Indulging & Balancing Paradox

I've been playing Madden, having some Domino's thin crust, going to bars on Thursdays for some Modelos, and watching Suits for the 100th time - peak life fr.

I've been indulging, maybe too much. And for some reason, the feeling is always guilt. It's hard to enjoy the indulgence because afterward you feel like crap, even if you earned it because you are graduating and turning 22.

However, indulging is one of those things where you can't keep doing it forever. Because you will become a fat, unmotivated, numb person. You won't live life - you will waste it.

There is a concept I've been wrestling with a lot recently called the balancing paradox.

Some people are laser-focused on one thing: physical health, their startup, or sports. It's really hard to do all things at once, and even if you do (like me), you start to feel like you're making no progress.

When you start to focus on your social friendships, you start to see your work life declining. When you work out constantly and are locked in, you start to see your social life declining. When you are locked in for interviews, you don't go to the gym as much.

There is a tradeoff.

It makes sense, but you have to realize that it doesn't make you a failure or lazy.

The people who are the most jacked and constantly post on social media are obsessed with the gym and tend to have other neglected areas in their life that they don't show, which isn't a bad thing - they just don't show it.

Being balanced is fine. However, it becomes really hard to scale growth fast in one area. When you work on your startup, take 5 classes, go to the gym, spend your remaining time in college, and play soccer, your attention is divided and it becomes hard to fully commit. You make progress, but it becomes scattered - minimal progress gets made in all areas.

When you choose to lock in on one area, you have to be comfortable knowing that the other areas of your life might not get the attention they deserve. I mean, Cristiano Ronaldo is known for being a GOAT in football, not psychology and chess.

Diversifying isn't bad. That just means you have to lock in on a few things, accept the tradeoffs, and then lock in on other things down the line - and accept the tradeoffs.