[vaksel]

Seems to me like you are putting the cart before the horse. Don't waste your time living solely for the future. You aren't Lance Armostrong or Steve Jobs yet, and you may never become them.

Life is what happens while you're busy planning other things. Don't waste an opportunity.

[live_to_code]

IMHO, what differs from those people and the rest of us is their willingness to suffer it out until they succeed.

[zimbabwe]

They were also people who were fascinated in the stuff they became famous for.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that you can work hard at something you don't like and become a legend. Find what you love, what you don't mind working hard at. Do that. If you want your work to be separate from your life, expect cognitive dissonance.

My advice, from life experience: Try everything. Do what feels natural. Give the relationship a try; if it falls apart, then continue with your work. Not everybody succeeds young. Not every girlfriend turns into a wife.

[davi]

Agree. Also: beware sample bias. For every hero the public worships, there may be 1000 people who love what they do, make tremendous sacrifices, and remain completely anonymous.

The good news is, they love what they do.

[mdog]

Yep, and they were also very, very lucky in addition to being dedicated and talented. The world is full of smart, talented, determined people who never achieve fame.

Live your life, be honest with yourself and others, work hard, everything else will take care of itself.

[zimbabwe]

I think that most of the people who truly want fame achieve it. Most people don't. They value other things over just being well-known. Being famous is not particularly difficult to achieve if you crave it.

Then again, many people who don't want fame become famous anyway. Fame is hard to avoid.

[vaksel]

I don't know the personal stories of all those people you mentioned, but I can guarantee you that none of them passed on relationships while aiming for their success.

The ones who did, most likely didn't suffer, because they were so focused on their work, that they didn't even notice the opportunity.