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I appreciate this article. It is a slap in the face, a pail of cold water poured on me while I'm sleeping, a match under my toe. Too often I am pulled away fro

I appreciate this article. It is a slap in the face, a pail of cold water poured on me while I'm sleeping, a match under my toe. Too often I am pulled away from my personal pursuits because someone wants something from me. Come drink with me, come have dinner with us, go on this trip with us this weekend. I'm never going to get anything done or 'get ahead' in this life without saying no every now and then. Some people may be OK with living in this HO HUM world we live in; punching the clock and sitting in the cubicle or whatever their version of the cubicle is but point is they're trapped. Maybe they're happy though. I look forward to my next 'no' - maybe then I can actually sit down and code to my heart's content and fulfill my dream of being my own boss, of creating something, and pulling myself out of the muck to reach true freedom.

jmduke 13y ago
Too often I am pulled away from my personal pursuits because someone wants something from me. Come drink with me, come have dinner with us, go on this trip with us this weekend. I'm never going to get anything done or 'get ahead' in this life without saying no every now and then. A good perspective on this is that time is a scarce resource, and by choosing to allocate it to one thing you also choose not to allocate it to everything else. That being said, I'd imagine if most people (myself included) chose to prioritize personal pursuits over everything else, they'd end up exactly as unhappy as otherwise.
enjo 13y ago
Just make sure you're not chasing a fallacy. Most people find that creating "your own thing" isn't the path to freedom, but a prison far worse than any cubicle. Trust me, I've experienced it. If you want real freedom, then find a job that provides that. You probably won't make the money you want. Or live the lifestyle you think you need. In the end, however, you'll be much more free to pursue life the way you want. For instance, my wife dedicated herself to a PhD. She makes FAR less as a professor than she otherwise would, but she takes her summers off and gets to spend time out in the world. It's not a life of glamour, but it's a life of freedom. There are jobs that offer equal levels of freedom. You just have to often be willing to compromise some things to find them.

jmduke 13y ago

Too often I am pulled away from my personal pursuits because someone wants something from me. Come drink with me, come have dinner with us, go on this trip with us this weekend. I'm never going to get anything done or 'get ahead' in this life without saying no every now and then. A good perspective on this is that time is a scarce resource, and by choosing to allocate it to one thing you also choose not to allocate it to everything else. That being said, I'd imagine if most people (myself included) chose to prioritize personal pursuits over everything else, they'd end up exactly as unhappy as otherwise.

enjo 13y ago

Just make sure you're not chasing a fallacy. Most people find that creating "your own thing" isn't the path to freedom, but a prison far worse than any cubicle. Trust me, I've experienced it. If you want real freedom, then find a job that provides that. You probably won't make the money you want. Or live the lifestyle you think you need. In the end, however, you'll be much more free to pursue life the way you want. For instance, my wife dedicated herself to a PhD. She makes FAR less as a professor than she otherwise would, but she takes her summers off and gets to spend time out in the world. It's not a life of glamour, but it's a life of freedom. There are jobs that offer equal levels of freedom. You just have to often be willing to compromise some things to find them.