Go see the world, before it's too late.
Reading some of the posts here, I feel like some of y'all really need to get out there and enjoy life more and stop stressing so much over your startup.
Travel the country/world, go to clubs, go to concerts, go to festivals, nurture your hobbies, experiment with crazy career paths, meet girls, get wild, and God forbid drink and party and do drugs a little while you're young.
This startup thing will always be there. Until you're old. It will always be there.
Your energy, your youth, your zest for life, and your current social circle will not.
I swear to God, you will NEVER regret not working more when you're on your death bed. You will NEVER regret not hitting $10k MRR in a year like all the other cool kids tooting their own horns on here. You will NEVER regret not squeezing out that extra 2 hours of coding on a weekend or not hitting 40 hours/week on your Pomodoro timer app.
You will probably regret not spending more time with your friends and family, not seeing more of the world, not living life to the fullest while you still have your health and vitality, not going after that crazy dream of yours (rock star, movie star, model, skateboarder, whatever!), not talking to that girl at that one party you went to, not learning surfing/skiing/new languages/musical instruments -- things of that nature.
Always hedge against a sudden death
At the risk of overusing trading lingo...
How are you hedging against the possibility of suddenly dying next year or next decade? Do you even accept that as a possibility?
I do. I take that possibility very seriously.
That's why I take profit on happiness early and often. Whatever makes me happy and takes my fancy, I do it now, not later -- no excuses. No such thing as "I'll do that once my startup hits $20k MRR" or any such arbitrary precondition.
Because the older I get, the more I realize that "do it later" often turns into "too late" and even more often turns into "never." If you want to do something, you have to do it now.
Don't forget that you don't know how much time you have left. That's the beauty of time. You can't turn back time to regain your youth, freedom, idealism, social circle, and joie de vivre. And worst of all, you don't even know how much time you have left, so unbeknownst to you, you might very well be running on a very short clock, all the while assuming that you'll live to 80 or 90.
People die early all the time -- average life expectancy be damned -- so don't get cocky.
Don't delay gratification until X happens when X may never come.
You have to ask yourself, if you died right now, would you be happy with the life you have led so far?
Personally I can say I'm 70-80% happy if I died now. Sure, there are a few more things I'd like to accomplish, but it has been an unbelievable ride so far.
My point is that don't assume you need to be old/sick to die suddenly, or that you'll live to a ripe old age. There are a myriad of ways you can die unexpectedly, including accident, overdose, overexertion, suicide, hell-- even homicide.
Don't get overconfident.
The time to be happy is now.
Delayed gratification can be a lie.
Delayed gratification is basically betting on future circumstances that we don't know, or even a future that we might not have. Worst-case scenario, you sacrifice everything for a future reward that never comes. You end up miserable, resentful, and regretful your whole life.
Don't make the mistake of assuming that you're owed something amazing for struggling/fighting your way through life. That's just struggle porn. In life, you can do everything correctly and conscientiously and still be denied the result that you want.
Accept this fact of life.
And this is why I say take profit on happiness early, often, and right now. That way you won't feel cheated if the reward you're gunning for doesn't materialize as promised or assumed. And you will not have wasted your life in drudgery if it all ends tomorrow or next year.
Because you don't want to be racing against time to be happy once death comes knocking on your door, or, worse, get caught with your pants down if death comes too quickly and too suddenly.
You want to be ready to die anytime just as you are ready to live anytime.
Edit: I realize this post might be a little philosophical and perhaps even overly prescriptive. After all, nobody likes to contemplate death, but the fact of the matter is that every day, hour, minute, and second that passes, we're inching closer and closer towards our death -- and we don't even know when that is, be it near or far. Just a reminder that life is short, so keep some perspective and smell some roses along the way. Your startup will be just fine. 🙂
I see what you are doing here my man.
Telling us to go outside so you can outwork us, smart move ahahhaha
Lol. 😎
I agree with you in a lot of ways. What if building your startup is a part of your rich life? What if you die and you wish you would have taken a chance on starting a business? These are things I think of. But yes, don’t let it overwhelm your life. Take some time off to explore the world!
I can't speak for everyone but I'm sure there are many that feels the same way as me.
Because building a successful startup is one of the most difficult things to do, it is such a rewarding experience. It is literally as fun as 12 y/o me playing Starcraft.
After completing an awesome feature, getting your first customer, getting positive feedback, all feels really amazing. All that hard work paying off. You also get to experience extreme lows when things don't work out, which makes the highs that much better.
What I'm saying is that it is not "work". My startup is the first thing I think after I wake up and the last thing before I go to sleep. It is a real addiction; unhealthy? Maybe. Fun? Hell yea it is.
I absolutely get what you're saying.
We're all passionate about building a startup to some degree, otherwise we wouldn't even touch this with a 100-foot pole; there are so many easier ways to make a living.
My intention with this post is basically to remind people to not put any other plans they might have for their lives on hold, just because they think they need to build a successful startup first before they can relax.
You know how some people rarely go out or take vacations or even date because they're too focused on their careers?
These are the people who will regret it most if they died early.
They're working hard to secure a tomorrow which may never come.
I've seen it within my own social circle too many times, especially in 2020 with people dying suddenly from Covid with no warning.
All that delayed gratification... for nothing.
They literally lived and died for nothing.
Just registered to comment on this: cold harsh truth is: if we had the money for the freedom like traveling, we wouldn't eagerly try to develop an successful indie startup would we? .
Things like traveling, buying a nice car etc, these are things we all wanna do and have but cant because we don't have the resources available yet. Why you think there are so many indie founders, or traders or crypt o-wannabes outside there? everyone wants a piece of that sweet pie called money. Because in the end money is the thing that grants you freedoms like traveling etc.
And sorry if it sounds hard but we live in a timeline where money is everything, EVERYTHING. So i cant identify with this kind of "motivational posts".
sorry just my 2 cents :)
I agree with you on so many bases. All this grind is for an adventurous youth and a fulfilling retirement. Work isn't the only thing, you don't even need to travel around the world, just go outside.
Glad you agree.
I guess it really boils down to life philosophy.
Those people who are pro-work over pro-life here are probably the same ones who will be stumped anyway on what they would do to fill up their days once they're retired.
Maybe for many of us, the main goal in life is to gain as much wealth as possible, they probably have personal reasons for that. And I don't blame them. I just appreciate the opportunity to live.
I loved it. Exactly what I needed this Monday morning. Had to be said! Thanks Jay!
Yes "Go see the world, before it's too late."
and also say it before its too late
Best Regards
Shoes Perk
Good one
Been dabbling with these thoughts for quite some time now, but also stuck in a position of the need for work - it's nice to go out and enjoy at a specific moment, but IMO you won't find purpose from life from sitting on a beach enjoying a mojito (don't get me wrong I would love to do that lol).
Also IMO it's hard for some people to just pack up and go out and explore at any given moment (I.e. if you have a family it gets harder to plan) + if you're trying to save and build for the future it's almost a necessity to sacrifice present pleasure for the future. Delayed gratification can be a lie, but on the flip side let's say you do live until 100+ ... you could be screwing your future self potentially (just a thought).
Agreed! It's ironic how admitting the existence of death brings you closer to living, whether it's working on a start-up or traveling the world and getting drunk. Either way, I believe that BALANCE is the answer.
Love it! Apart from start-ups, I feel like achieving financial freedom in general has become the reason for many for hitting a pause on living life to the fullest. I absolutely agree - take profits on life early! As long as you have enough $ for rent, food & plane tickets, I'd say cut your working hours in half and invest in experiences. I believe there is great value in unconventional experiences as it's more likely provide unique ideas than following the work-store-bed cycle and saving as much $ as possible for "later". Sitting on a pile of cash with low energy to do anything seems hardly like a glorious destination to me. As a bonus, you can pretty much get hit by a bus tomorrow and at least know you experienced as much as possible.
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!” - Hunter S. Thompson
Valid point!
Love this, thank you!
So true, especially today.
A agree with this message.
Sudden death is always in the back of my mind, but sometimes a bit too much tho.
However, destroying my body with drugs, alcohol and late parties, nty.
Everyone says they are so much fun, but honestly those guys look miserable the day after, and will have health problems down the road. I think you can wonder, are those nights out really so much fun after all?
The last thing I want, is to be living with health problems, that isn’t really living to me.
They honestly look miserable the day they are doing it, not just the day after
Love the thoughts, but it goes both ways. If you're destined to die at 90, it would benefit you to have some sort of long-term plan. Obviously, your point of over-obsessing over something like MRR still stands. But my point is that the same inspection should be applied on the other possibility of living a long life.
Sadly, we all have to live in the vagueness of exactly when we will die. It'd be helpful to know, so we can know how to best use the time we have left. So maybe strike a balance, and plan for either case? :) Great write-up!
Volatility is the defined experience of life, sometimes it's best to stop tracking the trends and step outside.
Very valid point. Allow yourself time for gratification. It will provide the energy to work on your longterm goals
The Time is Right Now Start what you want to start, For me I started a website " Pandora app". Now I am taking this as a Business and earning from it.
Site:https://apptros.com/pandora-mod-apk/
I have to have faith that we're going to succeed in transforming where we get our energy from. The big worry is whether or not we're going to do it before it's too late. And I think nobody knows the answer to that. by https://kyte-tv.com/ & https://freeflix-hq.com/
This comment was deleted 4 years ago.
This comment was deleted 4 years ago.
exactly
This comment was deleted 3 years ago.
Understandable, have a nice day!
This comment was deleted 3 years ago.
Lol, of course.
That said though, I do realize my OP came across as overly prescriptive.
Guess I was just trying to drive home the point that life is short.