Money is great. Money provides freedom. But you will always regret sacrificing love for money. When you get older, you will realize how true this statement really is if you haven’t found someone.
Life is simply not as fun if you don’t have someone to share it with. Further, finding “the one” might also want you to start a family. Not that everybody should have kids. Just know finding love is a huge catalyst for wanting to bring life on Earth.
Here’s a story from my friend about her regrets sacrificing love for money and career. Before you make any decision, go through a regret minimization exercise to help you make better choices.
You Will Always Regret Sacrificing Love For Money
My old boss, let’s call her Lana, who is now my friend, invited me to her house party. It wasn’t her house, but her new boyfriend’s house. I was thrilled for her because, at 54, she had gone most of her post-college life without a steady boyfriend.
She graduated with honors from Columbia University and then received her MBA from Dartmouth. For the next 30 years, she worked 60+ hours a week to climb the ranks at Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and then Morgan Stanley.
In 2002, at age 37, she made Managing Director and continues to be a big wig on Wall Street today. I wouldn’t be surprised if she regularly clears at least $1.25 million dollars a year.
When I first met Lana, she was the most focused and intense woman I had ever met.
Even after going through 50+ interviews with various people on the floor and interviewing with her twice, she still wanted to interview me one last time over coffee. She was meticulous. She also correctly suspected I was a misfit who might not fit the firm’s culture.
Although she grilled me like a wagyu burger, we became friends. I think our common heritage helped us connect.
Never Could Quite Find Love Early
She would tell me about her ski trips to Whistler or to the Swiss Alps where she randomly met some guy. She always beamed with joy when she talked about her encounters.
Every time she told me of her adventures, she’d shed her image of the hard-charging Vice President and become like a school girl falling in love for the first time.
After one trip, I remember her telling me she’d met a Tunisian gentleman, whom I immediately started referring to him as “The Tasmanian,” an ode to the Tasmanian Devil who had swept her off her feet. She was thrilled.
Unfortunately, that relationship lasted for only six months because it was too hard to maintain a long-distance relationship.