Watch out! You might be conflating success and happiness. We all know how common it is for professional outliers (be they geniuses, celebrities, athletes, etc)

Watch out! You might be conflating success and happiness. We all know how common it is for professional outliers (be they geniuses, celebrities, athletes, etc) to struggle with depression, loneliness, anxiety, and addiction. In the 1900s becoming a world-class jazz musician was basically a sentence to death in your 40s. Consider the stereotype of the man who devotes everything to his career only to retire bitter, alone, and wealthy. It's all too common. People are happy when they have meaningful social time with friends and family, when they spend free time building or growing things with their hands, when they are able to be active and healthy, and when their basic physical needs are met. Once your career is able to reliably cover your basic needs, the next thing to optimize for is freeing up your time. Unless your passions in life are truly aligned with your career, and you're able to stave off burnout, I see few compelling reasons to make your profession your legacy.