When I was in middle school, I left my usual clique of friends to be in the "Abercrombie & Fitch" clique. Reasoning that being popular would expose me more to c

When I was in middle school, I left my usual clique of friends to be in the "Abercrombie & Fitch" clique. Reasoning that being popular would expose me more to cooler people and prettier girls. When I was in high school going over college, I decided to go to a school based on its prestige over the school I fitted in. Reasoning that a school with a better name would help me get a better job and impress people when I go to dinner parties. When I was in college, I decided to chase girls that I can't have and break off with girls who I clicked well with. Reasoning that I should get what I can't have and that most people will judge me better with a good-looking girlfriend. When I'm working, I chose to work at a well-known Wall St. company over a unknown startup. Reasoning that the compensation and the cocktail impression factor would be better this way. Like a trader, everyday people make choices. Some people choose to play it safe their whole life, stay, work, marry & die in the same town that they were born in. Some people take incredible unwarranted risks, like dedicating their lives to be a professional athlete/musician/actresses despite overwhelming evidences that they don't have the talent for it. Some people take huge risk by letting themselves emotionally vulnerable when they fall in love. Some people follow the most optimized investment plan, go to the right school/major, work at the right company, choose the right partner, put the right contribution into one's 401(k) plan, have the kids and then retire the right time and finally die the right way. But the market is simpler than life because in the end, everyone's measuring stick is the same, how much money you made/lost. But in something vague as life, everyone has different measuring stick; what's even more frustrating, your own measure stick is constantly changing; what I thought was important two years ago is completely trivial to me now and vice versa for what I thought was trivial. And there's no use in predicting what you think would be important to you in the future because you most probably end up being completely off; plus, it'll just leave you frustrated to forgo your present moment to work towards a future that you might discover that you won't want anyways. Attribute that to any philosophy or psychology B.S you want (cognitive dissonance, confirmation bias, existentialism), all I know is that it has happened and will happen again. The only certain I'm certain about is the present; I'm not talking about being hedonistic, but to take risks for the present and to leave the present moment without any regrets. Kiss the girl, stay up late to finish coding & take the day off just to take a walk.