The Deferred Life Plan

It’s my birthday today (and let’s all stop making such a big deal about it)!

My perspective has changed a fair amount in the past year, because the world feels much more dynamic and chaotic to me today than it did a year ago. This is scary, for for small reasons like cushy tech jobs going away, and for big reasons like the ones I outlined here.

But it can be empowering too and I wanted to reflect on that. Having a stronger sense of urgency to do the things I really want to do in life has been healthy for me. I actually think the below articulation of this is really good, which is funny because Sam Altman is responsible for a fair amount of the dynamism and chaos that I’m feeling in the world:

You can see him expand on this idea here.

I don’t think this means to default into hedonism, because I don’t think that is what most people really want (and in fact, hedonism seems like the most common way people distract themselves while they are deferring their life).

Instead it can mean working on things you care about for the long term, but doing that now instead of letting the world sweep you along as you wait for an opportunity or for inspiration that may or may not come.

This tweet is another way of thinking about this which stuck with me. I think this is right, and I’d like to remember it this year.

Thanks for reading! And for being a part of this little blog, which has been a very fun part of this past year.