Ask HN: What aspects of life are you deferring until you're successful and rich?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9995091

by hoodoof • 11 years ago

21 31 11 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

sneak• 11 years ago

Learning to sail, learning to soar, learning to dive.

davewiner3• 11 years ago

Don't do it. Start now, because what you'll find out if you're successful and rich is that what's standing in the way of a happy life have nothing to do with success or money.

People use the chase for success in various forms as a way of avoiding self-knowledge. In some ways the worst thing that will ever happen to you is if you make the big bucks. Then you won't have an excuse for not knowing yourself. So what do the super-motivated people do then? They pick another milestone to shoot for before they'll start living.

Start now. Don't wait for anything to happen. You are alive in every way that's meaningful, now.

hoodoof3• 11 years ago

Was there anything Dave that you were holding off till you became successful - by whatever your definition of that is.

davewiner3• 11 years ago

Yes, everything.

I put so much value in achieving all the goals my family set for me. I figured everyone would love me when I was a success. So I checked off everything on the list, and I mean everything. Nothing changed. Of course. I know that now, but I wish someone had told me before.

Live for yourself, do what you want to do. When other people tell you what to do, not only don't they know, but it won't please them when you do.

davismwfl• 11 years ago

This is so valid.

Don't wait for some arbitrary monetary goal before you live life exactly how you want to. Money makes some things easier, but also makes a lot of things harder. It will not buy you happiness, it will not buy you meaning and it won't stop your wife from dumping your ass if you don't do your job at home (she'll just take half of your "money" with her on the way out).

I always think of this story when I hear this type of question: http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2010/09/08/the-fisherman-and-the-...

1arity2• 11 years ago

being a playa.

fpalmans• 11 years ago

I am pretty sure that you don't need money for that. And, allegedly, if you do it right, it can be very lucrative.

1arity2• 11 years ago

I will try that starting now.

zhte415• 11 years ago

Buying an island.

hoodoof3• 11 years ago

Strangely, for me it was getting fit. What a very odd thing to put off till some unlikely future. I'm now consciously trying to convert silly "when I'm rich I'll........" fantasies into the question "so what's preventing me doing that thing right now?"

mindcrime3• 11 years ago

Strangely, for me it was getting fit. What a very odd thing to put off till some unlikely future.

Yeah, tell me about this one. I'm a guy who had a heart-attack, right in the middle of a period of time when we seemed to be getting some momentum going with the startup. I knew I was being silly putting off working out and being active and eating healthy, but I figured "things will level off soon and I'll get back to that stuff". Ummm.. no. Didn't work out that way. And when you're on the back of an ambulance being rushed to the emergency room, it's a bit late to start worrying about getting fit.

Luckily for me, I survived, and I've gotten back into bike riding big time again, and now I take time out to go ride an hour or so a few days a week, work be damned. :-)

So there's at least one lesson I learned and benefited from, but what a horrible way to do it. If anything I say on HN can help influence anybody else, let it be this.... DO NOT DO WHAT I DID. Take your health seriously, and do it starting NOW, regardless of how old you are. Remember, the artery damage that leads to heart-disease (and ultimately, heart attacks) begins very young... in some cases as early as your teen years (maybe earlier in some extreme cases). And definitely by your twenties, if you aren't eating right, watching your lipid profile, staying active, etc., you are setting yourself up for problems later.

davewiner3• 11 years ago

Thank you for this story. I'm going for a bike ride right now.

hoodoof3• 11 years ago

If I may be so bold, a heart attack is a big deal, may I ask how old you are - 40's, 50's? Do you smoke?

collyw• 11 years ago

Giving up working.

brianwawok• 11 years ago

Upgrading my 4k bike to a 10k bike?

gburt• 11 years ago

Same. And the whole set of other marginal improvement expenses that I could be making, but choose not to because they don't have the right cost-benefit ratio.

J_Darnley• 11 years ago

Everything but I will take employed as a substitute for rich.

thenomad• 11 years ago

Being bored.

And I'm perfectly happy deferring that as long as possible.

Currently my projects have a number of potential descriptors attached, but "boring" isn't one of them.

(If you haven't read it, the last chapter of Tim Ferriss' book "Four Hour Work Week" is a fascinating read. It details what it feels like to get to the point where you've achieved your goals, and no longer need to work. I don't want to go all Buzzfeed on you, but it's really not what you'd expect from a naive consideration of the situation.)

mindcrime3• 11 years ago

Too many of them. Enough that I'd probably rather not talk about it. It's stupid, I know it's stupid, but I do it anyway. I can't explain it.

TEMPsmalllab• 11 years ago

Will create a small lab to go after my dream ideas, money is a big factor in freedom. While working for big companies you are stuck often times, unfortunately cost of living is so high in SV to bootstrap unless you have YC like people helping you. Rent + health for a family can alone be 4k min which means 70k only for rent and health insurance! Health first for sure then money, often times you loose your health while trying making money. I would love to hear other people what they are thinking!

autotune2• 11 years ago

Pretty much have everything I can do right now I can do while rich beyond saving for money for eventual retirement. There's enough to learn that's practically free and cheap at this point. A laptop is maybe a grand. Living independently is pretty obtainable in a good enough, growing, city with low COL , and finding inexpensive hobbies are easy... actually maybe moving into a fancy 1 bedroom condo in Berkeley lol.

ClayShentrup2• 11 years ago

I'm in Berkeley after being priced out of SF. I'm kind of losing my mind, but there are signs that it's getting more density.

autotune2• 11 years ago

How are you losing your mind? Is the area just not what you expected?

phantom_oracle• 11 years ago

Helping others that need it most.

When you're normal, it is called charity, when you're rich, it is called "philanthropy" and you can even name your charity/foundation after yourself.

santaclause33• 11 years ago

Doing nothing! Trying to become skilled enough that I only have to work a few hours a week in the future.

ClayShentrup2• 11 years ago

Running for public office, mainly to (literally) save the world with voting reform.

http://ScoreVoting.net/LivesSaved.html

Instead, I'm VP of Engineering at a tech startup, trying to crawl out of my wife's student loan debt, raise my son, and hope that I'll be able to pursue my real passion by the time I'm 40.

BerislavLopac• 11 years ago

Getting old.

gearoidoc• 11 years ago

This used to be such a long list for me. Exploring the world, meeting new people, getting in shape, taking up various different activities. Glad to say I've changed.

I've spent the past 7 years doing the startup grind dreaming of that huge exit. It hasn't come. Instead I've got a revised sense of priorities and of how long I've got left on this planet. Better than any amount of money.

nicholas73• 11 years ago

Mistresses.

michaelmcmillan• 11 years ago

Hack on whatever I like.

Ask HN: What aspects of life are you deferring until you're successful and rich?

Related Stories