On working hard in the present for some future self
“But the fact is, almost anyone would rather, at any given moment, float about in the Caribbean, or have sex, or eat some delicious food, than work on hard problems. The rule about doing what you love assumes a certain length of time. It doesn't mean, do what will make you happiest this second, but what will make you happiest over some longer period, like a week or a month.”
— Paul Graham, How to do what you love
The degree to which you are geared toward thinking about the future or present moment is a by-product of your personality traits and cultural footprint. Eastern cultures appear to focus more on the “now”. This may have to do with the influence of cultural traditions and religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism. Western cultures tend to be future-oriented. The preconceived knowledge is that by working hard in the present, you are setting yourself up for a brighter future. This is particularly evident in the (mostly) Western engrained belief that you work now in order to earn enough money and save it for some distant future, once you will be retired. You may not have the energy to use that money fruitfully in such a distant future, one could argue.
There is an instinctual component to doing what feels right in the moment. Not what feels most hedonically rewarding. But what makes you feel strong, stable, confident. You can feel it when you say something and you feel grounded and completely believe in what you are saying. There is a similar sensation when you try something and it feels right. You draw meaning from it, even in those moments that seem tedious to the unaccustomed mind. You cannot become happy, you can only be happy.
If you channel your attention closely enough on the present moment, balancing novelty, focus, trial and error, hedonism, the future will take care of itself. When you do something that feels right, you are unleashing your potential. Your potential is the spectrum of possibilities you have. If you pay attention, you can tell very closely when something makes you feel stronger, grounded, confident. But you will need to deduct prestige and money out of the equation. Sometimes, prestige is what makes you feel good in the moment. According to Y Combinator founder Paul Graham, prestige is very dangerous. “If it didn’t suck, they wouldn’t have to make it prestigious.” (Graham, 2006) I agree with that statement, and I find prestige to be quite tough to discern sometimes, especially if you are not clear-minded and fully committed to why you are doing what you are doing. Prestige can be very dangerous if you do not have a “why”, a purpose you constantly return to when making decisions.
“Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. It causes you to work not on what you like, but what you'd like to like.”
— Paul Graham, How to do what you love
If you only work hard in the present for some future moment in life, you may maximize for money. But that’s not how most of us behave and believe. We are influenced by current social and economical conditions when making present decisions. Prestige and money are to be avoided if you undertake activities just for the sake of those. You can be grateful for the stories you have right now while focusing intently on the present (maximizing for meaning, not hedonism). Future consequences will follow.
How much longer are you going to wait to demand the best for yourself?
— Epictetus