Speaking of: Chasing Rabbit Holes

Being between the ages of 15 and 25 has felt like one decade-long game of "Should I Do What Excites Me Right Now, Or Should I Do What Will Payoff Most Down the Road?"

It starts in high school with something like, "Do I join choir, which sounds like a lot of fun, or do I join the debate team, which would look much better on a college application?" Then you're choosing a college and it becomes, "Do I go to Indiana University, which feels like a great fit for me, or do I go to Northwestern, which looks better on a resume?" Then you choose a major and it changes to, "Do I follow my weird niche interest in philosophy and major in that, or do I take the safer job path and major in accounting?"

But I've decided I don't think that game exists at all. I think those two things — what's most exciting in the moment and what will payoff most in the future — are often one and the same. That by taking something that piques your interest and following that feeling wherever it leads, you'll stumble into something that will end up being invaluable somewhere down the road.

I could cite personal examples for this — I don't know why 6th grade Joe was so obsessed with making music videos, but the skills I learned then are the same skills I used to make the video that got me a merit scholarship at Notre Dame — but I don't think this is a matter of evidence and substantiation as much as it is a matter of faith. Because at least in my experience, it would've been freaking impossible to predict how any of the things I got deeply invested in for a short period of time would come back to help me. But they did. And they continue to. And every time a coworker Slacks me needing some graphic design work done in a pinch, I think to myself, "You're lucky 12-year-old Joe had this weird determination one night to figure out how to Photoshop Barney into his family photos."

I think the key is you can't just peek into the rabbit hole. You can't just catch a glimpse at the fantasy world that might be down there and move on. You have to fall completely into it. You have to fully immerse yourself in whatever that interest is. Because I've learned it's worth less to be half-invested in something valuable than it is to be fully invested in just something.

I don't just look out for the rabbit holes now. I chase the rabbit holes.