There are moments in our lives when we find ourselves at a crossroads. The choices we make in those moments can define the rest of our days. Very few things in our lives are absolute. Everything is measured by degree, from our attention to our patience to the range and intensity of our emotions. At the same time, some things are absolute: You can't be all things to all people; you can't dance every dance; and, throughout your life, you've got to make hard choices, sacrifices, and compromises, and then you've got to live with them through thick and thin for a very long time.

 

We become the sum of the choices we make over time; those choices determine the kind of person we end up being--and how the world sees and values us.

What we become isn't a necessary result of fate or destiny. It's certainly not foretold or pre-ordained. Throughout our lives we remain a work in progress. Iteration isn't just a business process; it's also a strategy for a life well-lived. We can bend and shape outcomes to match our desires if we consciously, actively, and continually apply ourselves. But the good things we all hope for don't happen by themselves; you've got to pay attention and make them happen.One of the most critical choices you'll need to make when you start out in your career is exactly what kind of person you want to be. I I think it's somewhat back in fashion these days to be a workaholic. For some of us it never went out of style. But that's only part of the story. Ultimately it's not about making money, it's about making a difference. It's also about more than making a living: It's about making a life. And the "you" that you become is a big part of the life you build outside the workplace."It's all about quality of life and finding a happy balance between work and friends and family."

 

Take a little time now to decide how you'd like things to turn out when you look back in 50 years at your accomplishments, your family, and what you've built. It's all right there before you. Everything is possible; ultimately, it's all about what you make of it.=)

 

Life only ends when you stop living. Some people’s lives end when they die; others’ end when they are still living. You don’t need to force yourself to do all the things that you aren’t sure of, but you do need to try all the things you believe you should be doing. The trick is to live your entire life – never falling in line simply because you’re being asked to. If you have a bucket list then start crossing things off while you’re young. The truth is that the more things that you cross off that list, the more you will add.

You’ll literally never finish that list – or rather, you’ll finish it many times over within a lifetime. But only if you get out of the bubble that you and your environment have put you in. Stay hungry and stay vivacious. Life is meant to be lived by your own rules.