Jay and I used to talk about this: we never had a goal of making

Host: The early morning light filtered softly through the blinds, casting long, delicate shadows across the room. The air was cool, carrying the scent of rain from the night before. Jack sat on the edge of the couch, his fingers wrapped around a mug of coffee that had long gone cold. Jeeny stood by the window, looking out at the quiet street, lost in thought. There was something in the stillness between them—something almost tangible, as if both of them were waiting for something to break the silence.

Host: The hum of the world outside seemed muffled, as if the entire world was holding its breath, waiting for a spark. The quote Richard M. DeVos had spoken—about goals, success, and the pursuit of something greater than money—lingered in the air like a question neither of them had yet answered. Jeeny turned from the window, her eyes searching Jack's face, as if she had already made up her mind on what the words meant, but she was waiting for him to come to the same conclusion.

Jeeny: She spoke first, her voice soft but filled with conviction: “I’ve been thinking about what DeVos said. About how Jay and he never had the goal of making a lot of money. They wanted to have a business of their own, something that was theirs, something they built. They could have sold out, taken the money, and walked away. But that was never the goal.”

Jack: His voice was a little distant, as though he had already heard the same words a thousand times, but still couldn’t grasp their meaning. “Yeah, but that’s easy to say when you’re already rich, isn’t it? When you’ve built something and you’re already comfortable, it’s easy to talk about goals that don’t revolve around money. For the rest of us, money is the only thing that keeps us going. It’s the one thing we can measure our success by.”

Jeeny: She walked over to the couch, sitting down beside him. There was a gentle urgency in her voice as she continued: “But maybe that’s the point. They had something more than just the pursuit of wealth. They didn’t care about the billions they could have made. They wanted something that would last. Something that wasn’t defined by the numbers in a bank account, but by the legacy they built. There’s a difference, Jack. A business, a life, built on passion and purpose can mean so much more than just profit.”

Host: Jack’s eyes flickered, as though he was trying to see the world through her eyes—through a lens that wasn’t focused solely on results or money. The quiet between them thickened again, but this time, it wasn’t as uncomfortable. It was as if the question had been raised, and now they both stood at the edge of an answer, looking down into the possibility of it.

Jack: His voice was low, almost reflective: “I don’t know, Jeeny. I get it. I do. But we live in a world that runs on money. The more you have, the more you can do. It feels like there’s always pressure to keep growing, to keep expanding. If you don’t, you’re just… stuck. I don’t know if I could ever walk away from all that. Could you?”

Jeeny: There was a quiet strength in her response, the kind of strength that came from years of believing in something deeper than what the world told her was important. “I don’t think it’s about walking away, Jack. It’s about knowing that there’s more than just what we can hold in our hands. A business, a life, a purpose—it’s about building something that’s meaningful. Something that’s yours—not for the money it brings, but for the way it makes you feel when you wake up every day. That’s a goal that’s worth chasing.”

Host: The clock on the wall seemed to tick louder now, as though the room itself had become a reflection of their thoughts—each second stretching out, waiting for one of them to say the right thing, to bring them closer to some understanding of what it meant to pursue a goal that wasn’t measured by numbers. Outside, the world moved on, as though unaware of the small revolution taking place between the two of them.

Jack: He leaned back, his hands slipping into his pockets, his eyes narrowing as though he were weighing something heavy in his mind. “I’ve spent most of my life chasing the idea that success means more—more money, more power, more things. I guess I’ve never really stopped to think about whether I wanted those things for the right reasons. Maybe, at the end of it all, it’s not about what we have, but what we leave behind.”

Jeeny: Her voice was soft, but the conviction behind it was undeniable: “Exactly. It’s not about what we take with us, Jack. It’s about what we build—what we give to the world, to the people around us. That’s what matters. And maybe, just maybe, that’s what makes a life worth living.”

Host: The light in the room seemed to shift as their words settled, as if the conversation itself had changed the atmosphere, pushing it toward something clearer, something stronger. Jack sat up a little straighter, his eyes still searching, but no longer as resistant. The moment hung in the air between them, a bridge built from the words of a man who had once dared to dream without the weight of wealth on his shoulders.

Jack: His voice was almost a whisper, the bitterness gone, replaced by something else—something new: “Maybe… maybe there’s more to life than what we’ve been told, huh? More than just the chase for the next dollar. Maybe it’s time to ask ourselves what we really want to build, instead of what we can buy.”

Jeeny: She smiled, the warmth in her eyes reflecting the understanding that had finally settled between them. “That’s the first step, Jack. Asking the right questions. And once we do, maybe the rest of it will come.”

Host: The silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable, but reflective. The world outside seemed a little quieter, and inside, something had shifted—like the first light of day breaking through a long, dark night. The conversation had touched on something larger, something more profound than either of them had expected.

As the morning light grew brighter, it felt like the world had opened up a little more. Not because they had all the answers, but because, for the first time, they understood that success wasn’t something you measured in money or power. It was something deeper, something that could only be built by the choices you made along the way. And perhaps, that was the most important thing of all.