I do think it's important to set targets. I've done IT work for a lot of wealthy people (typically the owners of the business) over the years & have seen the "treadmill trap" they fall into where 'enough is never enough'. I remember the first time I ran into this, the guy had like tens of millions of dollars, jet airplanes, mansions all over the country, etc., and was just never satisfied. I can understand the principle of constantly extending your reach for continued personal growth, but I think it also prevented him from enjoying a lot of things because he was trying to fill a void that couldn't be filled.
I think you need a balance as well. You're going to die someday, and you can save all you want for retirement & drop dead of a heart attack the day you retire. Now, that's not a license to live only for today, save nothing, and spend everything, but again - you need a balance. From what I've seen, most people are content to simply coast through life without ever questioning what they want from it or how they want to live it, so they miss out on a lot of great things now & in the future.
Back when I did career counseling stuff, I would walk people through a checklist to funnel them down into actionable choices, and then pair them with experiences to learn about particular jobs or types of jobs. I've modified that approach in the time since then to include the question of finances. It's actually become the first question I ask: how much money do you want to make?
Our society is still fair taboo about this, but it's more of a question of lifestyle design than anything, really. I usually tell the story of my friend's dad...he's one of the guys who got me into electronics & taught me about computers, but he drove a school bus for something like $24k a year full-time. Keep in mind here that I'm not knocking the job whatsoever, but for him, he was self-limiting his potential because he went into ostrich-mode, stuck his head in the sand, and refused to look at any other career options, for reasons I don't understand. He could have been making well in excess of $100k a year with his talents, but simply refused to think about the future & look at different options. So there's kind of a pendulum, in a couple respects:
1. Living for today & the future...not partying non-stop in the "now", but also not waiting for retirement to enjoy life
2. Finding a job that fits your needs financially, without cutting yourself short through inaction to improve your situation, but also not being suckered into the endless chase for the dollar
One thing I've learned over the years is that pretty much everything in life boils down to a simple, clear checklist, and it's when we either stray from that or simply don't define it that we get into trouble. Success isn't that complicated, but unless you lay the foundation by defining what you personally want, then things will always be hazy, which usually leads to sub-par, diffused results.
I've applied these concepts in my own life with pretty good success. Sometimes this meant getting jobs to pay the bills, and sometimes this meant on passing higher-paying career opportunities to ensure that I stay doing what I love every day. When I was a kid, I was pretty low-energy (still am, just have to manage it haha) & dreamed of a good-paying job where I could be a slacker. Lo & behold I actually got that job, and it turned out to immensely unsatisfying because of the underlying principles of what makes us tick as humans (i.e. we have a strong need to use our talents to contribute to serving others in some societal capacity).
Eventually I matured (a bit) & got onboard the train of 1, figuring out what kind of lifestyle I wanted & what kind of pay that required, 2, figuring out where I got my fulfillment from (work & also outside of work), and 3, discovering that making a contribution to society actually feels pretty good & was something that I actually wanted to do as a career, rather than just working at a job & coming home & playing video games all the time. I've been fortunate to be able to find a good balance between getting the income I needed to pursue the lifestyle I wanted & also immensely enjoying what I do day to day so that I don't dread going into work on a daily basis.
So, I think it's a great question with a multi-faceted answer. To get started, ask yourself this: if you won twenty million in the lottery tomorrow & never had to work another day in your life & got all of your bills & debts paid off...what would you do with the rest of your life? I'm not talking about the knee-jerk reaction of buy an island, sit around all day, and do handouts, but really, seriously think about what kind of work you'd do if you didn't have to work.
This is a pretty powerful prompting question because it helps to clarify personal meaning in our lives, rather than floating down the river of life & being reactive to whatever comes our way. I think living a proactive life is a far more fun & enjoyable way to live life than just taking what comes along & dealing with it. The danger here, of course, is that you get on that endless treadmill of chasing the dollar, so you never really obtain fulfillment because you've set yourself up so that you can never get it.
So again, there's kind of a pendulum between being a slacker & being insatiable, financially-speaking. imo, finding a calling of sorts where you're both making enough to suit your desired lifestyle, but where you also don't hate going into work, is a really good goal to work towards. Not everyone gets their fulfillment from work, which is important to keep in mind, but I also think not dreading the thought of going in every day is a pretty big deal haha. Again, a simple checklist on paper, but most of us never really think about it to the degree where we both define it & let it dictate our day to day actions in pursuit of it. I've had some pretty dumb jobs because I ignored these principles, and I have a much more enjoyable one now because I paid attention to them!
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