Most people optimize for bank account growth, but should measure investments by their return to lifestyle: time freedom, health, relationships, peace of mind. Money can't buy back stress. You probably need less than you think if your finances actually match what you value.
Most people are optimizing for the wrong thing. When we think about investing, we typically think, how can I make my bank account grow? But your investments should actually be tied to a return on lifestyle. We should optimize for non-traditional wealth. And I define non-traditional wealth as freedom of time, freedom of health, freedom of relationships, and most importantly, freedom of mind. Because all the money in the world doesn't matter if I'm up in the middle of the night staring at the ceiling, super stressed out. My wealth is not serving me. So if we can actually tie our wealth to our values and create the life that we want to create, That's where most people should be focusing. And it turns out we typically don't need as much money as we think to create that optimal lifestyle, as long as we are tying our wealth to strategies that serve our values.
