Philosophical Battle 1: Enjoyment vs Impact

There are two common philosophies on life.  People that say, “Just enjoy life.”  And people that say, “Make a difference.  Matter.”

These aren’t the only philosophies on life.   But, they seem to be the most prevalent attitudes in the US.

Of course, ideally you can have both.  The best way to achieve that is by doing work that makes you happy.  You produce value that makes a big impact, while at the same time enjoying doing it.  However, it may take years of training and toil to get to that point.  (I talk about this in the book I’m writing, which you’ll see published soon enough–god willing).

Unfortunately, many times enjoyment and impact are in deep conflict.  There’s a lot of chores to do, but you just want to go out and play.

Most people that are at least semi-successful seem to try and balance them (or end up balancing them by putting themselves within structures that help them to do this).  They work hard and take  care of their responsibilities, but they still enjoy themselves when they can. Party one or two nights a week and work hard the rest of the time.

I’ve certainly met many people that don’t balance them; there are the modern day Hedonists.  They sacrifice impact for having a good time.  Party six nights a week and find a way to make some sort of living. It’s easy to swerve that way, especially when you don’t have many responsibilities.  (Example: I’ve known a lot of guys that were…considerably irresponsible…until they had kids.)

Upon writing that paragraph, I wonder if most Americans actually fall into that camp. They just try and put all their work in early in hopes that they can cruise later on.

Are there people that are solely focused on making an impact?  I’m not sure.  It’s hard to say.  No one wants to be unhappy. They are certainly not healthy if they do. It could be that impact plays a much larger role in their equation for personal satisfaction.  Either way, people need to take time away, take a rest, in order to reach their full potential.  The degree of necessary does vary.

Personally, I cannot believe that the purpose of human existence is to just be happy.  However, incentives exist for humans to be pleasure seeking, and it isn’t a bad thing.  It’s a part of human nature that we should fully accept.

My stance: shoot for impact–on other people, on the world–and you’ll seek out and find enjoyment along the way.

What do you think?

-Kevin
1.24.2010