to merge with what to work on
Things to decide
Yes or no
First and foremost, do you want to do great work? Decide. Choose your hard.
Determination
Second, how much do you want it? There are those who want it, and there are those who want it:
If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery—isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you’ll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you’re going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight there is.
― Charles Bukowski
Which group are you?
Sacrifice
What are you willing to give up? What’s non-negotiable?
Drive
What drives you? What does success mean to you? What do you want to see as you reflect on your life on your death bed?
How much money do you want and need? At what point do you plan to stop? Or do you want to work for as long as you can? Is there something you want to fight for once you have the ability to relax and not do hard things?
How much do you care about the impact of your work? Do you need all of your work to be for a cause you believe in? Or is it just a means to an end?
Do you want to make money to pursue art? Or do you require your pursuit of money to be something you consider art? Can you pursue both at the same time?
Would you work on something high-impact that you enjoy less than something that’s lower impact? How selfish do you want to be?
Let’s say you make way more money than you need. What do you plan to do with the excess?
What do you want?
Are you outcome oriented, process oriented, or understanding oriented? From Justin Mares’ blog:
Process oriented:
Rather than focus on the end goal (be a billionaire! Go to mars!), you focus on the process. Someone focused on the process portion of a life well-lived will focus less on headlines, and far more on the day-to-day, hour-by-hour of what one’s life looks like. Am I spending time with people I love and find amazing? Are my days structured in ways I enjoy? Am I able to travel, get sunlight, be healthy, and work the amount I want to?
The Archetype of this approach might be a digital nomad.
Outcome oriented:
This orientation goes well beyond just financial (though includes a fair number of people), but also includes those driven to solve problems in the world. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Nelson Mandela… these are people who (from the outside at least – they still won’t answer my phone calls) seem more motivated to achieve an outcome than they are by any day to day considerations
Archetype: a single-minded founder hell-bent on creating some outcome in the world or solving a specific problem.
Understanding oriented:
This group is motivated almost entirely by a desire to understand the universe. They are less focused on solving a problem or driving a specific outcome, and rarely consumed by how to craft each hour of their life.
Whether a scientist, independent researcher, philosopher, or whatever, there are a smattering of folks purely motivated by increasing their understanding of the world.
Essentially, these map to chasing impact/achievement, happiness/experience, and wisdom.
I asked mom which one she thinks I am. She said I’m 50% process, 25% understanding, 25% outcome. I think that’s actually pretty accurate. I initially thought I’d be more understanding-oriented, and then I realized the reason I want to learn non-stop is so that I can pursue meaningful goals, so that I can live a meaningful life. So I guess at the root of my drive is the desire to enjoy the day-to-day, and for now it seems like I’d struggle to enjoy life if I’m not working towards an outcome that excites me.
In this phase of my life I’m more understanding oriented. At times it feels like I’m revving my engines in neutral though.
There’s a fine line between precrastination and procrastination. My attempt to avoid the former sometimes feels and looks like the latter.
Distribution
How hard do you want to work?
Timeline
Do you want to work as much as you can1 in your early career to let things compound? Or do you want to spread it out a little? If the former, how extreme (compared to the average person)?
How long do you plan to play the game? How quickly do you need to see it come to fruition?
Specialization
Do you want to be exceptional at one thing or pretty good at a few? Which hats do you want to try?
What are you currently good at? What do you think you can get good at? What do you want to be great at?
What does the future look like? Is your skill going to be useful? Is it something anyone can learn? Are you replaceable with your set of skills and knowledge?
Ikigai
Who are you without your job?
Don’t get too attached to a hat just because you’ve worn it for a while and don’t know who you are without it.
Maybe a lot of people like your hat. Maybe they like it on you because they’re used to seeing you in it and familiarity is comforting. Maybe it’s a coveted hat. But do you like that hat? Do you want to wear that same hat forever?
When you’re young, try everything you want to try, even if it doesn’t feel like you.
Trying something doesn’t mean it’s now a part of your identity.
If you take a job you don’t like, so what? As long as you wanted to try it, it wasn’t a waste of time. How would you have known otherwise?
Take a chance! Or wait for it to wave at you in your dreams.
Remember that you are not defined by what you choose to do for work. You don’t have to choose right the first time.
We’re always changing, always becoming. The person we want to become is not static either.
Good reads:
- How to waste your career, one comfortable year at a time
- Why most people choose the wrong career
- 10 things I wish I knew about careers when I started
- Quit your job
- How to pick a career that actually fits you
- I Don’t Want to be a Founder and I Don’t Think You Do Either
- Your life is driven by network effects
- Choose good quests
Footnotes
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From How to Make Wealth: “Instead of working at a low intensity for forty years, you work as hard as you possibly can for four. This pays especially well in technology, where you earn a premium for working fast.” ↩