“Will I be satisfied with my life if I never get what I’m after?”

“Will I be satisfied with my life if I never get what I’m after?”

It’s a question I ask myself every day. NOT out of doubt or a lack of confidence, but out of a genuine understanding of how quickly life changes.

You see, I work as hard as anyone and am a very capable person.

But I’m also a Stoic. I’m practical and realistic. I understand randomness and luck(or the lack thereof).

Hell, when it makes sense I’m even pessimistic!

Every few months I listen to Steve Jobs’ commencement speech at Stanford, and these words hit me hard every time:

“If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?”

This is insightful even if you don’t consider that Jobs at this point had already been fired and rehired from the company he started, as well as faced multiple terminal diagnoses!

So whenever anyone argues that asking yourself these kinds of questions stunts ambition, I am quick to point them to one of the most ambitious and intense men that have ever lived.

I’m certain of very few things. Here’s one thing I’m absolutely certain of:

You will never have enough time to accomplish all of your dreams.

This is GREAT!

Why? Because if you’re smart, you’ll realize that some of your dreams are more important than others. This realization forces you to prioritize the things most worth doing and spending time with the people most worth seeing.

Now let’s talk about “big goals”. Big goals in and of themselves aren’t the problem, but your attachment to them is. You need to change what you expect out of this life if you ever want to be content.

For example, $100 million or a life of complete peace are difficult enough, but if you consider Black Swan events (extremely rare events with a high impact), your lifetime of work can all mean nothing. If the economy collapses or your country becomes war-torn, then it doesn’t matter what you’ve done up until that point. The problem is bigger than you.

But this shouldn’t deter you.

KEEP those lofty goals, as they become a rebellious act, and God knows we need more rebels. There is nothing more beautiful than the man or woman who stares down fate and says “FUCK YOU.” And the best way to do that is to chase the handful of big goals you hold dearest and all the while live a daily life that fulfills all of your goals not predicated on time or money.

When asked what he’d do if he had one more day with his late friend Charlie Munger, Warren Buffet gave the perfect reply:

“We always lived in a way where we were happy with what we were doing every day. But we had a lot of fun doing anything.”

Bingo.

Your goals don’t matter!

They do, of course, but they are only as important as how fulfilled you feel chasing them and who you’re chasing them with.

And if fate cuts your chase short, you can laugh in its face and say: “Gotcha!”

After all, if you’ve been living this life right, you’ve already won.

The medals at the finish line are just to show everyone else all the work you’ve done. But even without the medal, you know exactly how hard you worked, and that’s the only thing that really matters.