

“(At the point of enough) there’s nothing extra to weigh us down, distract or distress us, nothing we’ve bought on time, have never used, and are slaving to pay off”.

It all relates to one of the main concepts in the book- that of ‘Life Energy’. Our time on earth is finite, therefore we only have so much Life Energy with which to work. By investing our time, energy, and resources into material gain beyond the point of enough, we certainly aren’t using it wisely. We’re drowning in our excess.

Obviously we must know where ‘enough’ is, otherwise we could easily blow right past it without realizing it until later. Essentially, we must become more and more conscious with what we spend our money on. The authors do a tremendous job putting forth a plan to do just that, so I won’t do them any injustice by attempting to summarize their work here.

The fact that the Fulfillment Curve falls beyond ‘enough’ is a testament to the fact that we humans desire meaning in our lives. We may attempt to trick ourselves into the delusional belief that we can fulfill the hunger within with gluttonous consumerism, but the gaping emptiness reveals that it isn’t working. The Fulfillment Curve falls because we know, deep down, that we should instead invest in self-actualization; in becoming part of something bigger than ourselves. When we do this, our meaning and fulfillment can absolutely blow away that which can be had through things.

Check this…

This altered Fulfillment Curve shows what’s possible when we forget about searching for happiness in things and turn our attention to achieving what matters most to us.

The vertical line that begins at the point of enough is one that the authors talk about in the book. At this point a person knows they have enough, and they invest more of their time and energy in pursuits that mean a great deal to them. The person can achieve much greater fulfillment with the financial and material means they already have. Volunteering is a good example. So is a person who forgoes more luxuries to cut back on work and spend more time raising their family.

The diagonal line is another possibility. After a person has enough, spending more money doesn’t necessarily decrease fulfillment; it depends on what we spend it on. If we shift our attention away from increasing our material well-being and invest our resources in causes that we are deeply passionate about, we can rise far above the material fulfillment ceiling. For example, a well-off individual begins a non-profit to address local environmental issues, and the organization’s goals are more effectively met because of the healthy capital infusion.

Of course, neither of these alternative routes are easy. It’s much easier (and common) to continue seeking fulfillment in the material world even when we have enough. It’s probably frightening to admit that one has enough though- it forces us to really ask ourselves what we want out of life, or even question what our purpose is, but it might be the only way we can live for something greater than consumerism.