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:

Some of us don’t seem ‘wired up’ to stay sane working for others
Why are churches only talking about freedom as it relates to abortion?
Totalitarians want to seize your cash as the moral rot continues
Folks all around are waiting for someone to say, ‘Hello in there’
FRIDAY FUNNIES
Global warming or a new ice age? Anyone who claims to know is lying
Normal days often turn to terror when you live with a narcissist
Most prizes feel empty, because our real need is for connection
I can live without ‘Galt’s Gulch,’ but I need my ‘Akston’s diner’