When I was younger, I thought constantly about the things I wanted to accomplish, because we live in a society that’s geared toward achievement. But when I was being encouraged to dream big back then, nobody ever warned me about tradeoffs. Nobody warned me that you give up some things in order to pursue other things. I was under the impression I could have it all.
I’ve thought a lot about choices in the past few years. For a long time, I tried to avoid making choices, because I looked at life as a buffet where you just kept adding to your plate. Maybe my metaphor wasn’t too far off, but I didn’t realize that the “plate” we have in life is of a limited size. If your plate is full, something has to come off as you add more to it.
If you devote yourself to pursuing a dream of some kind — wealth, fame, early retirement, whatever the carrot dangling in front of you is — you always give up something else. Only you can decide which tradeoffs are worth it — and nobody can spare you from the certainty of having to make the choices, whether they’re conscious or unconscious.
As I thought about this Monday night, I was reminded of a quote from investment guru Jim Rogers. In his book, “Investment Biker,” he discussed the tradeoffs involved in pursuing whatever it is you want:

Herman Cain’s GOP support causes confusion for Demos’ race narrative
Tribal hatreds around me mean detour on road to personal peace
Illegal bribes mean a politician is corrupt, but the legal things he does are just as immoral
As a photographer, be prepared to doubt your talent every single day
When we don’t feel understood, we feel lonely even in a crowd
Shared misery: Nobody can have air conditioning unless everyone can
U.S. wasted $60 billion in war funds: Is anyone honestly surprised?
Aren’t libertarians the logical folks? So why are so many irrational now?