Living in the moment versus planning for the future
When I was a young child, I lived in the moment. The moment was all that existed. At some point, I ended up on the "track" and had to get into the best school, get the best internships, etc... now I'm an As1, and Queen Elizabeth's death made me realize my own mortality. I've been holding out on the idea that some scientific breakthrough will occur in my lifetime that will allow me to stop or even reverse my aging and make us biologically immortal. If there was anyone alive today who would have been a candidate for this, it would have been her. I think it's inevitable. Maybe not in 2030 or 2050, or even 2150, but at some point, I can't imagine such medical breakthroughs not occurring, making the 100bn+ people that have ever lived be <1% of all humans that ever will.
Anyway, to that end, her death has made me contemplate the idea of living in the moment. Once I hit high school, I needed to get into a top college; then I needed to get a top bank. Finally, I made associate, and I just can't wait until VP+. On that same token, I've started thinking about living in the moment and buying that supercar I want and going paycheck to paycheck to snag a sexy Park Avenue condo.
For the more senior guys out there who went through similar thoughts, how did you end up finding a good balance between living in the moment and planning for the future?
Lately I'm 'living more in the moment' if you want to call just spending money on stuff living in the moment, but what I'm doing is spending money on stuff that will try and further a long term goal that I have.
While I'm (probably) much younger than you, I share your sentiment. I personally believe in living in the moment to an EXTENT. Yes, you should of course try to live it up in your youth while you can, BUT create a safety net for yourself. Always keep savings handy, put a small amount of money towards retirement so you don't have to work when you're old and wrinkly. Live within your means and enough to be comfortable, but never above.
I think there is a balance to be struck, and this is definitely something I think about.
A few interesting framings/prompts:
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