The NBA championship (Basketball) is set to resume shortly, thanks to the players all being housed in a bubble at the Disney World campus in Florida. Several players have complained about the food and the rooms, but Kiwi player Steven Adams uttered four simple, yet powerful words, when asked by reporters how things were going. “This is not Syria.”

Adams recently celebrated his birthday within the bubble and while he had plenty of cause for complaint, he flipped the script and focused on the positive. Sure, he is away from family for a short time, eating average food and not in his normal accommodation, but he put things into perspective. There are people much worse off than he.

This was refreshing to see and is one of the key traits in achieving financial freedom. Being grateful for what you have. Grateful for where you are. Not always demanding more. This attitude allows you to stop chasing material things for your happiness, and to be happy with what you have. This has the great side effect of also spending less.

It’s especially refreshing to see from a multi-millionaire and I hope that more people can frame their thinking in this way. Then we may be able to reduce our excess consumption and our continual chase for more money and more things. More is not the answer. Otherwise you will never be happy with enough.