Life is easy: it's all about addition and/or subtraction. Want to lose weight? Work out more and/or eat less. Want to be rich? Work more and/or spend less.
You can never be too rich or too thin in America, so that's pretty much all you need to do to achieve the American dream. Our society rewards us automatically for these things anyway. It's finding satisfaction with life after you've achieved these simple goals that's the challenging part.