I spent 3 years chasing "financial freedom" before realizing I'd set the wrong goal entirely

For most of my twenties, my life goal was simple: hit a specific net worth number. I had it written on a sticky note on my monitor. Every financial decision ran through that filter — cut this expense, take this side gig, delay this purchase — all in service of a number I picked somewhat arbitrarily off a blog post years earlier.

I hit that number last year. And almost immediately, I felt... nothing. No finish line euphoria, no sense of arrival. Just a vague unease that I'd optimized my entire twenties for a milestone that turned out to be a proxy for something else I never actually defined.

What I actually wanted wasn't a number — it was time autonomy. The ability to say no to a shift, take a random Tuesday off, or spend two months near family without asking permission. Money was just one lever for that, and not even the most important one. Flexible work arrangements, low fixed costs, and a support network mattered just as much, and I'd basically ignored all three while I stared at a spreadsheet.

So now my goal has changed shape entirely. Instead of "reach X dollars," it's "reduce the number of things in my life that require someone else's permission." That's a much weirder goal to explain at a dinner party, but it's the one that actually maps to why I wanted the money in the first place.

Curious if anyone else has had a goal that, once achieved, revealed itself to be a stand-in for something else. How did you figure out what you actually wanted?