[gotrecruit]

i'm 27 years old this year, and i graduated recently with a business undergrad degree. i've tried my hand at doing a startup throughout my undergraduate degree but failed, and if i'm being completely honest, i felt like i learned very little from that experience as i was not a technical founder. at 28 next year, i will be returning to school again for a computer science bachelor's and frankly, this 35 year old threshold keeps coming up in my head.

years ago i set myself an ambitious goal of being a self-made millionaire by the time i'm 30, and a billionaire by 40. it's crazy talk to most people, but it was a goal i set for myself. obviously, it doesn't seem that plausible now - it's really more of a fantasy than anything at this moment but still... i find myself feeling old and having wasted many years of my life.

this blog post lifted my spirits a little. i feel that if i begin working really hard now and make the next few decades of my life extremely, exceptionally and extraordinarily productive, i can probably still achieve enough to make up for the last few unproductive years of my life.

[hakkasan]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I feel this definition of what it means to be successful is something I need to address properly in a future post. Much of my anxiety in the matter stemmed from setting similar ambitions to your own. I don't think it was wrong of me to set these benchmarks, but today I find myself questioning the "why" more and more.

Increasingly I try to look at success as a more fluid notion. I feel it has many dimensions that constantly evolve with my changing world view and life. It can be valuable to set goals but I think it's just as important not to be myopic to the rest of the world at their expense.

I feel a lot of it comes down to attitude. My grandpa would still have been a happy man had he not had the opportunity to pioneer medical science. Prior to his 60s, his curiosity and willingness explore meant he had a fulfilling life. He wasn't expecting and waiting for a big success. He was focused on what he was able to do and made sure he did it to the best of his abilities.

These are some quick thoughts on a bus and I apologise if it seem like I'm being preachy. I'm only 29 and very much still figuring it all out. I dare say I will be doing that until I die. Please share your thoughts, especially if they run counter to what I've written.