Life Plan?

Off Topic
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[quote]nephorm wrote:
Professor X wrote:
It takes sacrifice to actually achieve anything worthwhile in life. Let’s stop pretending as if this is not the case.

If no one was willing to put certain desires on hold to reach a goal, there would be no doctors, engineers or lawyers…and while we could benefit from far less lawyers, we need the rest.

Agreed.

Extraordinary people are that way because they knew when to sacrifice something to reach a goal.

People who claim they never want to sacrifice anything rarely achieve much of anything.

The question is not necessarily about accomplishment, it is about fulfillment. Happiness. Accomplishments are wonderful, and the weight an individual gives to accomplishments is at least somewhat determined by his culture and education.

In the midst of pluralism - in which most of us are - there are very many valid, honorable paths to choose. One must know oneself well enough to be assiduous in the pursuit of goals necessary to be happy - to lead a life well lived. By which I do not mean to imply a life devoted to sensual pleasures, which would be appropriate to cattle and not human beings.

Nor do I mean to imply that one’s goals cannot be directed toward others, as opposed to oneself.

A person might be happier as a farmer and father than as a CEO, despite having incredible business aptitude or accumen. There is little sense sacrificing for things - even exceptional things - from which one does not derive great value.

And this is a problem because we do not have access, as human beings, to full knowledge of the consequences of our actions, and therefore might fall well short of our goals, gaining nothing, and because we do not know whether those goals, once attained, will truly fulfill us or bring the happiness we hoped for.[/quote]

You have a choice of either to take the chance that your goals are actually what will bring you happiness…or to avoid ever trying for fear that your time might be wasted or that you might fail.

Of course it is a risk, a risk that anyone who has achieved something significant took to get there.

You either play the stock market or bury your money.

From what I recall, there is whole biblical passage on burying your talents.

62

Goal 1- Be out of debt by my 29th birthday.

Goal 2- Get certified as a personal trainer by my 29th birthday.

Goal 3- Start family

Goal 4- Get out of military

Goal 5- Make and save lots of money

Just some things that came to mind.

65
  1. Fuck bitches.
  2. Get money.
66

[quote]nephorm wrote:
Professor X wrote:
It takes sacrifice to actually achieve anything worthwhile in life. Let’s stop pretending as if this is not the case.

If no one was willing to put certain desires on hold to reach a goal, there would be no doctors, engineers or lawyers…and while we could benefit from far less lawyers, we need the rest.

Agreed.

Extraordinary people are that way because they knew when to sacrifice something to reach a goal.

People who claim they never want to sacrifice anything rarely achieve much of anything.

The question is not necessarily about accomplishment, it is about fulfillment. Happiness. Accomplishments are wonderful, and the weight an individual gives to accomplishments is at least somewhat determined by his culture and education. In the midst of pluralism - in which most of us are - there are very many valid, honorable paths to choose. One must know oneself well enough to be assiduous in the pursuit of goals necessary to be happy - to lead a life well lived. By which I do not mean to imply a life devoted to sensual pleasures, which would be appropriate to cattle and not human beings. Nor do I mean to imply that one’s goals cannot be directed toward others, as opposed to oneself.

A person might be happier as a farmer and father than as a CEO, despite having incredible business aptitude or accumen. There is little sense sacrificing for things - even exceptional things - from which one does not derive great value. And this is a problem because we do not have access, as human beings, to full knowledge of the consequences of our actions, and therefore might fall well short of our goals, gaining nothing, and because we do not know whether those goals, once attained, will truly fulfill us or bring the happiness we hoped for.[/quote]

The paradox that is life in so many words?

I hope no one read my post earlier as “sit around and wait for something good to happen” because that’s not the point I was trying to make. Anything you want for yourself you need to relentlessly pursue, or it’s never going to happen. The weights don’t lift themselves do they?

I’ve never been terribly career goal oriented. I look at work as a means to allow me to do the things that enrich my life, not as my job being what defines me. If you have a job you love great, if not my Dad always told me “If it were meant to be fun it wouldn’t be called work.”

67

I have simple plans…I don’t ever really need to be super rich or famous or powerful. I just want to be healthy and marry someone really great (although the WHEN of that is tough to predict) and have kids and be comfortable financially. I want to travel a lot too before having kids. So i’m attempting to accomplish part of that this year by meeting a ton of new people and i’ve already got trips in the works to Cancun in the spring and Europe in the summer.

Other shit is all secondary. Career I take for granted, I have that shit locked up since i’m super good at what I do and my field happens to be hugely in demand and is poised to remain that way. If I had a ton of money saved up I might switch to something I enjoy more like teaching or something. But it’s hard to say - I don’t hate my job right now and every career has it’s pros and cons. I spent a lot of time weighing them and giving myself a huge headache planning what my perfect job would be when i’m not sure it exists. Every job gets old eventually.

Right now my job is OK but it pays great, and honestly, anyone who says compensation shouldn’t matter for the job you pick is crazy. It’s a huge weight off my mind to not have to worry about finances for the foreseeable future and it allows me to afford trips to awesome places.

Working out is also secondary, it supplements my other goals, making me more attractive and healthy so my other goals are easier for me to accomplish. Health and happiness also go together quite a bit.

68

[quote]Professor X wrote:
You have a choice of either to take the chance that your goals are actually what will bring you happiness…or to avoid ever trying for fear that your time might be wasted or that you might fail.

Of course it is a risk, a risk that anyone who has achieved something significant took to get there.

You either play the stock market or bury your money.
[/quote]

To use your example - even exceptional investors do not put all of their money into stocks, nor do exceptionally thrifty people bury all of their money. Each must spend some measure of it in accordance with his or her needs. A spendthrift spends all of it without caring for the future.

My point is that one should probably strive in life to do what one would also do with regard to financial investments: diversify.

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Diversifying requires planning.

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[quote]streamline wrote:
Diversifying requires planning.[/quote]

Yes. So… what?

I didn’t argue against planning.

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[quote]nephorm wrote:
streamline wrote:
Diversifying requires planning.

Yes. So… what?

I didn’t argue against planning.[/quote]

I’m not suggesting you were.

Those not willing to plan their life are least likely to succeed. Therefore their achievements will be minimal at best. Althought finacial success is not goal suited to everyone. What ever their quest the best chances of success is through planning.

To diversify their life for multiple achievements. In hopes of increasing their chances of happiness or furfillment. Would require greater planning. How does this help if you aren’t willing to plan your life.

72

Life requires a certain amount of looking around and “diversifying” if you will, but it also requires you to put your head down and DO SOME DAMN WORK sometimes.

I think I know what X is talking about. During my college career I started in Computer Science, but got discouraged for multiple reasons. I then took classes in Geology, Psychology, and Photography looking for what was best for me. I looked around too much because I was afraid to make a decision about what to do about my career. In all reality though, I think it didn’t matter so much what I went into - every job has it’s pros and cons and I wasn’t going to accomplish anything if I kept doubting myself and thinking the grass was greener on the other side.

But to be honest I don’t regret looking around that much - I think some looking around is healthy. But honestly I see that if I hadn’t ended up making a decision I might not have graduated and I could still be there, trying out yet ANOTHER major.

Moral of the story - look before you leap but don’t look too long or you’ll never leap at all.

73

Gotta love the anonymity of the internet

Career wise:

Volunteer with Police Dept. while still working, if it clicks with me I will try to become a Federal Agent in my field. (Kind of a reach though)

Extracurriculars:
-Powerlifting meets this year
-Next year start competing in BJJ: doing recreationally now would like to get serious while I’m still young, quick and healthy.
-Get back into Powerlifting after a few years with an eye on an elite total eventually
-NOT get married
-If the agent thing doesn’t work out I’ll probably stay at my job and work security at this arena nights and weekends- gotta keep things interesting. Either that or volunteer with the Police or Fire Dept during my off time