Present Focus vs. Long Term Goals In Your Twenties: Are You Working Too Much or Not Enough?
After hearing Gary Vaynerchuk say these words, they have remained on repeat in my mind for over five months.
“I regret working so hard in my twenties.”
Media expert and founder of a $200 million dollar media agency, Gary Vee isn’t shy about talking about his hustle. He’s also not shy about talking about his regrets.
When the man, who potentially started the trend of hustling, says he wishes he hadn’t hustled so hard at the same age I am now, I listen,
Yet, this can be extremely difficult advice to take.
There’s a strange intersection between living in the present moment and also working towards your dreams.
If I keep working hard today, I’ll have more money and a better foundation for my future.
If I work too hard, I’ll waste years of my life only have one experience, when I could have had others (for example, traveling, going out with friends on the weekends, enjoying the spontaneity of random plans, etc.).
Can we only have a present focus or a future focus, or are the two entangled?
After traveling the world for a year and a half, while starting my freelance writing business, I can say that I am not where I would want to be in my career. While talking with Riley Bennett for an interview on his podcast, I mentioned that had I not traveled, it would have taken me six months to get to where I am today. Because I did, it took me a year.
This has left me questioning my travels.
Is traveling the best thing for me in the long term? If it’s holding me back from making money and creating the right foundation for myself, should I be spending my time doing so?
Because I travel, it has taken me twice as long to achieve what most writers could do in a six months.
Yet, my travels have taught me more about myself than I ever knew before. They have astronomically grown my emotional, character and intellectual intelligence.
All of this will positively effect me in my future business endeavors and be a critical part of me reaching my largest goals (pay of my Dad’s mortgage, pay off my friend’s student loans, live abundantly, passionately and purposefully, etc.)
So, was travel really a sacrifice to my long term goals?
Or a catalyst?
I think focusing on the present moment can become the change you wish to see in your future. It can become the backbone of your success and the reason you are able to rise so high.
But, I’ll have to let you know.
