Hard Choices, Easy Life

Three decisions rule your life:

What you do.
Where you live.
Who you’re with.

Six months ago I was living out of a cabin in upstate New York, nestled into the woods along the Hudson Valley. It was paradise by all accounts.

But still, something felt off. I wasn’t unhappy, per se, but I knew there was more to life. There had to be. So, I decided to change the narrative.

Easy Choices, Hard Life

On a slow Sunday morning, I went off on my own and spent the afternoon hiking and wandering through the early morning light. I thought through each aspect of my life: what I do for a living, where I live, and who I’m around.

There’s a great passage from Naval that comes to mind.

We spend very little time deciding which relationship to get into. We spend so much time in a job, but spend so little time deciding which job to get into. Choosing what city to live in will almost completely determine the trajectory of your life, but we spend so little time trying to figure out what city to live in.

It slowly dawned on me that for each bucket, I’d been making the easy choice, again and again. As a result, I was living a harder life than I’d intended.

I realized I’d been avoiding some tough decisions shaping the type of life I wanted to live, and the type of man I wanted to become.

Making Moves

First, I left my job to bet on myself. Leaving the safe pastures of the finance world was scary as hell. Was it worth it? Overwhelmingly so.

I took on a range of projects spanning the tech world, building and launching new ideas with close friends of mine that I’d always wanted to work with.

Second, I went nomadic, trading the comfort of upstate cabin life for Miami sun, Tulum winters, and slow Venice mornings. Last week, I decided to settle in for good in Williamsburg, living in a dream apartment with my best friends.

Nomadic living taught me a lot, but most importantly, an entirely new world and style of living began to unfurl. The world took on more color and sharper edges, a definition that I hadn’t noticed before. The constant state of flux awakens each of your senses and heightens even the most mundane experiences.

It’s thrilling and terrifying at the same time. There’s a beauty in that duality.

Third, I made some major changes about who I spent time with.

The prerequisite here is ruthless honesty with yourself about who gives you energy and who drains you. When I finally let go of the past, profound relationships and incredible new friendships began to flourish.

As a result, I’m noticeably happier these days. I’m quicker to laugh, quicker to smile, and doing my damn best to feel it all.

Hard Choices, Easy Life

Making the hard choices isn’t going to make sense to a lot of people.

And there’s going to be low points.

Fear in the face of flux. But you can’t have the highs without the lows, the peaks without the troughs. Over time, I learned to not only embrace these moments but actively seek them out. Progress through discomfort, in a sense.

You’re gonna have to make some tough calls, and they won’t always work out in your favor. That’s okay. But to get the most out of your life — the most fulfillment, the most laughter, the most love — you can’t settle for easy choices.

Three decisions changed my life in an instant.

They might just change yours as well.

Hard Choices, Easy Life

Hard Choices, Easy Life

Three decisions rule your life:

What you do.

Where you live.

Who you’re with.

Six months ago I was living out of a cabin in upstate New York, nestled into the woods along the Hudson Valley. It was paradise by all accounts.

But still, something felt off. I wasn’t unhappy, per se, but I knew there was more to life. There had to be. So, I decided to change the narrative.

Easy Choices, Hard Life

On a slow Sunday morning, I went off on my own and spent the afternoon hiking and wandering through the early morning light. I thought through each aspect of my life: what I do for a living, where I live, and who I’m around.

There’s a great passage from Naval that comes to mind.

It slowly dawned on me that for each bucket, I’d been making the easy choice, again and again. As a result, I was living a harder life than I’d intended.

I realized I’d been avoiding some tough decisions shaping the type of life I wanted to live, and the type of man I wanted to become.

Making Moves

First, I left my job to bet on myself. Leaving the safe pastures of the finance world was scary as hell. Was it worth it? Overwhelmingly so.

I took on a range of projects spanning the tech world, building and launching new ideas with close friends of mine that I’d always wanted to work with.

Second, I went nomadic, trading the comfort of upstate cabin life for Miami sun, Tulum winters, and slow Venice mornings. Last week, I decided to settle in for good in Williamsburg, living in a dream apartment with my best friends.

It’s thrilling and terrifying at the same time. There’s a beauty in that duality.

Third, I made some major changes about who I spent time with.

The prerequisite here is ruthless honesty with yourself about who gives you energy and who drains you. When I finally let go of the past, profound relationships and incredible new friendships began to flourish.

As a result, I’m noticeably happier these days. I’m quicker to laugh, quicker to smile, and doing my damn best to feel it all.

Hard Choices, Easy Life

Making the hard choices isn’t going to make sense to a lot of people.

And there’s going to be low points.

Fear in the face of flux. But you can’t have the highs without the lows, the peaks without the troughs. Over time, I learned to not only embrace these moments but actively seek them out. Progress through discomfort, in a sense.

You’re gonna have to make some tough calls, and they won’t always work out in your favor. That’s okay. But to get the most out of your life — the most fulfillment, the most laughter, the most love — you can’t settle for easy choices.

Three decisions changed my life in an instant.

They might just change yours as well.