[TriinT]

You have your entire life to pursue your interests and projects. That's not a lot of time, because one single lifetime is not enough for someone who is passionate about various topics and wants to find out more and more about them.

On the other hand, meeting a girl you find attractive and worth spending time with is not something that happens often. As you're still in your mid-20s, you may think that you'll have plenty of chances to meet other good girls. But soon you'll wake up and you'll be 35... and you'll have a different perspective on life.

It doesn't have to be either work OR the girl. You can have both worlds. You'll just decide what the optimal allocation of time is. Of course, if the girl thinks you're allocating too much time to your work, you relationship might not last. If you have the opportunity to be with someone you like, go for it. A stable and healthy personal life is great for one's productivity, and you still have 50 years or so to become a mini-Tesla ;-)

PS: be careful when idolizing athletes. They are done by the time they're 30. Tesla had done great work by the time he was 30, but some of his best work was done later in his life.