The goal is not to acquire, but to become. At your funeral people will remember what kind of person you were, not what kind of stuff you had. Your everyday life will need money, and no matter what you do, a fair measure of it will flow through your days. But beyond some minimal amount (way less than a billion) money is not important to who you become. Other assets like your character, your ethics, your work, your relationships, your word, your spirit, your drive – these are your real treasures. Use them to achieve your dreams.

– Kevin Kelly

This from the essay: A Billion Dollars.

One, you don’t need a billion dollars.

The goal is not to acquire, but to become. How do you become? You do. How do you become a baker? You bake. You bake badly.

How do you become a photographer? You shoot photographs. You photograph badly.

Required reading.

Kelly, Kevin. “A Billion Dollars.” KK (Substack newsletter), August 24, 2026. https://kevinkelly.substack.com/p/a-billion-dollars.