The 10k Trap: Is Your Happiness Tied to a Financial Milestone?

The magical 10k month.

I’m seeing this touted everywhere on social media.

It’s become the bar of “success” for a coach; you’ve made it when you hit this target.

Sure, 10 is a nice, round number and a good living.

There are lots of coaches promising to get you there, and they’re making money off of your “perceived” pain.

There are a few things I need to understand about myself before pursuing any goal:

Why? Why do I want X?

What am I making X mean?

Is X the only way I can achieve what I genuinely want?

Is my happiness dependent on achieving X? Why can’t I be happy now?

When I earn X amount of money, how will I plan on spending it, and what am I making those things mean? How do I plan on investing it?

Do I actually enjoy the process required to achieve X?

When I was in corporate, I made way more than 10k per month, and I fucking hated the work.

I thought the magical numbers I was chasing would compensate for the hatred — they didn’t.

I’m all for making money.