> The best way to insure that you can live the life you want and have some fun is to put all the effort in that you can now and try to put off having fun until

> The best way to insure that you can live the life you want and have some fun is to put all the effort in that you can now and try to put off having fun until a bit later on. Now is when you have energy and should be able to work non-stop with very little else. (I didn't surface for air for 7 years working 6 to 7 days a week ..) There's a flip side to the coin, though: your opportunities for 'having fun' are very different as a twenty-something living in a big city than as someone who's married with children in a less exciting locale. Many older people successfully start companies; far fewer stay out partying with their friends until 4am or go backpacking across Europe. I'd argue you can find a balance. You shouldn't piss away your youth and your potential, no, but life's too short to spend it perpetually saying "I'll have fun later" because one day there won't be a later. Especially since working insane hours is usually a game of diminishing returns: while you might have been able to spend 7 years working your ass off 7 days a week, most normal people burn out, even the most driven and brightest of 20-somethings.