How would you choose between these two options?
Option A – You work for 20 years doing something you can tolerate. You’re guaranteed to make untold amounts of money and you’re highly famous.
Option B – You work doing something you love for the rest of your life. Yet all the time you’re constantly unsure if you will ever get any fame or money.
I would guess that 90% of the population would take Option A. And I would almost agree with them. Why not have a nice cushy life now and then transition into doing something that you love later? Seems like the best of both worlds.
But what people don’t tell you about option A is that, life gets in the way. You begin to feel that you’re too old to change courses. You’ve gotten accustomed to the fame. You don’t want to become a beginner again. Then you fast forward, you’re on your deathbed, reflecting on your life… and then you realize:
Only the internal rewards mattered.
Only the satisfaction of knowing that you chose to follow your dreams, mattered. That you dared when everyone else took the safe option. That you heeded your “call for adventure” and embarked on the journey.
We are faced with this choice between the two options, daily. For me, the way to judge which is better is by asking the question: Which one gives you a better peace of mind? Which one allows you to sleep soundly at night? And if after that you choose option A, then that’s fine. It’s 100% acceptable to choose Option A. Seriously.
But…
If you’ve ever felt the call to adventure and ignored it… then let’s just say that’s going to haunt your dreams for a long, long time.
Choose Option B. Only the internal rewards matter in the end.
A New Source Code 