You've been chasing a number. And when you got there, the number moved.
Researchers have a name for it — the hedonic treadmill. Within about a year of reaching a new level of success or income, the feeling fades and the goalpost shifts. Solomon described it in Ecclesiastes thousands of years earlier: all is vanity and a striving after the wind.
In this episode, Seun Adeyemi asks the question most men have been quietly avoiding: how much is enough? And more importantly — who decided what your scorecard says?
Because if you haven't answered that consciously, something else already has.
In this episode:
\"The man who is always chasing the next number is perpetually half-present in every place that actually matters.\"
Key Scriptures: Ecclesiastes 1–2 · Hebrews 13:5 · Philippians 4:11–13 · 1 Timothy 6:6–8 · Matthew 25 (Parable of the Talents)
Referenced:
The Psychology of Money — Morgan Housel
Never Enough? 3 Keys to Financial Contentment - Ron Blue
📩 Subscribe to Reflections on The Next Chapter — a biweekly newsletter at the intersection of faith, family, and finance: links.seunadeyemi.ca/reflections
🎙️ The Next Chapter is for men who have built something — and are starting to ask what it was for.
CHAPTERS
00:00 The goalpost that never stops moving
01:20 The hedonic treadmill — research confirms the trap
01:57 Morgan Housel: the hardest financial skill to master
03:58 Solomon got there first — Ecclesiastes and vanity
04:48 Covetousness: the sin hiding behind ambition
05:54 Even the disciples weren't immune
06:42 Rajat Gupta, Bernie Madoff, and David
10:46 Saul and the compromise that looked like worship
12:45 Compromise is never justified — the means never justify the end
13:18 Money as tool, test, and testimony
15:03 Hebrews 13:5 — contentment anchored in a promise
15:45 Five principles of faithful stewardship
17:09 Why giving is the foundation, not the afterthought
18:40 The four uses of money: Live, Give, Owe, Grow
21:13 What giving actually does to money's hold on you
23:50 Philippians 4:11 — what contentment actually means
24:48 The Parable of the Talents: three things most people miss
30:01 How much is enough?
31:22 Reclaiming the word \"enough\"
33:14 Lifestyle creep: the silent goalpost mover
34:49 The question to carry with you
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