Was it worth it?
what did it cost you
You’re gonna die soon. And two weeks after your funeral only a handful of people will ever speak about you. And soon after, all those people will die too.
That’s sad, right?
Yeah, but it’s also instructive.
People on their deathbeds look back and say life is short. Even people who live long lives well into their eighties and nineties say life is short.
That’s a key piece of knowledge we forget too often. Consider that if you live until you’re ninety you’ll look back and say life is short AND you also might die TOMORROW. In which case, life is VERY short.
That means the only two options are that:
life is short
life is very short.
So why are we always willing to sacrifice thousands of present moments for a future moment? For example, we celebrate the man who neglects his happiness in an effort to chase a future accomplishment. We call it ‘the grind’. Is the grind bad?
Naval Ravikant, a multiple-times tech founder and angel investor was once asked if he could go back and do it over, what would he change. I think about his answer all the time. He said he would do all the same things but with less anger. He said being angry never helped him. He could have done it all without the anger.
Working hard is important. Pushing yourself to your limits is important. Being miserable and angry about it is what makes the passing moments a sacrifice.
“What we think of as defining moments, like promotions or a new house, matter less to life satisfaction that the accumulation of tiny moments that didn’t seem to matter at the time. In the end, everyday moments matter more than big prizes. Tiny delights over big bright lights.” (Parrish, 239)
Question of The Day
What moments do you keep giving up? Is it worth it?
Try to notice each moment today you can’t find any joy in. Why are you doing that thing? Is the future accomplishment worth all the lost moments?
Your Friend,
Noah “BigNerd” Sochaczevski
PS. We start our next book — Letters From a Stoic by Seneca in two days! Share Big Nerds with a friend to help them start 2024 with a new morning routine. Less scrolling, more reading!