Why Getting Rich Might Ruin Your Life

You Got Rich. Now What?

Imagine this. You follow Asymmetric Finance principles, apply them with patience and conviction, and in five to seven years, you’re independently free. Not just financially stable. Free.

(And honestly, I don’t think that’s unrealistic at all.)

You’ve built a system that throws off cash every month. Your core assets are untouchable. You’ve stopped selling, stopped chasing, and started living.

And yet.

Some days I wake up, sit in silence, no calls, no alarms, no demands. The day is mine. And it hits me, this can’t be it. This can’t be the end goal.

Freedom without direction is just a prettier prison.

So today I want to show you how I would design my life, and how I think you should design yours, once you’re free. Not just to avoid the trap of meaningless comfort. But to actually enjoy the freedom you’ve earned.

Step 1 is brutally simple: define your “enough”.

Write it down. How much cashflow per month do you need to live well, travel when you want, eat how you like, support your family, and sleep without stress? Be honest. This number is lower than you think. If you’ve already hit it, then your job changes. You’re no longer building to get free. You’re building for alignment.

If you don’t define “enough,” the game never ends. You keep climbing, keep grinding, keep optimizing something that no longer matters.

And that’s how you end up rich and empty.

Step 2: audit your calendar.

This one stings. Because money gives you leverage, but time shows whether you’re actually using it. Pull up your week and ask yourself: how much of this time feels chosen? How many blocks are things you said yes to without thinking? How much space do you have to think, train, rest, or create?

Design begins here.

If your life is just a tighter version of the same corporate treadmill you escaped, you’re not free. You’re just better dressed.

I made a rule: no meetings before 10am, no standing calls after 3pm. Not because I’m special. But because I want to write, train, walk, and be present. I want space to think. Your rules will be different. But make them yours.

Step 3: curate your people.

Money makes it easy to end up isolated or surrounded by yes-men. Real wealth is choosing who you work with, who you build with, who you laugh with. Make a list of the five people who energize you. Spend more time with them. Send them your calendar link. Prioritize them.

And slowly, start saying no to everyone else.

Relationships are multiplicative. One toxic person ruins your month. One aligned collaborator changes your year. If you don’t design your social life with the same precision you use to build your portfolio, don’t be surprised when it feels empty.

Step 4: define your work box.

Once your flow covers your life, the question shifts. It’s no longer “what makes money?” It becomes “what do I want to master?” What game do I still want to play? What work would I do for free but happens to also make money?

Don’t overthink it.

Maybe you want to write, build a product, back other founders, or create content. Maybe it’s land restoration, software, design, or helping others optimize their lives. But it has to be yours. Work you chose, not work you inherited.

I think of it like this: once my core assets are untouchable, my work becomes a long bet on who I want to become.

No one teaches you this in traditional finance. Because most people never get here.

Step 5: invest in your base layer.

Health isn’t a luxury. It’s leverage. Your body is the multiplier on everything else. No energy, no clarity. No sleep, no strategy. No strength, no stability.

Pick one habit and get obsessive about it for 30 days.

Maybe it’s walking 10,000 steps, sleeping eight hours, lifting three times a week, or quitting sugar. Track it. Optimize it. Build the foundation for the rest of your system. I spent years focused on cashflow, but now my top three KPIs are resting heart rate, sleep consistency, and physical energy.

This is the design.

Not a fantasy. Not a retreat in Bali. But a hard-edged system for living on your terms.

It starts with defining enough. Owning your calendar. Curating your circle. Choosing your work. And optimizing your health.

Freedom isn’t the goal. It’s the starting point.

Once you’re free, the real work begins.