

What Are You Willing To Do For The Rest of Your Life? - rblion
http://www.jonathanfields.com/blog/what-are-you-willing-to-do-for-the-rest-of-your-life/

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dholowiski
That's stupid. I love what I'm doing right now, there's nothing I'd rather be
doing. But five years from now, I'll probably be doing, and loving something
different. I think maybe that's why so many people hate what they are doing-
becAuse they feel like they have to do that one thing for the rest of their
life. The one thing I am willing to do for the rest of my life? Everything!

~~~
lfittl
I'd rather say: In that very moment, aim for something that you really love
doing. That might change over time, but don't ever pursue something for the
wrong reasons (e.g. get rich quick & retire in your 30s). It will just eat you
up.

Randy specifically argues that you should not be motivated by money alone, but
rather by the passion of solving a problem, improving someone's live, etc.

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erikstarck
When I read this I think about the PG essay about only being able to keep one
thing at the top of your mind at once.

There are two dimensions here: "topness" of mind and persistence in time.

If you can keep something at the top of your mind for a very long time chances
are high you will come to insights and conclusions that will separate you from
the rest enough to make you a winner.

This is only possible if you really love that thing that will occupy your
thinking process for years. Thus, love is the key ingredient for success.

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MrFlibble
My grandfather worked until 84 simply because he loved his job & co-workers.
Had he not been mugged he would likely have worked up until his death. He was
not wealthy but was a very happy man.

What he taught by example was that whether you are an entrepreneur or a cog in
a machine, if you love what you do, retirement just sounds boring.

Do what you love, if you're one of the persistent & fortunate ones you may
even become rich from it. In any case, better to live life doing what you
enjoy than look back on your last 40 years and think, "my god where did it all
go."

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JonathanFields
Thanks for sharing my post!

The bigger message I got from Randy's book and also from a recent conversation
I had with him was that a commitment not to ROI or even to specific solution,
but to a particular impact on a particular group, where the connection to both
the problem being solved and the group being served, is really powerful fuel
to power through the hard times come, which we all know will come.

~~~
rblion
No problem. Your article was well written and to the point, thanks for writing
it. It really planted a good question in my mind and I hope it benefits the
rest of the HN community too.

It's like how Steve Jobs wants to 'put a ding in the universe'.

For me it's beyond money or fame, it's about science and spirituality coming
together to solve survival-related problems.

I'm two months shy of being 21. I have dropped out of college to follow my
heart. I have spent this entire year studying cosmology, anthropology,
industrial design, Eastern spirituality, and computer science while just
having new life experiences. I am tying it all together into a startup that
will change the world for the better.

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zachster
Thanks for posting this. I'm committed to my current venture, but often wonder
how long it will be until my curiosity takes me somewhere else. But Tony's
line about "would you be able to say you’ve been doing what you truly care
about today" is a pretty great litmus test for anything we do.

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rblion
I needed this as much as you did. Best of luck to you. In the face of death,
all our pettiness falls away.

~~~
lemming
The best trick is to try to realise what's important without requiring the
face of death to get you there.

~~~
rblion
I was thinking about ego death. In my view, that's where truly great ideas and
insights come from.

~~~
JonathanFields
Like Randy Nelson said, "The core skill of innovators is error recovery, not
failure avoidance.”

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makeramen
google cache:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ruAnmlr...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ruAnmlrjBfYJ:www.jonathanfields.com/blog/what-
are-you-willing-to-do-for-the-rest-of-your-
life/+http://www.jonathanfields.com/blog/what-are-you-willing-to-do-for-the-
rest-of-your-life/&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari)

~~~
JonathanFields
Hey, thanks for posting the cached version, the 502 should be fixed now.

