I heard a great quote by Arnold Schwarzenegger recently, which goes like this: “Ask yourselves: Who do you want to be, not what, but who? And I’m talking about, not what your parents or teachers want you to be, but you. What makes you happy?”

This question is deceptively simple, but I think it encompasses more than what most people have laid out for themselves. It’s about choosing a direction in life, and staying true to your principles afterwards.

I have at times managed to be hyper-focused and isolated myself to achieve success in parts of my life, at the expense of all other things. I have been very fit at a couple of points in my life, once at age 16 and then once at 23. I have learned Japanese, I have learned programming. I know I can do these things if I put my mind to it, and focus. But I know I also sacrifice a lot of things to reach those goals I’ve set. (maybe what I want is the time-turner?)

One obvious thing you give up, is your youth. Listening to older people tell it, they always seem to say you’ll probably regret spending 10-12 hours a day working while you’re young. I especially enjoy this comment on reddit about burning out from work. Seeing it come up again and again, I’m inclined to believe there’s at least some nugget of truth there, and I think I’ll regret not spending more time with my family if something suddenly happens to any of them.

So I feel there’s this paradox inside me. I want to be more than I am now, I don’t want my pinnacle to have reached the title of “programmer” at a company. I know I can achieve bigger things, and that my original goal was set too low (arguably the saddest thing to happen to someone, as we stifle ourselves). But on the other side, we have the feeling of being torn between “wasting my life” working hard.

The solution?

After a lot of thought, I think the only way to live a happy life is to pursue something with a purpose you believe strongly in. For me, this is leaning in the direction of starting a company. If I’m working for myself, and for a purpose I believe in, the conflict between wasting my youth and working really hard disappears. By doing this, I’m essentially investing in myself while I’m learning, instead of working for free for a company.

The average person seems content (but dissatisfied) with working 9-5 and then being the master of their own time after that. I’ve only been working for a year so far myself, but I can already feel myself getting lulled into the safe and sound environment where you’re expected to give 100% to reach the next carrot or promotion at the workplace.

So to get back to Arnold’s quote, I’m fairly certain I want to be someone who constantly improves. I feel stifled when people around me don’t want to evolve, and are content with things just being as they are. And I don’t want to miss out on life while I still have the energy to do the things I want.

The hardest thing for me to accept is that to get both of these at the same time as I stay relatively fit, and relax when I need to, is that I have to compromise on what I can achieve in some of my prioritized categories. Social life, health, work and hobbies are all of great importance to me, I just hope I can somehow combine them into a fulfilling life.

Your opinion?

I’m interested in hearing from anyone who reads this, what do you want to achieve? What are you willing to sacrifice to get there? Is it for some greater purpose than yourself, or do you just have a dream for how you want your life to be?