I had the pleasure of reading this interview Steve Jobs gave in 1985 to Playboy Magazine. It’s clear from the interview that he is a man of passion, who lives his life to his fullest. It really takes a special person to create a company as wonderful and innovative as Apple. It takes years of strenuous work and non-stop intensity. That’s not for me, nor is the reward something that I would want for myself given the price. But clearly, in my quest to retire at a very young age, I’ve lost the ability to live in the present — to enjoy the here and now. I don’t believe I live every day to its fullest. Instead, I sit around in my office doing work I’d rather not be doing. All for the sake of continuing to earn a high salary so I can retire in a few years.
When the time comes, I’m not even sure if I can just quit. It may be very difficult to walk away from a big paycheck. In essence, this is the purest notion of golden handcuffs — my life or a fistful of money. I’m on a relatively fast track at my firm. If I work hard and stick it out, I should make partner. I should make the big bucks. My projected lifetime earnings is very high and walking away in a few years will be like walking away from 80-90% of that total. But staying will impose a significant cost to my lifespan, happiness, and sense of fulfillment. I hope that when the time comes, I can recognize the personal toll my job takes from me and realize that I can earn all of that back by walking away.
Steve Jobs never cared about money. He cared about pursuing his passion. I care about money and don’t know what my passion is. I want to live more like how Steve lived.
