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Is That All There Is? When you're making money, but you're still not happy

By Christopher D. Lancette

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The American "can do" spirit has many entrepreneursthinking the sky's the limit. Trouble is, if the sky's thelimit, you'll always feel earthbound.

Knowing when to pronounce yourself successful can be a matter oflife and death. Although there are a lot of happy millionaires,there are also a lot of compulsively ambitious souls who are neversatisfied, no matter how many houses, cars and boats they have.Someone makes a million with a brilliant investment, and thenimmediately sets out to make two. Once that person has two, theadrenaline rush is too great to resist, and he or she lays plans toget into the $5 million club, and on it goes. If that's whatyou think life is all about, read no further.

I had a good buddy who for years got along beautifully byteaching sailing part time, waiting tables and brokering theoccasional sale of a boat. He lived simply, enjoyed his friendshipswith people from many walks of life, and never overvalued materialpossessions or status symbols. His go-with-the-flow demeanor lit uprooms. And although his pretax income was never more than $36,000,he was a happy camper.