Chapters

I made the following tweet:

asking for a friend, if you work as an optometrist and then spend every other waking hour writing code, going to the gym, reading productivity books, how do you find time to find a life partner and start a family? 10:41 AM - 28 Oct 2022

I got a reply to this tweet that changed my perspective.

But before I got that reply, I thought life was analougous to many spinning plates. Plates that you have to keep spinning. And instead of appreciating the classical mechanical physics of what is happening, your time is spent constantly applying angular momentum to the plate that shows the first wobble.

You work on your job and while you work that job you need to maintain your health by going to the gym. On top of that, you need to enrich your mind by reading books and working on that escape plan. Add finding a partner, impressing that partner, courting that partner and then starting and raising that family - the final reward.

Then, I got a reply.

Why try to do everything at once?

Think of life in chapters.

Sounds simple right? Often, the best advice is the simplest but least taken.

Currently, I’m in a growth stage.

I’m working part-time as an optometrist, spending my waking hours on this crazy idea. That’s learning how to code, switching careers, or maybe becoming an indie-hacker, creating content, digital nomad, the list continues.

All in all, this is the growth stage. You won’t have much time to invest in other areas because you are figuring it out. But life won’t be like this forever. Eventually, you will figure it out. Your dreams may work out or you might realise those dreams aren’t worth it anymore, and you can return to the life that once was.

However, when I go figure that mess out, that chapter closes and another one opens.

You now have more time to socialise, meet a life partner, start a family, maintain that family, and watch them grow.

Maybe, you could do this all at once? I’m not sure.

But the idea is to view life as not being static. Your goals, circumstances and interests will change.

As I write this, I just want to reflect that it’s been a year since I moved back home with my parents and quit working full-time.

Thanks for reading. I hope you found this useful. And please let me know what you think about living life in chapters or doing everything at once.