[kamaal]

The fact that you are going to die isn't a scary thought in itself, whats scary is the 'when' part.

>>especially if those priorities are centered around banal platitudes like "doing something remarkable with your life," which are probably masks to keep you from thinking about what really motivates you.

Let me tell you why this is true. Its true because "doing something remarkable with your life" isn't a goal at all. At the maximum its really a vision. A goal is something that can be measured. Wanting to make $5 million in the next five years is really a goal. And its a interesting goal to chase. No matter how much interesting and challenging work I may be doing, realizing the fact that nobody knows about it beyond my cubicle is the biggest demotivating factor in my life.

I don't want to want to work on the project that forces to jolt down 100K lines of code, no matter what that project is. I want to spend most of time in life having fun, doing recreational stuff. And I'm sure many want to do the same.

Realizing that given the effects of age on energy, vitality and vigor a person can have, coupled with uncertainty about death that you may really have to sprint in your early part of your life, so that you can have all the fun in some part later.

[hef19898]

And maybe even worse than the when part, the "how".