Love What You Do

[Gosso]

I have thought a lot about this.  I have come to the conclusion that as long as I limit my career to the 40 hours per week that is required, then I'll be able to do the "fun" stuff in the evenings and weekends.

Gosso,

I was not so much talking about doing the "fun" stuff, as I was about considering the world of options about how to make money.  Starting your own company doing whatever you are good at or doing something you would like to be good at, digging for clams in Long Island Sound, being a tour guide in the Grand Canyon, developing a new product in your given industry.  These things might not make you rich and they would very likely require more than 40 hours per week, but they would greatly enhance your life experiences and they are possible now whereas later you might need to settle down and get a "real" job.

If you live more in your head then there must be some terrific ideas rattling around up there.  Consider exploring some of those ideas, that's where true greatness comes from.

Oh I see.  I was thinking more along the lines of moving to Thailand or Belize.  Or possibly backpacking through Europe.

But I do understand what you're saying.  This falls closer to the motto "Follow Your Bliss".  I like a lot of what this message is saying.

Here's an interesting alternative viewpoint.

http://blogmaverick.com/2012/03/18/dont ... ur-effort/

Not sure I agree totally, as I don't see this as an either/or scenario.  You can still pick what you like and work hard at it. But he makes a good point about the value of hard work.

Seems like this is the extreme extrovert opinion on the matter 

[MediumTex]

If you're young and you have many options and few commitments, you should make a list of ten things that you could realistically do with the next 1-2 years of your life.

When you have your list of ten things you should rank them in order from most to least crazy.

Once you have completed the rankings and see what the craziest thing on your list is, you should do that thing.

If you choose not to do the craziest thing on your list, put the list away and remind yourself to look at it in ten years.  Ten years from now when you look at the list you will think to yourself "Dang, I wish I had done that craziest thing, or even the second or third craziest things".  As you are thinking this ten years from now, you should put together a new list of ten things and repeat the process above.

[Gosso]

If you're young and you have many options and few commitments, you should make a list of ten things that you could realistically do with the next 1-2 years of your life.

When you have your list of ten things you should rank them in order from most to least crazy.

Once you have completed the rankings and see what the craziest thing on your list is, you should do that thing.

If you choose not to do the craziest thing on your list, put the list away and remind yourself to look at it in ten years.  Ten years from now when you look at the list you will think to yourself "Dang, I wish I had done that craziest thing, or even the second or third craziest things".  As you are thinking this ten years from now, you should put together a new list of ten things and repeat the process above.

Makes sense.  The hard part is building the list and then having the balls to do it.  Maybe start with the least crazy idea, then work your way up?

This reminds me of the last thing my grandfather said to me in his last few days, "Don't be afraid to take chances."  At the time I was only 15, and didn't fully understand what he was saying, but as I have gotten older/wiser this advise has "haunted" me.  He lived a good simple life -- he owned a 100 acre hobby farm which he loved and worked on it until the day he died at the age of 84.  To me he seemed to have had a good life, yet when reflecting on his life at the end he still thought he should have taken more chances.

[moda0306]

What if at the top of that list is to be one of those squirrel-flyers from the video you posted?

I'm not often much for extreme sports but to be honest that looked too awesome not to be tried... though probably not cutting it so close to the earth.

[MediumTex]

What if at the top of that list is to be one of those squirrel-flyers from the video you posted?

I'm not often much for extreme sports but to be honest that looked too awesome not to be tried... though probably not cutting it so close to the earth.

I would say that squirrel flying is probably not realistic for most people, so I assume it wouldn't make their lists.

[moda0306]

MT,

Don't you think it'd be possible to do it way up high in the sky for not too much more than sky-diving?  I mean I'm sure it gets difficult to master, but I'd imagine you could do quite a bit of fun stuff way up in the air.

[Gosso]

Here's a good reason not to attempt the wingsuit -- apparently the guy survived (0:59):

http://youtu.be/NNaL2lvdi6Q

Although I have gone bungee-jumping before.  I highly recommend it!  The worst part is the fear, worry, doubt, etc that goes on inside your head as you're standing on the platform.  Once you jump the fear turns into pure excitement and joy.  I know the next time I go it will be much easier.

[MediumTex]

Although I have gone bungee-jumping before.  I highly recommend it!  The worst part is the fear, worry, doubt, etc that goes on inside your head as you're standing on the platform.  Once you jump the fear turns into pure excitement and joy.  I know the next time I go it will be much easier.

Just make sure the cord doesn't break (:59):

http://youtu.be/1DDqL1GQP8g

[lazyboy]

This is a link to a cartoon from the New Yorker:

http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/I-sho ... 43390_.htm

[Gosso]

Although I have gone bungee-jumping before.  I highly recommend it!  The worst part is the fear, worry, doubt, etc that goes on inside your head as you're standing on the platform.  Once you jump the fear turns into pure excitement and joy.  I know the next time I go it will be much easier.

Just make sure the cord doesn't break (:59):

http://youtu.be/1DDqL1GQP8g

Touche!  I'll have to place that at the back of my mind for next time.  It'll help increase the fear/excitement factor!

This is a link to a cartoon from the New Yorker:

http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/I-sho ... 43390_.htm

LOL!  Brilliant!  There is a lot of sad truth in that.  It makes me zoom back from life and look at what it really is -- we have ~80 years to exist on the Earth, and we have a choice on what to do with it.  Although Ray Kurzweil may screw that up  ;)

[Gosso]

Here is an interesting blog post from Richard Branson, where he links to a short four minute clip of Viktor Frankl discussing the search for meaning:

http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/b ... or-meaning

This is kinda the anti-thesis to what Mark Cuban posted 

[Odysseusa]

- Is there a way to be true to who you are and still be a good employee?
Although we are valued as a good employee by the company, we may be laid off due to the uncertainty. Thus, please make sure you save and invest so that your profits each year from trading/investing at least exceeds the annual salary of your job.

- Does your career get easier as you age (I'm 27)?  
If it gets boring or easier, than find something more challenging and do not settle for what is easy.

- Does having a wife and kids increase your appreciation of your job/career,
since you have other people to worry about other than yourself?
It depends. A good/bad spouse can make or break a person financially. So choose one wisely... Beauty is only skin-deep...

[Tyler]

This is kinda the anti-thesis to what Mark Cuban posted 

Actually, Mark Cuban's own history is an anti-thesis to his post. The guy started broadcast.com simply because he wanted to listen to Indiana basketball games in Dallas, and used the proceeds from the sale to Yahoo to buy a professional basketball team. Yes he worked hard, but he absolutely followed his passion. 

[Gosso]

This is kinda the anti-thesis to what Mark Cuban posted 

Actually, Mark Cuban's own history is an anti-thesis to his post. The guy started broadcast.com simply because he wanted to listen to Indiana basketball games in Dallas, and used the proceeds from the sale to Yahoo to buy a professional basketball team. Yes he worked hard, but he absolutely followed his passion. 

Hmmm...that's interesting.  I guess what Cuban was saying is that even if you follow your passion you still need to bust your ass if you want achieve anything (if that's your goal)...it seems he may have been frustrated by the advise of simply follow your passion and life will be easy, which I agree is bull crap. 

Normally I don't like to read or follow the celebrity billionaires simply because they required an insane amount of luck and natural born talent to get to where they are.  Plus I do not strive to have that amount of power, fame, or money.

[lazyboy]

Here is an interesting blog post from Richard Branson, where he links to a short four minute clip of Viktor Frankl discussing the search for meaning:

http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/b ... or-meaning

This is kinda the anti-thesis to what Mark Cuban posted 

Thanks, Gosso, I really like the Victor Frankl video. There are more of them on You Tube. Here are some quotes attributed to him:

Resources for Recovering Resilience

      MORE ON MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING                   

Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) was an Austrian psychiatrist interned for almost three years in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. After the war, he developed an existential psychotherapy called logotherapy, which he wrote about in Mans' Search for Meaning.

Further thoughts on Man's Search for Meaning:

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.

[Quoting Nietzsche:] Those who have a 'why' can bear with almost any 'how.'

[Gosso]

Lazyboy, good stuff.  I watched a few more of his videos which I thought were quite good.  It makes you appreciate how good we have it, and how silly our perceived problems are.

[edsanville]

I think all the responses on this thread are interesting and valuable.  Here's a crazy article that has had a profound effect on me personally:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/0 ... get-a-job/

I was working as a researcher for the US government (Los Alamos National Lab) when I first read that article.  Now, I'm working for myself and making a lot more money, too.  Which is impressive, because the lab pay was pretty good.  Now I couldn't imagine having to get up at a specified mandatory time and "go in to work" everyday.  I just get up when I want to, and saunter into my home office in the next room every day.  Life is pretty good these days...  although I do tend to work 6-7 days per week.

[Gosso]

I think all the responses on this thread are interesting and valuable.  Here's a crazy article that has had a profound effect on me personally:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/0 ... get-a-job/

I was working as a researcher for the US government (Los Alamos National Lab) when I first read that article.  Now, I'm working for myself and making a lot more money, too.  Which is impressive, because the lab pay was pretty good.  Now I couldn't imagine having to get up at a specified mandatory time and "go in to work" everyday.  I just get up when I want to, and saunter into my home office in the next room every day.  Life is pretty good these days...  although I do tend to work 6-7 days per week.

Hmmm, seems interesting...I'm listening to his Podcast right now.  Normally I'm wary of self-help gurus but this guy seems decent.  Another red-flag is that he's a vegan, but I'll overlook that for the moment.

[edsanville]

I think all the responses on this thread are interesting and valuable.  Here's a crazy article that has had a profound effect on me personally:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/0 ... get-a-job/

I was working as a researcher for the US government (Los Alamos National Lab) when I first read that article.  Now, I'm working for myself and making a lot more money, too.  Which is impressive, because the lab pay was pretty good.  Now I couldn't imagine having to get up at a specified mandatory time and "go in to work" everyday.  I just get up when I want to, and saunter into my home office in the next room every day.  Life is pretty good these days...  although I do tend to work 6-7 days per week.

Hmmm, seems interesting...I'm listening to his Podcast right now.  Normally I'm wary of self-help gurus but this guy seems decent.  Another red-flag is that he's a vegan, but I'll overlook that for the moment.

Don't get me wrong... he's quite a whack-job in many ways.  But, that's sort of the appeal for me...  he doesn't care about conventional wisdom, or "What's Hot."  He's like a fountain of unique ideas, and it's up to you to separate the wheat from the chaff.

[HB Reader]

I think all the responses on this thread are interesting and valuable.  Here's a crazy article that has had a profound effect on me personally:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/0 ... get-a-job/

I was working as a researcher for the US government (Los Alamos National Lab) when I first read that article.  Now, I'm working for myself and making a lot more money, too.  Which is impressive, because the lab pay was pretty good.  Now I couldn't imagine having to get up at a specified mandatory time and "go in to work" everyday.  I just get up when I want to, and saunter into my home office in the next room every day.  Life is pretty good these days...  although I do tend to work 6-7 days per week.

I like both the article and the website.  I also find my home office and "retired investor hours" a much better alternative than trudging into a US government office for 5-6 days a week, although I generally liked my former job.  I just got here at a fairly early age by saving and investing carefully beginning with my first paycheck and marrying a like-minded woman.  Being exposed to HB's early books and newsletter helped too.  I guess "there is more than one path up Mt. Fuji" (or something like that!).     

[Gosso]

Here is an interesting article from TIME that claims most people reach happiness at the age of 33:

“The age of 33 is enough time to have shaken off childhood naiveté and the wild scheming of teenaged years without losing the energy and enthusiasm of youth,”? psychologist Donna Dawson said in the survey’s findings. “By this age innocence has been lost, but our sense of reality is mixed with a strong sense of hope, a ‘can do’ spirit, and a healthy belief in our own talents and abilities.”?
...
Many respondents claimed that their happiness at 33 came from fulfillment in their professional lives, as well as having a support system of family and friends. Not surprisingly, 36% said they were happiest when they had children.

This hits on the questions I asked in the OP.  So I suppose my desire for world domination will fade in a few years